The composition process of this book began with his desire to comprehend his Kiowa identity and the death of his grandmother Aho and the collecting from Kiowa elders of stories.
The book consists of twenty-four three-voice sections. They are arranged into three divisions - "The Setting Out," "The Going On," and "The Closing In," thus Momaday suggests several physical and spiritual journeys - the two most obvious are the migration and history of the Kiowa and the gradual development of the Kiowa identity.
The three divisions are framed by two poems and three lyric essays (Prologue, Introduction, Epilogue), that combine mythic, historic, and personal perspectives.
Headwaters The first poem. Momaday depicts an "intermountain plain" with a hollow log, and water rising against the roots.
Prologue The journey began one day long ago. They say that Kiowas entered the world through a hollow log. It was a struggle for existence, but , at the end, Kiowas lost. Their Plains culture withered and died. The buffalo was the animal representation of the sun, the essential and sacrificial victim of the Sun Dance. These are idle recollections, the mean and ordinary agonies of human history.
Once Tai-me, a legendary being, who appeared to the Kiowas during "bad times," came to the them and they began their great adventures to the heart of the continent. A lot of thing happened during this long migration, in the end of which they of age as a people. They had dared to imagine and determine who they were. This journey was the history of an idea, man's idea of himself. It has been preserved by verbal tradition, so what remains is fragmentary. This journey is an evocation of three things in particular : a landscape that is incomparable, a time that is gone forever, and the human spirit, which endures.
The Introduction Houses are like sentinels of the plain, but the time also put its mark upon them - the wood is burned grey and the nails turn red with rust.
Externally, Kiowa was fighting against the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Internally, Kiowa was fighting maturity and adulthood. ... "Like cement, Kiowa whispered in the dark. ... Kiowa admired the Lt's capacity for handling grief, but Kiowa was just handling the grief in his own way. ... Kiowa's character is strong willed and determined to make it out of the war alive. ...
Upon being drafted to the war in Vietnam he looses control and leaves the stress of his life for a vacation up north. ... Tim finds himself in the middle of a war with his friends Kiowa, Norman Bowker and Rat Kiley. ... Ted lavender who routinely popped M&M's (I'm suspecting not candy but tranquilizers) was shot in the head and Norman Bowker upon returning being so scarred from the death of his friend Kiowa he eventually kills himself. The book continues to when Tim brings his daughter Kathleen back to Vietnam in 1990 and returns to the spot where Kiowa Died and wades out in the rive...
Every product undergoes a Product Life Cycle (PLC). Product life cycle consists of four stages, introductory stage, growth stage, maturity stage and decline stage. Each stage has its own characteristics regarding marketing objective, competition, product, price, promotion and place. The introduction...
I started counseling, group therapy, and used my resources for months, rebuilding my self esteem, life and understanding how I let myself get into that situation. ... Domestic violence is in majority a learned behavior cycle. ... Politics plays a huge role in the continuing cycle of domestic violence. ... All of those also top the list for prevention and breaking the cycle. ... Educating people on the cycle, warning signs, and ways to seek help is mandatory to break up this vicious cycle. ...
Jimmy also blamed himself for Kiowa's death, and as with the memories of the men alive, the guilt of their death lingered throughout the novel. ... This is extremely important because these items cause Kiowa's death according to one of the stories told. ... The light got the attention of the enemy and Kiowa was shot, sunk into the muck, and died as a result. ... After Kiowa's death, O" Brien carries Kiowa's old moccasins, and he returns them to the spot of Kiowa's death many years later when he returns there with his daughter. ... After returning to the States, he cope...
This pact helps these two in that they know that if it came down to living their entire life in a wheel chair that the other would end it there in Vietnam. The men trusted each other to make no mistakes because one mistake could cause someone to lose their life. He pictured Kiowa's face. ... At one point, the boy remembered, he'd been showing Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend. ... And as a result his friend Kiowa was dead. ...
This pact helps these two in that they know that if it came down to living their entire life in a wheel chair that the other would end it there in Vietnam. The men trusted each other to make no mistakes because one mistake could cause someone to lose their life. He pictured Kiowa's face. ... At one point, the boy remembered, he'd been showing Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend. ... And as a result his friend Kiowa was dead. ...
The Bible carried by Kiowa was given to him by his father. ... The men trusted each other to make no mistakes because one mistake could cause someone to lose their life. "He pictured Kiowa's face. ... And as a result his friend Kiowa was dead." ... The Narrator returns to the field where Kiowa lost his life years after the war has ended. ...
