Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in House Made of Dawn, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Home, Belonging, and Identity
Nature
Religion, Ceremony, and Tradition
Storytelling
Connection vs. Isolation
Summary
Analysis
The story picks up in Walatowa a week after Abel left Los Angeles. The valley is gray and cold, and the river is partly frozen over. Father Olguin sits alone in the rectory, having found peace in his exclusion from the townspeople. He takes his separation from them as a sign of his piety. On occasion, he rereads Fray Nicolás’s journal, which strengthens his faith.
As the story returns to Walatowa, the narration once again turns its attention to the landscape, describing winter in the village with great detail. The narrative also returns to Father Olguin, who has rationalized his alienation from the people of Walatowa as a sign of his religious superiority to them.
Themes
Since returning home, Abel has spent every day at the dying Francisco’s bedside. On his first two days back from Los Angeles, he also went out and got drunk, but a combination of the cold, his lack of funds, and the lingering pain from Martinez’s beating dissuaded Abel from continuing this habit. In between periods of unconsciousness, Francisco speaks and sings in a fractured mix of Spanish and the native Jemez language. His disjointed speech recalls the race he won as a young man and calls to Abel, Vidal, and Porcingula. Abel wants to help his grandfather, but Abel is in mental pain as well as physical pain: the small room where Francisco lies is where Abel was born and where his mother and brother died. The most Abel can do is keep the fire lit.
Francisco’s combined use of Spanish and Jemez highlights his blended identity. Francisco is one of the few characters in the novel who has come to terms with the conflicting forces of colonialism and Indigenous tradition, and he accepts that elements of both make him the man he is. As Francisco dies, Abel is forced to step into the role of caretaker after spending the novel being cared for by Francisco, Ben, and Milly. He assumes this role with difficulty, pushing through his own pain to do what he can for Francisco.
Themes
For the past six days, Francisco has spoken at dawn. The rest of the chapter relays what Francisco has said in italicized, stream-of-consciousness narration. He recalls bringing Abel and Vidal to the old cemetery by the Middle and teaches them how to measure time by the sun’s position against the nearby black mesa. He imparts that they must live according to the sunrise over the mesa, which will tell them when to carry out important traditions. He emphasizes the importance of traditions, which can easily be lost, and though the boys don’t know the specific rituals Francisco is teaching them, they understand the importance of “the great organic calendar.”
The novel shifts narrative modes once again, transitioning into Francisco’s point of view. His memory of teaching Abel and Vidal to measure the seasons with the sun indicates how strong Francisco’s connection with nature is and how intimately he understands his people’s traditions. He teaches these traditions to his grandsons in an effort to sustain the Jemez way of life, which they have started to understand organically simply by living in Walatowa.
Themes
In another memory, young Francisco rides his horse great distances around Walatowa. He climbs a sheer cliff face that his horse cannot scale, and along the way he discovers a cave filled with the remnants of ancient inhabitants. Throughout the afternoon, he continues riding, observing the animals around him and internalizing their instincts and identifying features. In pursuit of a bear, Francisco makes camp, only to wake surrounded by wolves. He raises his gun at the animals but doesn’t shoot, and they keep their distance as they watch him. He continues tracking the bear, until he finds it and kills it with a single clean shot. He quickly but carefully prepares the bear’s body for transport, then rides back to Walatowa with the bear, aware that both he and his horse have come of age.
The young Francisco’s desire to explore the desert and plains beyond Walatowa speaks to a curiosity the older Francisco does not display so obviously, while continuing to reiterate his appreciation for the land. This appreciation for nature also comes through in his interest in the wildlife. His discovery of remnants of ancient people emphasizes the history of Indigenous people in North America. Francisco is attuned to the land, remaining distant from the wolves and killing the bear with respect and efficiency. When he successfully proves himself a mature hunter, Francisco thinks that both he and his horse have come of age, demonstrating the deep bond he feels for his horse.
Themes
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Francisco remembers a beautiful young woman named Porcingula, who is the daughter of a Pecos woman whom Walatowa’s residents believe is a witch. He and Porcingula have wild, passionate sex, and she teases him about the rumor that he is Fray Nicolás’s son. Porcingula becomes pregnant, but the child is stillborn, and Francisco yields to his community’s dislike of his lover and leaves her.
Porcingula shares her name with the Feast of Porcingula, the festival that Francisco knows well but stepped away from for the first time earlier in the story. In his youth, Francisco is willing to flout the opinion of the townspeople, but his and Porcingula’s stillborn child convinces Francisco to adhere to the community opinion. That decision allows him to achieve the status in the community that he has as an old man.
Themes
In the fourth memory, Francisco brings Vidal and Abel to a rise in the plain at dawn, where they listen to the sound of hundreds of men running the race of the dead. The fifth memory takes place during a ceremony for the squash clan, during which Francisco carries the drum for the first time. Despite his anxiety, drumming comes naturally to him, and he becomes attuned to the rhythm of the dancers. When the ceremony concludes, the townspeople celebrate its success, and Francisco feels proud of his “perfect act.” After this, he has a voice in the community and takes on a role as a healer.
Francisco’s memory of the race of the dead is short, establishing only that this race is a tradition that Vidal and Abel must understand. In his next memory, Francisco cements his role as a community leader by proving himself as a drummer. The narration describes the squash clan with as much care and detail as it has paid to other ceremonies and festivals throughout the story, continuing to emphasize the importance of these ceremonies and their specific components.
Themes
The last memory is of a race. Francisco runs too quickly, trying to match the other men’s pace rather than reserving his stamina. He struggles to breathe, but he pushes past his pain and runs after the “motionless shadow” of his competitor.
Francisco loves to recall the story of winning a race as a young man, which serves as a reminder of his youthful glory and his success in his community. The race he thinks of now, though, is not one of youthful energy but one of pain and difficulty. His memory of losing his breath mirrors his difficulty breathing as he dies. The description of Francisco’s competitor as a “motionless shadow” also parallels him with death itself, and Francisco’s labored push past the competitor suggests Francisco running towards death with his dignity and inner strength intact.
Themes
