The way to Rainy Mountain
The Way to Rainy Mountain
In Scott Momaday’s introductory paragraph of “The Way to Rainy Mountain” he uses figurative language to show his love for the land in Oklahoma. As a Kiowa, he describes the land with such intimacy, that it seems as if he owns the land and he is one with the land. He starts the paragraph with a descriptive image of the Wichita Range: “A single knoll rises out of the plain in Oklahoma”. He describes the weather with extreme exaggeration, “winter brings blizzards, hot tornadic winds arise in the spring, and in the summer the prairie is an anvil’s edge” or at least how it feels to him as a resident of this area. Through this we see the intensity of the weather, and how brutal it is. As a result “The grass turns brittle and brown, and it cracks beneath your feet”, the author uses alliteration here to liven up the deathly image we see. The alliteration creates a playful contrast between what the words mean and how they sound. He also uses excellent word choice “The steaming foliage seems to almost writhe with fire”. With this he is able to capture the intensity of visible hot pain the weather causes on the plants.
The author also uses similes such as “popping up like corn to sting the flesh” this play on words creates a contrast between the harsh meanings of the words and how they are conveyed in this passage. Along with creating these contrasts between the words and their meaning, the author also establishes a sense of uniqueness between the people and the land, “Loneliness is an aspect of the land. All things in the plain are isolate; there is no confusion of objects in the eye, but one hill or one tree or one man.” He states that there is a more intimate individual relationship between man and nature. Momaday uses this lovely metaphor “Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where Creation was begun.” To compare Eden, land of perfection, to his land in Oklahoma, even though to
In Scott Momaday’s introductory paragraph of “The Way to Rainy Mountain” he uses figurative language to show his love for the land in Oklahoma. As a Kiowa, he describes the land with such intimacy, that it seems as if he owns the land and he is one with the land. He starts the paragraph with a descriptive image of the Wichita Range: “A single knoll rises out of the plain in Oklahoma”. He describes the weather with extreme exaggeration, “winter brings blizzards, hot tornadic winds arise in the spring, and in the summer the prairie is an anvil’s edge” or at least how it feels to him as a resident of this area. Through this we see the intensity of the weather, and how brutal it is. As a result “The grass turns brittle and brown, and it cracks beneath your feet”, the author uses alliteration here to liven up the deathly image we see. The alliteration creates a playful contrast between what the words mean and how they sound. He also uses excellent word choice “The steaming foliage seems to almost writhe with fire”. With this he is able to capture the intensity of visible hot pain the weather causes on the plants.
The author also uses similes such as “popping up like corn to sting the flesh” this play on words creates a contrast between the harsh meanings of the words and how they are conveyed in this passage. Along with creating these contrasts between the words and their meaning, the author also establishes a sense of uniqueness between the people and the land, “Loneliness is an aspect of the land. All things in the plain are isolate; there is no confusion of objects in the eye, but one hill or one tree or one man.” He states that there is a more intimate individual relationship between man and nature. Momaday uses this lovely metaphor “Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where Creation was begun.” To compare Eden, land of perfection, to his land in Oklahoma, even though to