The Ancient Child (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: N. Scott Momaday
- First Published: 1989
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Mythic
- Time of Work: Late 1980’s
- Setting: An Indian reservation in Oklahoma and San Francisco, California
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Mythology or myths, 1980’s, West, U.S., Native Americans or American Indians, Legends, Painting or painters, San Francisco, Visions, epiphanies, or revelations, Westerns, Outlaws
- Locales: San Francisco, CA, Indian Reservation, Oklahoma
Characters Discussed
Locke “Set” Setman, a forty- four-year-old artist of Kiowa descent. Orphaned when he is seven years old, he is sent to a Catholic boarding school and is subsequently adopted. As an adult, he is a successful painter, living a sophisticated life in San Francisco. He receives an enigmatic telegram summoning him to the funeral of Kope’mah, an Indian relative he never met. Intrigued, he travels to the Oklahoma reservation where she lived. While he is there, Grey gives him a bundle that contains the powerful bear medicine. Set politely accepts it, not...
[The entire page is 1128 words long]
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