Characters Discussed
Abel
Abel (ah-BEHL), a World War II veteran who returns to Wolatowa, his native pueblo, in 1945. Thick-chested and stocky, but also agile and athletic, he was orphaned at the age of five, when his mother died, and has been reared by his grandfather, Francisco. Reserved and stoic in his dealings with others, he is out of harmony with the rich traditional life of Wolatowa, in part because of painful memories of childhood but also because of his traumatic war experiences. Sentenced to prison for killing an albino from his village whom he thought was a witch, he is paroled and “relocated” in Los Angeles, where he leads a rootless, alcoholic life.
Francisco
Francisco, Abel’s maternal grandfather. In his late seventies when Abel returns from the war, he was one of the great runners in Wolatowa’s ceremonial races when he was younger but is now crippled by disease and a lifetime of hard work. He possesses great personal dignity and is devoted to the rich ceremonial traditions of Wolatowa, which are to him a harmonious mixture of Christian and pagan elements. His death in 1952 begins Abel’s reaffirmation of the cultural values of his native place.
Father Olguin
Father Olguin (ohl-GEEN), the priest at Wolatowa. Born in Mexico, he is small and swarthy. Because he is weary, is prematurely gray, and has one blind eye, he seems older than his years. He is extremely devout, but he is able to respect the non-Christian traditions of his people.
Fray Nicolás
Fray Nicolás (nee-koh-LAHS), one of Father Olguin’s predecessors at Wolatowa, known to Father Olguin only through his journal. Extremely devout, he could not understand his parishioners’ religion of combined Christian and pagan elements and assumed that the latter were evidence of devil worship. Francisco was his altar boy.
Angela St. John
Angela St. John, the wife of a Los Angeles physician, living temporarily near Wolatowa in 1945. Pale and dark-haired, she is beautiful but, perhaps because she is pregnant, she is disgusted with her own body. Her employment of Abel to cut wood leads to a brief love affair. She visits him seven years later in a Los Angeles hospital.
The albino
The albino, who humiliates Abel in the rooster-pull contest. His almost inhuman paleness is eerily combined with powerful physical strength. His apparently unmotivated malice causes Abel to assume that he is a witch and to kill him.
John Big Bluff Tosamah
John Big Bluff Tosamah (toh-SAH-mah), who calls himself the Priest of the Sun and presides over religious ceremonies that include visions induced by peyote. Physically graceful, witty, and humorous, he is also loudmouthed and arrogant, and he frequently ridicules others. He is fairly sophisticated in matters of theology, however, and is deeply conscious of his own Kiowa traditions.
Milly
Milly, a Los Angeles social worker who becomes Abel’s lover. She is a strong-figured, somewhat plain blonde who is graced with the ability to love in spite of a painful past that includes early poverty, abandonment by her husband, and the death of a four-year-old daughter.
Ben Benally
Ben Benally (beh-NAHL-lee), a Navajo who is Abel’s coworker and friend in Los Angeles. Unlike Abel, he is burdened with no painful memories of the reservation and intends eventually to return to it. Because he is at peace with himself, he is able to adjust to his “relocation” in Los Angeles. Sweet-natured and absolutely decent, he gives Abel his only coat when Abel leaves Los Angeles to return to Wolatowa.
Martinez
Martinez (mahr-TEE -nehs), a corrupt Los Angeles policeman who...
(This entire section contains 610 words.)
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extorts money from American Indians. His savage beating of Abel leads to Abel’s return to Wolatowa.
Characters
Though Momaday has denied any deliberate intention in his character choices, many readers initially link Abel to the biblical figure Abel, known as the first victim. The novel delves into whether Abel will succumb to victimhood and lose his identity or if he will adapt as a "longhair" in a predominantly white society. Throughout the story, Momaday draws parallels between Abel and various animals: a trapped and defenseless eagle, numerous fish floundering on the shore at night, and the bear—Momaday's favored creature—symbolizing dark power and mythical, spiritual strength. Momaday does not provide straightforward answers for Abel; even during the dawn runner ceremony at the novel's conclusion, Abel discovers his voice and sings, yet he also falters and falls.
To reach this stage, Abel benefits from mentors who embody a specific use of language and an approach to their cultural identity. The Reverend John Big Bluff Tosamah, as his name suggests, represents "conviction, caricature, callousness." As the Priest of the Sun, he delivers sermons and leads peyote prayer gatherings with his followers. In his role as a preacher, he humorously parodies Christianity, undermining messages of love and peace with advice to succeed in life. As a Native American priest, he dismisses the value of his ancestry, except when a cheap imitation serves his advantage. Tosamah's second sermon, which recounts how he found strength by reconnecting with his Kiowa heritage at Rainy Mountain, is an ironic reinterpretation of one of Momaday's well-known essays. Tosamah rejects and criticizes Abel because Abel remains quiet, "primitive," and "ungrateful"—a longhair.
Benally, the night chanter, is a less developed but vital character. Residing in Los Angeles, he manages to find contentment by balancing city life, work, and social drinking with preserving the language of his youth from the reservation. Benally's memories are fundamental and elemental, focusing on horse chants and his own horse—small, swift, and somewhat untamed. As Abel's friend, Benally imparts the Navajo healing chants to him. Through Benally, Abel learns the essentials of being both a human and a Native American.