The Way to Rainy Mountain

The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a masterpiece about the life of Momaday's grandmother. She was of Kiowah descent, and was born in their peak as a nation. After her birth, they had a standoff with the US government, and were forced out of their home, and eventually moved to Rainy Mountain, a magnificent places that causes one to contemplate their existence. The people who lived there were profoundly devoted to their roots, living the culture every day. These people die, along with Aho, the grandmother. Their home was then largely abandoned; their children had left this home, and the culture left with them. These memories of the past defined Momaday's perceptions of the Kiowah, and left him with good memories about his ancestors. In the end, Momaday reflects on the Rainy Mountain. Without his grandmother and her friends, Rainy Mountain is a desolate and sad place, somewhere that is no longer the Kiowah home, as it no longer held the people that defined it. He leaves it with little regret and sadness, as it no longer houses his people. The author wrote this for anyone who believes that location defines where someone's home is. He believes that home is where one's family and friends is. Without them, home is just a place, with no joy or memories. The author used vivid description throughout the story in order to paint a picture of the joy felt when Rainy Mountain was full of people. In the end, the author did prove his point, because as more and more people left Rainy Mountain, it became a less friendly and lovely place, until it just became a location with no meaning at all. This proved that what defines a home is the people in it, not the location.

(barrywinbolt.com)

I chose an image of birds flying away because it represents how people left Rainy mountain, and brought its joys with them.