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A mesa is an elevation or hill with steep sides and a flat top. Mesas are common in arid environments like the southwestern United States, where the story is set.
Mesa Quotes in House Made of Dawn
The House Made of Dawn quotes below are all either spoken by Mesa or refer to Mesa. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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2. The Longhair, July 21
Quotes
He made his way along the incline at the edge of the cultivated fields to the long row of foothills at the base of the red mesa. When the first breeze of the evening rose up in the shadow that fell across the hills, he sat down and looked out over the green and yellow blocks of farmland. He could see his grandfather, others, working below in the sunlit fields. The breeze was very faint, and it bore the scent of earth and grain; and for a moment everything was all right with him. He was at home.
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Explanation and Analysis:
11. The Dawn Runner, February 27
Quotes
They must learn the whole contour of the black mesa. They must know it as they knew the shape of their hands, always and by heart. […] They must know the long journey of the sun on the black mesa, how it rode in the seasons and the years, and they must live according to the sun appearing, for only then could they reckon where they were, where all things were, in time. […]
These things he told to his grandsons carefully, slowly and at length, because they were old and true, and they could be lost forever as easily as one generation is lost to the next, as easily as one old man might lose his voice, having spoken not enough or not at all.
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Mesa Term Timeline in House Made of Dawn
The timeline below shows where the term Mesa appears in House Made of Dawn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
2. The Longhair, July 21
...horseback with Francisco. Vidal brings Abel to a canyon alongside the face of the red mesa, which makes Abel feel claustrophobic and prompts him to cry. They return to their grandfather...
(full context)
...so in the late afternoon Abel follows the river to the hills along the red mesa. He looks over the farmland and sees Francisco and other men working in the fields....
(full context)
11. The Dawn Runner, February 27
...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...
(full context)
12. The Dawn Runner, February 28
...a group of runners in the distance. Behind them, a cloud stands over the black mesa. Abel approaches the group, and they abruptly begin to run. He joins them, running for...
(full context)
