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Scott Momaday showed his incredulity toward the American dream due to his agitation about humans impeding on nature and traditions, and how people from different backgrounds struggle to achieve The American Dream.

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The start of the Indian Renaissance from Momaday brought Indian culture into literature and informed readers on their traditions and family culture, this culture then plays a big role in how they are raised. In Momaday's book House of Dawn, he focuses on the spot he is caught between. Matthias Shubnell remarks, “Momaday’s 1968 novel, House Made of Dawn, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969. The novel tells the story of a Native American veteran who returns to his New Mexico reservation after serving in World War II. The novel and Momaday’s 1969 autobiography, The Way to Rainy Mountain, inspired a new generation of Native American writers.” (UXL Biographies) He is stuck between his Indian culture and heritage and achieving the Modern American Dream, and how this heritage has set him behind compared to his peers.

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Different cultural experiences are prevalent among different regions and countries. Momaday grew up in the Indian culture, which further separates his ability to achieve The American Dream. His experiences as a child make up what he knows and what he has accomplished. His different background from those he went to school with, led to him being further set back due to his uncertain cultural identity and how his family's heritage would play a role in his modern life and American Dream. These uncertain factors further set him apart and delayed his progress compared to those around him. DISCovering Authors plot summary wrote, “Momaday remembers that the first notable event in his life occurred when he was just six months old and he accompanied his parents on a journey to the Black Hills in Wyoming to see Devil's Tower…. Momaday would later derive a great deal of knowledge about the origin of his people from that book.” (DISCovering Authors) his early experiences changed the way of his life and determined what he accomplished, setting him further away from The American Dream.

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Momaday’s experiences as a child have led to his confusion on his cultural identity, due to his background and family traditions it created a harsh environment for the achievement of The American Dream. Momaday grew up with his confusion on how his cultural identity would play a role in his future. Gale's topic overview states,  “While growing up Momaday attended Indian and parochial schools in New Mexico, but he was not satisfied with them. In an interview with Charles Woodard he described the nuns who taught him as "the worst teachers I've ever had," stating that they discouraged learning about Indian culture.” (Gale In Context) Even though he attended schools to help him understand his background, Momaday never understood how his family and their traditions played a role, and how this different background has set him back from achieving his goals, The American Dream.

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Cultural differences can contribute to a communication barrier for all, Momaday knows due to his cultural background growing up, he has a different language and understanding than others around him, while at a funeral he is unsure how his language affects him and his emotional response. In Momaday’s poem analysis, Alan Velie indicates “In this stanza Momaday discusses his feelings in attending the funeral of a friend's child. In particular, he refers to the difficulty of speaking directly to his friend about the tragedy. He is aware of the deficiency of language in transmitting his feelings.” (DISCovering Authors) Momaday is unsure how to communicate how he feels due to his cultural differences. The American Dream can be challenging to obtain when cultural differences create a block from one’s family heritage.