The Journey of Self-DiscoveryDeath and life are contrasting points of view while discovery seems to be the main point in Joan Didion's essay “On Going Home” and in the essay by N. Scott Momaday The Way to Rainy Mountain. For Joan Didion, returning home is a source of comfort, confusion, and conflict. The life she lives with her husband and son is a world apart from the life she grew up in. Her memories are part of who she is and the kind of mother and wife she hopes to be. Perhaps in his search he will find the best parts of himself to pour into his new life. In contrast, N. Scott Momaday's "home" is his grandmother. She encompasses everything she has come to know and love. Kiowa traditions came to life in her home through beading, cooking, storytelling and prayers. Her death is a turning point in his life that sends him on an adventure to discover his Kiowa roots. Joan Didion's goal in returning home was to share her daughter's first birthday with her family and hopefully give her a sense of home. At least an idea of ​​the “normal and happy” home in which she grew up. Didion's family hasn't changed in all the years she's been gone. The dust didn't move, the conversation didn't change, and their reaction to her husband didn't change. Her brother calls him "Joan's husband" and she refers to his marriage as "classic betrayal." Bringing a stranger into the family jeopardizes the relationships and family dynamics he has with his mother, father and brother. He brought a stranger into the familiar environment. He is hardly noticed when she brings him here. He writes DUST (1419) in the dust on the surfaces of the house that goes unnoticed. Joan Didion faces her childhood memories head-on as she empties a drawer... into the middle of a sheet of paper... the desire to discover who she is. A Kiowan by birth connected to his ancestors through his grandmother and her love for her people. At the end of Joan Didion's attempt to deal with the past, she realizes that she doesn't have to create the same life she had for her daughter. Didion holds on to the things that bring her joy, like her grandmother's teacups, and gets rid of the things she can't control. He realizes that he can create memories for his daughter by giving her the love and time she needs. She wants to allow her daughter to experience childhood without having to please anyone. "...he would like to promise her a picnic on the river with fried chicken and messy hair, he would like to give her a house for her birthday." Since he cannot offer her those things due to the way they live, he gives her a xylophone and promises to tell her a funny story..