Through the characterization of her protagonist, Younger Brother, Armer develops the rites-of-passage theme in Waterless Mountain.As the novel opens, Younger Brother is eight years old and lives with his family—Father, Mother, Elder Brother, and Baby Sister. These generic names suggest the universal aspects of the family unit. Younger Brother's duties as an eight-year-old include taking care of the family's sheep herd. While tending the sheep, he observes the birds and beasts, wind, clouds, rain, and rainbows. He also forms mystical bonds with the bees that eat jam from his lips, the Deer People that sing and dance for him, and the Pack Rat that trades treasures with him. When Younger Brother grows up, he will be a medicine man, and to prepare him for this role, his medicine man uncle tells him Navajo legends about the First Man and the First...