 From this perspective, Outland is Cather’s voice in the novel, advocating the close ties to the landscape as an expression of national identity.Contrarily, Sarah Wilson posits that Cather is instead critical of Tom’s nostalgia.“The cliff dwellings of the Blue Mesa once belonged to a now vanished culture, and no living Native American population has an indisputable claim on them…How, the novel queries, can a nation or individuals engage the history of a culturally and temporally other people?” However, Wilson does concede “the America of which Tom Outland speaks, the nation that treasures its ancient Southwestern heritage, at least allows for unique ways of being American”.