Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Ceremony

Summary:
- Author: Leslie Marmon Silko
- Setting: Laguna Reservation, 1920's, WWII, Phillipines (flashbacks)
- Plot: So there's this guy, right? And his name is Tayo. He is basically on a mission to figure out his true identity. He's mixed, has been to war and now suffers from PTSD. Since basically his entirety is a question (ya know... since he's mixed and doesn't know where he belongs...) he has to find a way to "cure" himself. Among other things, he finds a medicine man and begins the scalping ceremony. In the end though, it is up to him. It is understood that ceremonies change and so must he. Tayo ends up finding the cattle he had been looking for the entire novel (kind of like finding himself) and he prays and gets the rain back. Then he finally understands and is welcomed back into the Laguna tribe and since he has now finished his journey and has found himself, the tribe has also found another part of itself.

Significant Characters:

- Tayo: Protagonsit
- Emu: Antagonist, dark side of Tayo
- Rocky- dies in war
- Night Swan - Yellow woman
- Ts'eh - Yellow woman
- Josiah - Uncle, father figure
- Auntie - Aunt to Tayo, follows white ways
- Betonie - Medicine man, father figure

Narrative voice and Author's Style:
- View: Third person limited (for the most part)
- Tone: Somber
- Imagery:
     *The all blue dressed woman (yellow women)
     *Flashbacks contain violent imagery
- Symbolism:
     * The cattle - the world, culture, Tayo
     * The rain - renewal

Quotes:

-"'It seems like I already heard these stories before -- the only things is, the names sound different." - Grandma

     This quote kind of wraps up the entire book. It shows that not only is time circular, but it doesn't matter who this happens to. While Tayo was meant to be in this place, it doesn't matter. There will always be a yellow woman, a corn woman, ect.

- "Here they were, trying to bring back that old feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during the war."

     This shows the corruption Silko is trying to get at in the novel. The Indians all drink, which leads to corruption and shows the down side of having a white influence. Also, because these Laguna people fought alongside white men, they too are not a true part of the reservation. The question stands: do they join white culture, or stay with their traditional roots?

Theme: Everything is connected.

While this might not be the main theme, it really stuck out to me. Night Swan is just an embodiment of Yellow Woman, who helps guide Tayo along his journey. With her help, Tayo is led in all of the right directions. He finds Betonie, who helps him finish the ceremony. When he finishes the ceremony and finds himself, the tribe has also found a part of themselves. This shows that everything is connected and when one person of the tribe loses something, they all lose something.

Course Response - April 14

In class we just finished Ceremony. Honestly, I really don't know how I feel about the book. It's basically a love hate relationship. I think annotating probably ruined it for me... even though my annotations got a little scarce there at the end. Anyway, I like the questions of identity and the circular time structure... it really didn't bother me that much.

We have also started Fifth Business. So far... I'm excited! Most books this year haven't started well... more like a tedious "ohhh why do I have to read this" feeling. But this time? Nope! I really like psychology and questions of the mind, which Holmes said the book touches on. I'm not too far into it, but I like where it's going so far. It's interesting. Also... the way it's written cracks me up. I'm pretty sure the class thought I was on crack when I was reading silently and started "chortling" to myself during one scene. The author actually wrote "ha ha" as a sentence. I would give you the page number... but I'm using an online version and don't want to look it up.