Ceremony

Author: Leslie Silko

Setting: Southwestern US

Plot: Ceremony is about a man named Tayo suffering from PTSD after World War II and his journey to curing his PTSD. When we first meet Tayo, he is wrapped in his own memories of Josiah, his uncle, and the war.  We learn that Tayo feels responsible for causing a drought in his home because he prayed the rain to go away during the war. He feels immense guilt because of this.  After his mother died, Tayo was left to live with his Auntie, her husband Robert, Grandma, uncle Josiah, and cousin Rocky.  Although they allow Tayo to live with them, his extended family is not very welcoming at all.  He is constantly falling short of his cousin in the eyes of his aunt, no matter what he does to change this. Also, his aunt dislikes Tayo because he causes the town to be very judgmental toward the family.  His friends from the war, like Harley and Leroy, help him get through this difficult time.  Along with struggling to fit in with his family, Tayo also struggles to find the balance between his Native American culture and the new white emerging culture that he is immersed in.  

His family urges him to see a medicine man to get help for his PTSD.  A visit to Ku’oosh makes Tayo realize that his problems are very complicated, and makes him afraid that his old methods may not work, since Ku'oosh relies on purely Native American ideas, but Tayo is mixed.  Betonie, another medicine man, also attempts to help Tayo using more modern methods.  The medicine man explains to Tayo the significance of combining white and Native American culture.  Since Tayo’s mother was Native American and his father was white, he has had to deal with a lot if discrimination from both communities throughout his life.  Since Tayo feels responsible for the death of Josiah, as he was looking for the his lost cattle while Tayo was in the war, he feels he needs to make up for this.  Tayo tries to find the cattle, and along the way stays with a woman named Ts’eh.  After finding the cattle, Ts’eh helps him contain the animals so Tayo can bring them back to his home.  Ts’eh and Tayo spend a lot of time together after this event.  Near the end of the summer, Tayo finds out that Emo and some of his friends are upset with him and how he has been acting, and are coming after him.  Harley and Leroy meet up with Tayo, but he soon realizes that they are not against him.  Emo quickly betrays his new allies and kills Harley.  After spending a night in a mine, Tayo’s ceremony is complete and he has now returned to a state of content.  

Characters:

Tayo - Tayo struggles to put his mind back in order after the war and untangle the web of thoughts and connections in his head.  He must go through a ceremony to get rid of his confusion and get rid of the drought that he feels responsible for.  

Auntie - Although Auntie takes Tayo into her home after his mother died, she never really treated him as a son like she does to Rocky.  She seems to have good intentions, and only wants the best for her son, but in doing this she is unfair to Tayo.  Josiah - Almost like a father figure to Tayo, Josiah lives with Auntie, Rocky and Grandma.  He has a brief relationship with Night Swan, who urges him to purchase the cattle that lead to his downfall. 

Ts’eh - The woman that Tayo spends a summer with, she is very wise and helps Tayo figure out who he is.  In the end, we find out that she is a spirit that is told of in stories.  

Narrative Tone/Style and Theme:

Ceremony is full of symbols and hidden meanings on every page.  Multiple shapes and colors are used to strengthen the visual images the reader sees and are all of an important significance.  For example, the color green usually references the war Tayo fought in whereas the color yellow was associated with peace and happiness.  Words of temperature were repeated at certain points in the book to emphasize a particular feeling.  Silko’s writing style made the book difficult to understand at first, since we experiences Tayo’s confusion and web of thoughts with him.  Being taken from a memory to the present and back to a memory where complicated, but helped the reader see what the main character was actually going though.  

Theme: Once the old and new come together in the right way, we can achieve inner peace and happiness. 

Quotes:

Grandma - “It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different.”

When Grandma says that she has experienced these same events before, it shows how the world is really a cycle rather than a continuous pattern.  She is connecting the past and the present to form a cohesive state and an understanding of how the world works.  

“He rubbed his belly. / I keep them in here / [he said] / Here, put your hand on it / See, it is moving. / There is life here / for the people.”

As the book opens with a poem, this quotes is most likely a medicine man talking to a young man like Tayo.  The speaker is referring to the stories that the Native American people possess and how they are kept in his belly.  By phrasing it how he does, it seems that he is actually pregnant with the stories, and that they can bring new life.