Summaries and Analyses of Lit - Ceremony

Written by Leslie Marmon Silko. The novel is set on and around the Laguna Pueblo reservation in the Southwest, although, through Tayo's flashbacks, we see the jungle in the Philippines and a sort of mythical land of the stories told to Tayo. The time is mostly after WWII, although, again, through flashbacks and stories we visit earlier times, as well. The novel is mostly told through a third person narrative but perspective switches back and forth between characters, often without warning. The poems interwoven throughout the prose sometimes switch to first person. The protagonist, Tayo, is a young Laguna boy who has recently returned from WWII. The novel deals with Tayo's struggle after the war - to find himself, to deal with the guilt of coming home without his cousin Rocky, and to understand his culture and place in the world, especially among the whites. Rocky was Tayo's best friend, like a brother, who died in the war. Tayo feels somewhat responsible for this, especially considering Rocky's mother, Tayo's Auntie, never forgives him. Auntie took Tayo in after her sister, Tayo's mother, died. They also live with Auntie's husband, Robert, and Old Grandma who understands the great connected web that Tayo is slowly coming to recognize. Josiah, Tayo's uncle, is learned of only through Tayo's memories. He was Tayo's father figure who died while Tayo was away during war due to his cattle herd. Tayo feels responsible for his death because he was not there to help with the cattle.  Emo is the antagonist. He represents witchery, the evil Gambler of some of the stories. Old Betonie, the medicine man, helps Tayo understand this witchery, in Emo and in others, white or otherwise. He helps Tayo complete the ceremony that ultimately saves Tayo and brings him to understand the interconnected nature of life. T'seh, a woman Tayo meets several times and, you might say, falls in love with. She represents the mountains and therefore the land, to which Tayo is connected. She is something more than human, a spirit who helps Tayo further along in his journey toward understanding. Other important characters include the other boys (Harley, Pinkie, Leroy) who just got home from the war like Emo and Tayo. Also, the Night Swan, who has an affair with Josiah and later, briefly, Tayo, and like T'seh, is more spirit than human. Silko employs imagery beautifully in her novel, especially in descriptions of nature. The tone of the novel is somber, certainly not happy. At times, Tayo is desperate and despairing but overall, the tone is hopeful. Motifs are used frequently. Mountains, for example, in T'seh (surname - Montaño) and in the mountain lion, who appears in several places. Colors are a very important motif, as well, especially blue (Night Swan, Josiah's truck, pollen, jewelry -- a sacred color) and yellow (corn, pollen, dirty bar walls, urine). Directions are also important in the novel. In the Laguna culture, ceremonies moved through the sunwise cycle while all witchery moved in the opposite direction. The structure of the novel is very interesting, also. There are large blank spots in the book which represent silence and thought, as if the story were being told in the oral tradition in which all the old stories were meant to be told.
QUOTES:
"It seems like I've already heard these stories before... only thing is, the names sound different." Old Grandma says this after Tayo tells her the story of Emo's death. This illustrates the idea of the web that is so important in Silko's novel and culture. Everything is connected, all the stories are just retold over and over. Grandma knows this, as many of the elders do.
"They never thought to blame the white people for any of it..."
"Nothing is that simple... You don't write off all the white people, just like you don't trust all the Indians." These quotes are very important in showing the relationship between white and native culture, which is very prominent in the novel. The first has to do with the anger of Tayo (at certain points) and of many other Native Americans at the white people who stole their land. The relationship between white and native culture is very important in the novel. The second is a quote from Betonie who tries to show Tayo that, really, we are all the same, all on this great web, all connected.
THEME: 
Silko uses many devices to show that while it is important to hold on to your culture, specifically that of the Laguna people, you must adapt to keep your culture strong.
- Betonie and his updated ceremonies
- The cycles
- Nonlinear storyline
- Use of stories throughout
- Witchery found in present day Emo