Open Prompt #6

1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

In the Western World, we are taught to think in a straight line, beginning with point A and ending at point B. In many Native American Indian cultures, however, thought is circular and while it may begin at point A it visits and revisits many other points before reaching the end. This is very apparent in many works of Native literature, particularly in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony. Silko uses a nonlinear storyline to mimic the cycle of thought and Tayo's eventual realization that all things are connected in a great web, which ends up being one of Silko's most important messages in the novel.

Silko's incredible novel is scattered with smaller stories from the Pueblo people that enhance the narrative. The narrative itself jumps all over the place in Tayo's timeline. One moment he is hunting a deer with Josiah and the next he's in a South Pacific jungle, fighting the Japanese with Rocky. The details Silko uses in her writing help the reader to figure out where in time Tayo is at each point in the story. For example, in one part Tayo is in the hospital in Los Angeles and with little warning or transition, he is back in the jungle, watching who he thinks is Josiah get shot. Silko's details allow her reader to understand the transition of the nonlinear plot. She describes the muggy air and the large mosquitoes, details that would not be found in a white hospital in California. 

The nonlinear storyline that Silko employs in her novel mimics the reciprocal nature of thought and life that is so central to Pueblo beliefs. Just in the way that thought does not follow immediately from one thing to the next, her narrative does not move in a straight line down the timeline. It also represents Tayo's new knowledge of the great web that has been created by Thought-Woman. Everything is connected and as Tayo begins to realize this, the nonlinear plot becomes less confusing for the reader. He understands now that all things are related. This is mirrored in the way that Silko, through Tayo, connects one event to another. Tayo laying in bed, trying to stay sane, connects to a deer he once hunted with Rocky, which leads to the humid jungle, which leads to the bar with Harley and Leroy, and so on. Silko's seemingly crazy timeline is actually just as sane as our world, which, the Pueblo people say, is all connected and all related. 

Despite the confusion the nonlinear plot line creates in Ceremony, it is very important in getting Silko's message across to her readers. The nonlinear story is a representation of the circular thought that is understood by the Pueblo people. At the same time, it helps us understand what Tayo is coming to understand: that all things are connected and related through Thought-Woman's web.