Synopsis Ceremony

Ceremony

Author: Leslie Marmon Silko

Setting: Laguna settlement, outside Laguna settlement, Japan, directly after WW2

Plot: After returning from war Tayo arrives at his home in Laguna.  He discovers that there has been a drought. He is also suffering from severe PTSD because he was a POW and because he witnessed his cousin brother’s death. Upon returning he also has discovered that his uncle father has died in a mysterious way probably related to dehydration or overworking or stress or a combination.  Tayo is also suffering from Malaria.  All the native Americans on the reservation are dealing with severe Alcoholism. This creates many problems and conflicts. Tayo stabs Emo and then spends some time in a mental facility, While Emo spends time in jail. When Tayo comes back he meets a new medicine man named Betonie. Betonie convinces him that he has to make his own ceremonies. So Tayo sets out to create his own ceremonies. While this is going on Emo is growing angrier and angrier. Emo trys to murder Tayo but Pinkie messes up. Emo then kills Pinkey. Emo escapes to California and is eventually caught.  Tayo meanwhile meets Ts’eh. She teaches him the way of thand the world and about the old traditions. After this the world seems at peace. * Tayo was raised by his Aunt and so his cousin is basically his brother. His uncle was like a father to him

Characters

Tayo- The main protagonist. He Suffers from PTD, alcoholism, Malaria. Bames himself for the drought. He  is caught between white world and Native American world. He is also racist.

Auntie- raised Tayo. Devout Christian

Ts’eh- teaches him the old ways

Betonie- Says that we have to make our own ceremonies instead of trying to fit into someone else’s. He is a bit taboo.

Robert- Uncle , died in a mysterious way. Drives Tayo’s mentall instability

Rocky- Tayo’s cousin , dies as a POW, drives Tayo’s mental instability.

Point of View- The narration is in third person. It is omniscient and fairly reliable.  

Tone- The narrator is upset. The narrator feels conflicted between two worlds.

Imagery- There are several images in this novel. There are several images about the jungle. You can feel the rain and you can hear the rain. Here are images about the drought. You can feel the dryness in your throat and the sand blowing around biting your skin and eyes.

Symbolism-The Gallup Ceremony is a very good symbol of booth how the whites misunderstand the natives and how the natives misunderstand the whites.

Memorable quotes

“Jungle rain had no beginning or end; it grew like foliage from the sky, branching and arching to the earth, sometimes in solid thickets entangling the islands, and, other times, in tendrils of blue mist curling out of coastal clouds. The jungle breathed an eternal green that fevered men until they dripped sweat the way rubbery jungle leaves dripped the monsoon rain. It was there that Tayo began to understand what Josiah had said. Nothing was all good or all bad either; it all depended.” This quote is a really good description of how Tayo felt in the Jungle.

“Old Grandma shook her head slowly, and closed her cloudy eyes again. "I guess I must be getting old, " she said, "because these goings-on around Laguna don't get me excited anymore." She sighed, and laid her head back on the chair. "It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different." This is the closing of the book. It shows how the human condition is always the same and just continues the same cycles over and over again.

Theme

We have to make our own “ceremonies” or else we will just fit ourselves into the old cycles and we will not be happy.

How we know: Bettonie instructs Tayo to find his own way, this is how he finds peace also Old Grandma says “It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different."