Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Author: Ceremony was written by Leslie Marmon Silko. Silko is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, and writes with relation to their culture. She has received both great praise and criticism for her writing about pueblo culture. Ceremony is her only well known novel. 

Setting: The setting of the novel Ceremony is the American Southwest, in and around the reservation of the Laguna Pueblo, a few years after the end of World War II. Parts of the novel, in flashbacks, also take place in the jungle during World War II. The setting and landscape are essential parts of the novel, and much of the book is devoted to describing them. 

Plot: The book begins with Tayo at home on the Laguna Reservation. Before any action takes place, flashbacks establish parallel stories of him and his consign Rocky during World War II, and him on the reservation as a child with his uncle Josiah. Tayo recalls a horrifying memory of being order to kill a Japanese soldier and only being able to see the face of his uncle Josiah in the face of the Japanese soldier. Both these parallel stories about the war and his childhood continue with flashbacks throughout the novel. A second flashback describes Tayo's stay in the hospital following the war and Rocky's death. He describes this period as if he felt like he were "white smoke". 

Another flashback describes the story of the medicine man Ku'oosh coming to visit Tayo and attempting to cure him of the problems and feelings from the war. Ku'oosh's attempts are unsuccessful. Back in the present, Tayo's friend Harley appears, and the two set off together on mules for the town. During the journey, Tayo has more flashbacks about the war, and times after the war in bars with Harley and the other soldiers who returned to the reservation. One memory is of a bar where there was a fight, and Tayo almost killed Emo, another former soldier by stabbing him with a broken beer bottle.

Tayo and Harley arrive at the bar in Laguna and begin drinking. Tayo recalls more of his childhood about how his aunt treated him and his relationship with Rocky. He recalls a specific memory of killing a deer with Rocky and how Rocky did not respect the old laguna ways and was involved with white culture. Tayo also reflects on his identity of being half-white, and worries about how this affects other people's view of him, since his aunt seems ashamed of him and of his mother.

Next Tayo recalls memories of his uncle Josiah's affair with a woman named Night Swan. She was always mysterious, and on one occasion helped Josiah acquire a herd of cattle from her cousin. These cattle were thin but hardy and could survive in the harshest conditions. Tayo recalls getting the cattle and branding them. Tayo then recalls how Josiah gave him a note to take to Night Swan one day. When Tayo arrives, the two make love, and Night Swan talks about the significance of his eye color. 

Back in the present, Tayo and Harley leave the bar and go out into the town. Tayo also recalls more things from his childhood with Josiah, including a story about the importance of the fly in Laguna culture. Next Tayo returns home, wanting to begin to be productive on the farm again. However, Ku'oosh recommended Tayo go see another medicine man, Betonie, a member of another tribe. Robert takes Tayo to Betonie in the town of Gallup, which appears depressing and with many homeless native americans. Robert leaves Tayo with Betonie, who intends to perform a ceremony to help Tayo free himself of the memories of the war.

At first, Tayo is nervous and frightened of Betonie, thinking him and his oddly decorated hogan sinister or fake. However, Betonie is kind and understanding and soon Tayo becomes comfortable with him. Tayo confesses many of his concerns to Betonie, and tells him several stories, some of which have already been told. In the morning, Betonie takes Tayo away from the Hogan to begin the ceremony. He tells Tayo many stories and legends from Laguna culture, with the help of a boy named Shush who is the medicine man's assistant. 

The ceremony begins to take affect and Tayo feels better, but Betonie says the ceremony is not complete yet. Tayo heads home in the morning, and is picked up along the side of the road by his friends Harley and Leroy, who are accompanied by a prostitute named Helen Jean. They visit a bar together. A segment narrated from Helen Jean's perspective gives an outsiders opinion on Tayo and his friends. Tayo they decides to return home, and shortly after ventures out to find the lost cattle of his uncle Josiah. 

On his search, he finds house with an unknown woman in it. He realizes this woman is somehow part of the ceremony by recognizing a star pattern Betonie had described. Tayo and the woman have sex in her house, and in the morning Tayo leaves in search of the cattle with new confidence. Tayo locates the cattle inside the fenced in ranch of a rich white landowner. He proceeds to cut a hole in the fence preparing to lead the cattle out. He encounters a mountain lion who leads him to the cattle. He is captured by two patrolling guards of the ranch, but they leave him to go track the mountain lion, and the cattle escape the ranch. Tayo leaves also, and meets a hunter, who takes him back to the house with the woman, his wife.

Tayo does not return home with the cattle, and instead stays in the house for a time. Eventually, the woman, who is now given the name Ts'eh, tells Tayo that Emo and the police are coming to arrest him because they think he has gone crazy living out in the wilderness alone. Tayo goes into hiding, and the next morning leaves, traveling north. He is picked up by Harley and Leroy again, who are drunk. He wakes up finding them gone from the truck, and realizes they may have betrayed him, and so he sets off on foot again. 

Tayo then finds a uranium mine, and makes the connection between it and a story from Grandma about the Trinity test of the atomic bomb. The rest of Tayo's "friends" appear, and Tayo watches as Emo leads the other torturing a captured Harley in an attempt to lure Tayo out. Tayo gets the urge to kill Harley, but realizes this is the power of witchery and overcomes the urge. Tayo stays hidden and the others drive away. Tayo returns home to the cattle. He later discovers that Harley and Leroy died in a trick crash, and Pinkie has killed Emo. The story ends here, with grandma saying she feels as though she has heard the story before.

Characters:

Tayo: A half-Laguna and half-white soldier who returns to the Laguna Reservation from World War II. Tayo is tormented by his experiences in the war, and searches for self identity. He struggles to come to terms with his mixed identity as part white and part Laguna. 

Rocky: Tayo's older cousin. He and Tayo were raised as brothers. Rocky absorbed much of white culture, playing football, going to college, and not following many Laguna traditions. Rocky is strong and confident, and Tayo looks up to him. Rocky is killed in World War II when he and Tayo sign up.

Josiah: Tayo's uncle. Josiah is calm and gentle, and has a small mustache. Josiah acted as a father figure for Tayo while he was growing up. Josiah taught Tayo about old Laguna culture, often telling him stories and legends. Before Tayo left for the war, Josiah had a relationship with a woman in the nearby town who went by the name of Night Swan. Josiah dies while Tayo is away in the war. Josiah's death leaves Tayo feeling lost and without guidance. 

Aunty: The sister of Tayo's mother. Aunty reluctantly adopts Tayo when her sister leaves him with her. Aunty is cold and unwelcoming to Tayo throughout his childhood. Aunty is concerned with what other people in the village think of her and her family, and usually acts in the way best for her public image. She is the only one in the family that goes to church, which she is proud of.

Grandma: Aunty and Josiah's mother. Grandma is old and not talkative throughout most of the story. She often seems distant and frequently talks about the past.

Robert: Aunty's husband. Robert takes over the farm and a fatherly role for Tayo upon Josiah's death. He has little interaction with Tayo during Tayo's childhood, but is kind and fatherly to him after Tayo returns from the war.

Ku'oosh: A Laguna medicine man who comes to help Tayo when he is sick after returning from the war. Ku'oosh is unable to help Tayo, except by stopping his frequent vomiting. He recommends Tayo go to another medicine man Betonie. Ku'oosh performs ceremonies in traditional ways.

Betonie: A medicine man from another tribe that Tayo goes to see to be cured. Betonie believes that ceremonies need to evolve as times change. He performs a ceremony which ultimately allows Tayo to come to terms with his life after the war. 

Shush: Betonie assistant who is associated with the bear boy of legend.

Ts'eh: a mysterious woman who Tayo meets while searching for Josiah's lost cattle. She and Tayo become lovers, and she is a major factor in Betonie's ceremony and helps cure Tayo. Ts'eh is spirit like, and always seems to know what Tayo is thinking and what is happening in other places.

Hunter: A spirit who is married to Ts'eh. He can transform himself into a mountain lion, and helps Tayo on his search for the cattle.

Harley and Leroy:  Tayo's best friends who fought in the war alongside him. They have similar distress after the war, but not as extreme as Tayo's, and they chose to drown theirs in drink. Harley and Leroy are mostly seen driving around drunk in a pickup truck. They are killed together in a crash of the same pickup truck.

Emo: Another former soldiers, and Tayo's rival since childhood. Emo is fat and unappealing, and treats Tayo poorly, making fun of him for being half white. Emo longs for the days of the war to return because during them he was part of white culture and was accepted by whites. Emo tries to betray Tayo and have him taken away. Emo is strongly associated with the evil witchery in the story.

Night Swan: A mysterious woman who was the lover of Josiah and lives in a town near the reservation. She is kind and welcoming to Tayo, and shares his eye color which creates a special connection between them. She disappears from the area of the reservation after Josiah's death.

Style:

The book is written is a disconnect and distant style. This style mimics Tayo's perception of the world-distant and as if he were seeing it through smoke. The plot skips around, often incoherently and randomly jumping between memories and the present without distinguishing. All the description are given in an indirect way, describing things with colors sounds and smells, instead of exactly what they look like. Figurative language, metaphors and similes are used extensively. A traditional poem/legend runs throughout the book, interrupting the story with a legend that parallels the action of the characters.

Tone: 

Silko's tone is simultaneously depressing and rejuvenating. Throughout the book, she focuses on the separation between white and native american society, and how most native americans live in depression and poverty. These dismal descriptions and images are countered by descriptions of nature. These contrasting tones communicate both destruction and renewal.

Imagery:

Imagery is extensive throughout the story. Dialogue is comparatively rare to descriptions of scenes in the present and from memories. Visual imagery focuses on colors rather than specific description. Colors of thing are always mentioned specifically, while other aspects of things, such as people's facial features and body types are ignored. Scents and sounds are also described, though less extensively.

Symbolism and Motifs:

Stories: Stories and poems are frequent throughout the book, both told by characters and by the narrator. From the beginning, stories are associated with the stomach of the storyteller, as established by the poem in the beginning.

Eye and skin Color: eye color is frequently mentioned in the description of characters. These description emphasize the race of the character described. They establish the theme that race is a major part of personality and identity. 

Drought and Rain: Drought and rain are constantly talked about throughout the story. The climate seems to reflect the depression and hardship that the characters faced in the war, and the way they have lost their old way of life and must now struggle to survive. 

Wind and Direction: the wind and direction are frequently mentioned. Directions are always given using cardinal directions, never left right or straight ahead. The significance of this is somewhat unclear. The directions may mean different things in different parts of the story.

Quotes: "It seems like I already heard these stories before—only thing is, the names sound different."-Grandma. This quote from grandma shows the theme of the story that things repeat over time, and the past and present are often in distinguishable. See "theme" below.

"Here they were, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during the war." This quote describes the feelings of Tayo and all his friends throughout the whole story. All those characters spent the story searching for identity after the war, and struggling to overcome the conflict between the culture of their home and the white culture that surrounds them off the reservation that they became part of in the war.

Theme: One theme of the book is that stories repeat over time. The entire book describes how Tayo's situation and the ceremony he becomes part of parallel the legend of the Sun and the trickster, and the hummingbird and fly etcetera. All stories told seem to take place both in the past and in the present.