Summary:
The book begins with Tayo at home on the Laguna Reservation. 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. One flashback describes the story of the medicine man, Ku'oosh coming to visit Tayo and trying to cure him. During his journey, Tayo has many flashbacks about the war and times the in bars when he is with Harley and the other soldiers who returned to the reservation. Aunty tried to keep Tayo and Rocky separate however they became close friends and the summer after they graduated from high school. They enlisted in the army together. Tayo also reflects on his identity of being half-white. He is often concerned about what the other people think of him! His uncle Josiah had an affair with a woman named Night Swan. She was always mysterious but helped Josiah a herd of cattle from her cousin. From his childhood with Josiah, he remember a story about the importance of the fly in Laguna culture. Ku'oosh told Tayo that he should go see another medicine man, Betonie who is a member of the tribe. And his goal is to perform a ceremony to help Tayo free himself of the memories of the war. Betonie tells him stories and legends from Laguna culture, with the help of Shush.
Soon Tayo starts to feel better, however Betonie assures him that the ceremony is not yet complete. Then Tayo goes on a search to find Josiah's cattle to returns home soon after. And on his search, he finds house with an woman in it but realizes that the woman is somehow part of the ceremony by recognizing a star pattern Betonie had described. He then leaves and locates the cattle inside the fenced ranch of a rich white landowner. However the cattle run away and Tayo spends the night looking for them. Just as he is about to give up a mountain lion comes and he follows that track to find the cattle. On the way down the mountain, Tayo meets a hunter, who lives with Ts'eh. Although he feels better coming home with the cattle, he know that the ceremony is not over because of the drought. Robert tells him that Emo is spreading rumors about him and as he runs away to find Harley and Leroy, he realizes that they have joined forces with Emo already. As he running away, he found himself in a Uranium mine and if he spends the night there then the ceremony will be complete. After he reports to Ku'oosh and to complete everything, he spends one last night in Ku'oosh's house to finish off the ceremony.
Author:
Leslie Marmon Silko is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and she wrote Ceremony. She received both praise and criticism for her writing about pueblo culture.
Setting:
This novel takes place in the American Southwest, in and around the Laguna Pueblo reservation. It is a few years after the end of World War II. Some parts of the novel takes place in the jungle of World War II.
Characters:
- Tayo: A half-Laguna and half-white soldier who returns to the Laguna Reservation from World War II. He searches for his identity as he struggles to find a balance between part white and part Laguna cultures.
- Rocky: Tayo's older cousin who raised like a brother with Tayo. Rocky was involved in a lot of white culture such as playing football and going to college. He did not engage in many Laguna traditions. Tayo looks up to Rocky.
- Josiah: Tayo's uncle who is calm and gentle. Josiah acted as a father like figure to Tayo while he was growing up. He helped Tayo understand Laguna culture by telling him stories. He also had a relationship with a woman named Night Swan before Tayo left for the war. Once Josiah died, Tayo felt lost and without guidance.
- Aunty: The sister of Tayo's mother. During Tayo's childhood, Aunty is very unwelcoming towards Tayo as she fears what other people in the village will think of her and her family.
- Grandma: Aunty and Josiah's mother. Grandma is old and doesn't talk very much.
- Ku'oosh: A Laguna medicine man who comes to help Tayo when he is sick after returning from the war.
- 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.
- Shush: Betonie assistant who and 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.
- Emo: Another former soldiers, and Tayo's rival since childhood. 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. But after Josiah's death, she goes away from the reservation.
Author's Style:
This style mimics Tayo's perception of the world-distant. The plot skips around as it randomly jumps between memories and the present. There is a lot of figurative language, metaphors and similes used throughout the book.
Important 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."
“The only way to get change is not through the courts or — heaven forbid — the politicians, but through a change of human consciousness and through a change of heart. Only through the arts — music, poetry, dance, painting, writing — "can we really reach each other,”
Theme:
The importance of storytelling comes from the necessity of keeping tradition and culture alive.
