Summary and Analysis of Ceremony

Author: Leslie Silko- part Laguna Pueblo, part Caucasian

Setting: Mainly the Laguna Pueblo reservation. The book is a series of flashbacks, peaks to the future, and descriptions of the present.

Narrator: 3^rd Person

Characters:

      Tayo-  A war veteran who is “sick” after losing his cousin and his uncle. He is half Laguna-Pueblo, half Caucasian and battles with being mixed throughout the story.

      Rocky- Tayo’s cousin who died during battle. He was a very Americanized Native American and dreamed of playing football, going to college, and leaving the reservation.

      Auntie- Tayo’s Aunt/Rocky’s mom who has taken care of him sine his mom abandoned him. She is ashamed of her sister and wants to make a good name for her family. She is very involved with church.

      Josiah- Tayo’s late uncle/father figure.

      Grandma- Matriarch of the family. She intervenes at important parts of Tayo’s life to provide advice in random comments.

      Emo- War veteran/childhood acquaintance of Tayo. They have always butted heads. He has a shaven head to show disconnect from NA culture. He is very involved with alcohol and ends up murdering Harley.

      Night Swan- Josiah’s Mexican girlfriend. She seduces Tayo at one point in the book too. She represents an aspect of contact between white and NA cultures.

      Harley- Tayo’s childhood friend. He returned from the war not sick like Tayo but with an alcohol problem.

      Robert- Auntie’s quiet, mild-mannered husband.

      Betonie- Medicine man who leads Tayo through his ceremony.

      Old Ku’oosh- Laguna/traditional medicine man.

Plot:

     At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to Tayo who is “sick” after losing Rocky and Josiah. We learn he is tormented by the lack of rain and therefore struggles in the Pueblo Community since he believes it is his fault. He lays in bed sick at home. He lives with Auntie, Grandma, and Robert since his mother abandoned when he was four years old. He has an unknown white father and Auntie is very ashamed of her sister’s (Tayo’s mother’s past) and takes this out on Tayo.

      Through a series of flashbacks, peaks to the future, and descriptions of the present we learn about Tayo’s friends like Harvey, Emo, Pinkey, etc. who are also battling problems from the war, but they do it in the form of alcohol. We also learn about how Rocky and Tayo got involved in the war and Rocky’s desire to leave the reservation, go to college, and play football. Auntie’s wish for Tayo to be dead instead of Rocky becomes more and more obvious.

       Grandma calls for Old Ku’oosh to perform a traditional ceremony on Tayo. The ceremony does not work so Betonie is called in. He is more connected with white culture and knows they need a new ceremony to cure the drought and Tayo. When Tayo leaves to try to find Josiah’s cattle and therefore complete the ceremony, he meets Ts’eh who is a lot like Night Swan (Josiah’s old Mexican girlfriend). With the help of a mountain lion, he finds the cattle in the mountains. He spends the summer with Ts’eh in the mountains until Robert comes to tell him Emo and other people from back home are causing trouble and blaming it on Tayo. 

        Once returning, he uses Ts’eh’s advice to get away from police. While running from Emo, he finds Pinkie and Emo torturing Harvey trying to figure out where Tayo was hiding.

       He returns to Old Ku’oosh who tells him the ceremony is complete. The book ends with Grandma claiming it’ a familiar story but with different names.

Quotes:

“They all mourned Rocky that way, by slipping lapsing into the plans he had for college and for his football career.” –page 25

       -This quote shows how much Auntie and the rest of the family mourned Rocky’s lose. It also expresses how Rocky wanted to be part of the white culture.

“Then they grow away from the earth, away from the sun, then they grow away from the plants and animals.” –page 125

        -This is a line from the poem running throughout the story. It is about the Native Americans (like Emo) who are disconnecting from the Laguna Pueblo culture.

Theme:

Preserving tradition is essential to the Native American community.

Symbols/Motifs:

Direction

Wind

Colors

Water

Alcohol