Ceremony

Leslie Marmon Silko

• Born in 1948
• Laguna Pueblo tribe member who is part Mexican
• Not accepted fully into the Pueblo tribe
• faced with many harsh critics from her and other tribes as she revealed their secrets

Setting

• Japan during World War II
• A hospital in Los Angeles after the war
• Laguna Reservation before and after the war

Characters

• Thought - Woman
• creates the story/ ceremony that Tayo lives
• creates all stories and life events

• Betonie
• the narrator of the story described when the narrator touches his belly which is a direct reference to something Betonie later says in the book
• starts Tayo on his ceremony, and helps to cleanse the evil and the fake stories from Tayo
• Healer who is part Mexican part Laguna, he is looked down upon by most tribe members as he adapts his ceremonies to the present time and lives in a White city
• Tayo
• Mexican Pueblo Mixed boy whose mother was a whore and gave him to her sister (Tayo’s aunt) after being homeless for several years.
• Lives with his Auntie, Old Grandmother, Rocky (his cousin), Uncle Josiah, and Uncle Robert for the majority of his life. Both Old Grandmother and Uncle Josiah show him the ways of the Laguna people and inspire him to keep the Laguna ways.
• Doubles as the Sun Father who saves the clouds from the gamblers
• Rocky
• Tayo’s cousin, who is full Laguna yet strives to be White
• Rejects the Laguna ways and is more into science than the Laguna stories
• Dies in the War that he volunteered himself and Tayo for
• Uncle Josiah
• Upheld the traditional Laguna values except in one sense, he loved a Mexican woman, Night Swan
• Treated Tayo as a son and spent his life dedicated to Mexican Cows
• Died during the war but at home in the ranch following his cows
• .Auntie
• Rocky’s mother who spoils Rocky and gives him the best of everything, pushing him into the White community while shoving Tayo away. She always found a way to show to Tayo that Rocky was superior to him.
• Christian woman who made it a point to go to church every Sunday and grab the attention by having a “hard” life taking care of Tayo and putting up with Josiah sleeping with a Mexican
• Uncle Robert
• married to Auntie but is the complete opposite, he is soft spoken and when he talks to Tayo he treats him nicely. Although he often stays quiet and is compliant with everything his wife says.
• Old Grandmother
• Voice of reasoning, although age makes her weak and cold she keeps her Laguna traditions strong.
• Loves and favors Tayo but notes that his story/ceremony is repeated and that it was the same story earlier just now, “the names sound different” (242)
• Emo
• A witch who was first set as an outcast when his parents named him Geronimo, the name of the Apache general  who was at war with the Laguna’s many times.
• Jealous of Tayo as he is White and so Emo believes that Tayo should be out enjoying the White benefits.
• Loved war and doubled as the Gambler in the ancient story that was told during Tayo’s journey
• Murderer of many Japanese, Pinkie (Emo’s close follower) and Harley (Tayo’s “friend”)
• Night Swan
• Josiah’s Mexican lover
• Tayo’s first lover
• Mexican up the tree that many Laguna people were frightened of
• Mother of Betonie
• Ts’eh
• Represents the yellow mountains
• Tayo’s true lover who helps him stick with the Laguna traditions and shares stories with him.
• Is married to the hunter and collects Tayo’s cows for him when Tayo chases them down the mountain

Plot

• The thought woman creates the story, and Betonie tells it, it is a mix between Tayo’s journey and a few Laguna traditional stories including one of the Gambler and the Sun Father. Both stories coincide and unravel at the same pace although more emphasis is on Tayo’s
• Tayo’s journey begins when he is dreaming of what happened in Japan, the war, the people, Rocky’s death, the alleged killing of Josiah, and the foggy hospital, this all happens on the ranch and makes it appear as if Tayo is insane.
• Tayo keeps flashing back to memories of how he and Rocky used to live together,  his relationship with Josiah, the animals they used to have, the rainy weather in Japan, and the cows Josiah bought.
• Harley takes Tayo out drinking and Tayo remembers when he stabbed Emo in the stomach (where Emo’s fake stories are kept) because Emo was recalling a glorified version of the war and and the women he slept with. Tayo believes there is no good in war and is upset that Emo enjoyed the killing of men.
• Tayo then remembers being at Auntie’s laying on the bed and having a medicine man try to fix him, but this medicine man does little except ease the pain.
• Tayo remembers Josiah and the time Tayo slept with Josiah’s woman but this is viewed differently in this culture so it was not as big of a deal as it would be in the White culture
• Tayo remembers a life of homelessness with his mother when Tayo is brought to Betonie in hopes of finally clearing his mind
• Tayo goes on his ceremony which first happens in Betonie’s room and then continues as he sleeps with Ts’eh and then follows the stars to save Josiah’s Mexican cattle from the Whites
• Tayo has a moment with the mountain lion who shows him where the cattle are and then once Tayo saves the cattle and is captured by White rangers the mountain lion’s tracks lead the rangers to give Tayo up in hopes of catching the lion. Which doesn’t happen as it snows shortly after they leave.
• Tayo makes his way back to Ts’eh with the Hunter who is the wife of Ts’eh. At their home Tayo learns they captured the cattle and they promise to keep them until his return. When Tayo leaves and then returns with Robert, Ts’eh and the hunter are gone but the cattle are healthy and well feed.
• The next spring Tayo volunteers to take care of the cattle full time to Uncle Robert and Auntie’s obvious relief.
• Tayo watches the cattle in the mountain and meets Ts’eh again, the two enjoy their time together but then Uncle Robert comes and warns Tayo that Emo is spreading lies about Tayo saying that Tayo is crazy so their happy time comes to an end.
• Ts’eh then leaves Tayo and Tayo goes further in the mountain to avoid the Whites who are coming after him and Emo. Sadly Tayo sees Harley and believes Harley and Pinkie have his best interest at heart so he gets into their truck. Tayo soon realizes there is an underlying tension in the truck so when Harley and Pinkie leave him alone, drunk and passed out he takes his chance and runs.
• Tayo finds water and while hiding in the rocks watches as Pinkie and Emo mutilate and kill Harley. This is hard for Tayo to watch and although he contemplates killing Emo he stays hidden keeping the balance between good and evil, as killing Emo would have been exactly as the witches wanted. In staying hidden Tayo completes his ceremony and returns home to Auntie.
• Emo and Pinkie appear to not be caught but then Emo drunkenly kills Pinkie and so the tribe kicks Emo out of the area.
• The book ends with Old Grandmother saying that this has happened before and is not a unique story, except for the names.

Quotes:

    “‘It seems like I already heard these stories before… only thing is, the names sound different.’” (242) This shows that this is not a unique story and that the balance between good and evil is alway an issue somebody must always step up to represent good and there is always a Gambler acting in evil ways.

    “But as long as you remember what you have seen, then nothing is gone. As long as you remember, it is part of this story we have together.” (215) keeping the story is just as important as taking part in it because that is how the morals and goodness is kept.

Theme

    In Ceremony  Silko suggests good and evil exist in everything and are therefore meaningless classifications, understanding this allows one to achieve personal and commercial balance.