The central conflict of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony is Tayo’s struggle to gain psychological wholeness in the face of various traumatic experiences, ranging from a troubled childhood to cultural marginalization and combat experiences during World War. Throughout the novel, the key to Tayo’s psychological recovery is his rediscovery of Native American cultural practices. Most of…
Tag: Ceremony
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: Setting
Pueblo Indians The people of the Anasazi tradition inhabit the area of what is now the Southwestern United States (from Taos, New Mexico, to the Hopi mesas in Arizona). They are named Pueblo, meaning “village Indians” in Spanish. They live in concentrated villages of buildings constructed from adobe local clay, and stone. These buildings are…
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: Literary Devices
Narrative Silko once explained the Pueblo linguistic theory to an audience (found in Yello Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit) and that theory explains the narrative technique of her novel. “For those of you accustomed to being taken from point A to point B to point C, this presentation may be somewhat difficult to…
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: Themes
Evil The Pueblo concept of reciprocity did not allow for evil. They believed that because all things were interconnected, they simply had to keep up their end of the bargain. For example, when a hunter takes a deer, he sprinkles cornmeal to the spirits. If the dances and ceremonies are done, the crops will be…
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: Characters
Auntie As a Christian, Auntie represents a break with the traditional ways and beliefs. In addition, she is a martyr in her own mind. As she says in the novel: “I’ve spent all my life defending this family … It doesn’t bother me but this hurts Grandma so much.” She reminds every member of the…
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: Summary
Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony tells the story of Tayo, a mixed-blood Native American from the Laguna Pueblo reservation who is severely traumatized by his unstable childhood and combat experiences during World War II. As the novel progresses, Tayo attempts to recover from these deep psychological wounds by drawing on various Native American cultural traditions. His…