Ceremony - Analysis

Meaning: Balance between old customs and new while remaining connected to one’s heritage is key to a healthy existence.

·         Plot: Tayo only returns to health after undergoing a ceremony that mixes Native tradition with Western culture, during which he connects with Ts’eh, the human embodiment of earth and Tayo’s heritage.

·         Imagery: Things often come in fours in the novel.  Four is a very natural number (four seasons, four directions).  There are four mountains in the book as well as rooms having four windows.

·         Setting: Ceremony constantly switches setting between the jungle of WWII and Tayo’s home.  This constant shifting makes the audience incredibly aware of Tayo’s unbalanced mind.  As Tayo heals, the book becomes more fluid.

·         Title: The title is a reference to Betonie’s updated Ceremony that healed Tayo.

Narrative voice:  Ceremony features two distinct narrative voices: the voice in the poetry, Betonie, and the narrator of Tayo’s life.  The narrator of the prose is unremarkable.  Opinions are voiced subtly. The images focus on colors, such as the white and grey hospitals, the green jungle, and the yellow desert.

Quote 1: “He had drifted in colors of smoke, where there was no pain, only pale, pale gray of the north wall by his bed” (Silko 14).  This quote includes both the lack of color characteristic of Tayo’s experience with illness in white hospitals, and the focus on the cardinal directions.  The image of smoke promotes the emptiness inside of Tayo.

Quote 2:  “The night was getting colder; he could see the steam from his breath in the moonlight” (Silko 230).  Tayo’s body functions play a large role within the novel, with him rejecting himself through puking.  This breathing highlights that Tayo is a warm life amongst the cold of the world.  This occurs right before he witnesses Harley’s murder.