Ceremony

A detailed Summary of Ceremony

The development of Tayo in Ceremony is a long, slow, and at times, very exhausting journey. We first meet Tayo shortly after his involvement in the Second World War. Tayo is very sick and is confused about how to face his feelings of the world, often turning to alcohol to take his mind off of his problems for awhile. Tayo is finally persuaded by his grandma to go get help from an old Indian medicine man. With the help of the medicine man, Tayo searches through his past and ancient Indian culture to find the root of the problem and is better able to find a solution. As the story unfolds we see Tayo evolve from a sick war veteran troubled by scenes of violence and war, into a boy who is trying to understand the rituals and ceremonies of his heritage, and finally into a man who helps completes the "cycle of life," which not only restores himself, but the land around him.

When Tayo comes home from the war he is in very bad shape. He has not only witnessed the violence of war firsthand, but was also a part of the destruction himself. Tayo is "conned" into going into the war not only by the white recruitment officer but also by his cousin/best friend Rocky. Rocky wants to be part of the white world and has always disbelieved the

Indian stories and culture. I believe this is part of the reason Tayo has gotten away from his heritage. Tayo also goes to war partly to look after Rocky for his aunt's sake. After watching Rocky get shot, Tayo snaps and returns home very sick. Tayo is disturbed by scenes of his past and is often unable to do anything during the day. We often find Tayo trying to suppress his feelings with alcohol in the local bars with his friends. Tayo's friends are also veterans of the war but instead of sickened by it they long to have those days back. The days when they were respected as Americans not looked down upon as Indians. They too want to be part of the white world and want to have what the white men have. They want what they got to have briefly while they fought the white man's war. They are tired of living on the cursed land. Tayo on the other hand thinks this is strange and does not want to be part of that. He wants to the restore the land on the reservation. These are some of Tayo's first steps to recovery, recognizing that he has to get away from the destroyers and they're destruction.

Tayo is persuaded into getting help from a popular medicine man named Betonie only after realizing that he does in fact need help. This is where we come to the "crossing point" in the novel. As Tayo crosses the bridge in Gallup he is also crossing the bridge to recovery. Tayo goes to Betonie's home overlooking the city of Gallup below. At first he thinks of running back but decides he needs to go through with this if he wants to get better. Betonie forces Tayo to look into his past. It is here that we learn of Tayo's dark past. Tayo has always lived amongst Indians who care nothing of their past and also want to be part of the "destruction". From here Tayo is taken to a place deep in the mountains where none of the outside world is visible. Betonie takes him through severa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Rocky Rocky, Tayo Betonie's, Betonie Tayo, War Tayo, Tayo Ceremony, land tayo, destruction tayo, mountain lion, , fence uranium, recovery tayo, violence war, indian culture, restore land, white world, tayo goes,

Approximate Word count = 1274
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels