Analysis of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
In the novel, Silko explores the gender roles of four women and the significance to the development and actualization of Tayo's character. These four women are Tayo's birth mother, Auntie, old Grandma, and Ts'eh (a Montano). Because Tayo is of mixed ancestry, half white and half Native American, Tayo discovers he has a "natural" cultural flaw imposed upon him at birth, which would linger and expand into adulthood. At four years old, Tayo's birth mother left him with his Aunt and Grandmother so they could raise him as their own due to her alcohol addiction and vicarious life-style. "He didn't remember much: only that she (mother) had come after dark and wrapped him in a man's coat - it smelled like a man - and that there were men in the car with them . . . he clung to her because when she left him, he knew she would be gone for a long time . . . there were tears all over his face and his nose was running (Silko 65-66)." Nonetheless, Tayo's sense of emptiness and abandonment began. Auntie raised Tayo and was the mother figure he lacked. However, Auntie reluctantly accepted this responsibility because she could
It is when Tayo meets and falls in love with Ts'eh, a mystical character that appears and disappears in various parts of the novel, that he completes his healing journey. The significance of Ts'eh to Ceremony is very powerful and vital to the recovery of Tayo. She lives up in the rim rock and is in tune with the land and her surroundings. Being torn between the white world and the Indian world and the unfortunate circumstances of his upbringing, leaves Tayo feeling invisible and hollow inside. Ts'eh helps him to become in touch with his Indian side and to feel strength and power from the land. She teaches him the importance of certain plants, flowers, and ceremonies and how they are significant to Native American culture and survival. Thus, after falling deeply in love with her, Tayo begins to feel alive again. He Unlike Auntie, old Grandma, does accept Tayo as her own blood and wants only the best for him. For instance, when Grandma suggested, "It was a private understanding between the two of them. When Josiah or old Grandma or Robert was there, the agreement was suspended, and she pretended to treat him
Some common words found in the essay are:
Nonetheless Tayo's, Otherwise Auntie, Grandma Robert, Ts'eh Ceremony, Aunt Grandmother, , American Tayo, Auntie Grandma, Native American, Montano Tayo, tayo's birth, birth mother, ibid 32, auntie grandma, tayo added, feeling invisible, native american, tayo feel, ibid 29, tayo's birth mother,
Approximate Word count = 761
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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