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Tayo, the main character in Leslie Marmon Silko’s book titled Ceremony, is
found trying to rediscover himself, his past and his purpose in life after
returning from the war. He soon discovers that he is part of and greatly
involved in an unfolding ceremony that is desperately needed. Tayo must
complete this ceremony to rid himself and his people of the “witcheries,” but in
order to do this he must overcome a number of obstacles throughout his journey.
These obstacles or barriers take on several various forms throughout the story
and the reader is able to experience, along with Tayo’s the threat that each one
poses in keeping Tayo from finishing the ceremony.
One of these barriers that Tayo must overcome is the shame that Auntie
places
on Tayo for being a “half-breed” and a burden to her. Tayo’s learned shame for
himself can be seen in the scene where Auntie begins to explain what happened
with Tayo and his mother. She begins the story by telling him that no one else
would ever tell him this story because it hurts them too much to because of the
shame. “She swallowed hard to clear the pain from her throat, and his own
throat hurt too, because without him there would have not been so much shame and
disgrace for the family” (70). From this statement we can tell that Tayo has
learned this shame, or pain from Auntie because he swallows in pain after
her--following her lead. Auntie reinforces this attitude of shame toward Tayo
by purposely keeping a distance between them, and especially in the way that she
is constantly praising Rocky for his success in school. Auntie’s acquired
humiliation of Tayo and his mother’s actions is constantly placed upon Tayo
creating the belief that he is inferior—causing him to constantly doubt
himself.
Tayo is effected immensely by the war, so much that even the slightest
remembrance of it makes him want to vomit. While in the “white man’s war” Tayo
was taught to value death and destruction as were the other soldiers. The
audience is shown this in the description of Emo. “He was the best, they told
him; some men didn’t like to feel the quiver of the man they were killing; some
men got sick when they smelled the blood. But he was the best; he was one of
them. The best. United States Army” (62). Before Tayo had gone to war he had
learned when he was younger to respect the dead and their spirit, which can be
seen in the part of the story where he is hunting a deer with his adopted
brother Rocky. After having killed the deer Tayo “took off his jacket and
covered the deer’s head” (50). “They sprinkled the cornmeal on the nose and fed
the deer’s spirit” (51). This care taken for the dead is obviously far from the
harsh realities that Tayo had been part of during the war. As Tayo begins to
think back on all the death of the war, comparing it with the way he was taught
to honor life and death, he begins to feel guilty. This guilt that he holds
onto is yet another hindrance for him.
To add to this, the drinking rituals that Tayo partakes in with his
so-called
“buddies” are not helpful to him in facing his emotional problems. It seems to
actually make theme worse, especially when he has to listen to the insults of
Emo. One such insult was, “You drink like an Indian, and you’re crazy like one
too—but you aren’t shit, white trash. You love Japs the way your mother loved
to screw white men”(63). This insult made Tayo, who was already feeling on
edge, become so enraged at Emo that he stabbed him with a broken bottle. This
anger that Tayo has needs to be dealt with in a different way, a way that only
the old stories can provide. The reason he drinks is because it puts him in a
place where he feels comfortable. “He was beginning to feel a comfortable place
inside himself, close to his own beating heart, near his own warm belly; he
crawled inside and watched the storm swirling on the outside and he was safe
there; the winds of rage could not touch him”(40). Even though this created
“alcoholic safe haven” may seem nice it doesn’t encourage Tayo to get on with
living, causing a delay in the realization of his true purpose—the ceremony.
Another episode that involved drinking and Tayo’s not so great bunch of
friends
was the torture of Harley by Emo. Tayo knew that originally Emo had planned to
make him the victim, but instead he had settled for Harley because he was the
one who let Tayo get away. During the torturing of Harley, Tayo had to sit and
listen to his screams from his hiding place, wanting to stop Emo from killing
Harley. “He was certain his own sanity would be destroyed if he did not stop
them and all the suffering and dying they (the destroyers) caused—the people
incinerated and exploded, and little children asleep on streets outside Gallup
bars” (252). Emo was one of the destroyers, the ones that wanted Tayo to fail
in his complement of the ceremony and he almost did because of the horrid
torture of Harley that he had to witness. Tayo had so badly wanted to kill Emo,
but he knew that if he did that he wouldn’t be able to finish the ceremony. He
most likely would have ended up back at the mental hospital and the “witchery,”
the “destroyers” would have won. Luckily, Tayo successfully ignored his impulse
to kill Emo and stayed hidden not letting the “witchery” win.
An important step in Tayo’s progress was the comprehension of who the
“destroyers” were and what they wanted. Before he was given this knowledge by
Betonie he had harbored hatred towards the whites. “They want us to believe all
evil resides with white people. Then we well look no further to see what is
really happening”(132). From this wisdom that Betonie gives Tayo he is able to
see that his hatred is destructive to himself and that he is able to overcome
them, the “destroyers”, the white people because it was Indian witchery that had
made white people in the first place. So with this new sense of understanding
and control Tayo is capable of now focusing on the ceremony and not his hatred
for white people.
A few scenes later though, Tayo is brought another obstacle. This obstacle
comes in the form of doubt. The doubt of Betonie and the old stories, and even
of the ceremony. The doubt floods into his mind with the memories of his
science class and his teacher explaining to a Jemez girl that they can dissect
the frogs. According to the teacher, the frogs wouldn’t get angry or bring
floods, like the girl thought that they might because of what the people had
said in their stories (194). The teacher had even laughed at the girl and said
that it was superstition. Another thought that adds to this doubt is the
explanation of the army doctors about why Tayo had seen Josiah when they had
shot at the Japs. “It’s just superstition,” they had all told him.
Throughout all of these complications that Tayo must face he gains strength
with each challenge, in his belief for himself and in the belief of the
ceremony. This new found strength allows him to succeed in ridding himself and
his people of the “witchery” despite all of the obstacles that he has had to
face along the way. |
