The Preservation of Identity in Ceremony: Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony.

1634 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Identity in english literature

The Preservation of Identity in Ceremony The concepts of change and identity are problematic for the characters within Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. Tayo’s hybridity represents all that the Laguna people fear. The coming of change and meshing of cultures has brought an impending threat of ruin to Native American traditions. Although they reject him for his mixed heritage, Tayo’s journey is not his own but a continuation of the storytelling tradition that embodies Native American culture. Through tradition he learns to use his white and Mexican heritage to identify himself without abandoning his Native American practices. Tayo’s journey begins with his visit to Night Swan. Unknowing to Tayo, she embodies the mountain spirit Ts’eh and when Tayo sleeps with her, his life becomes a retelling of an older story. Tayo takes refuge with Night Swan and opens up to her about his feelings involving being estranged from his family and the Laguna people. Opening up to others is something that he struggles with throughout the rest of the novel. “I always wished I had dark eyes like other people. When they look at me they remember things that happened. My mother” (Silko 99). Tayo’s mixed heritage brings the notion of change and the Native American people fear that change will cause them to lose their culture. “They think that if their children have the same color of skin, the same color of eyes, that nothing is changing” (Silko 100). The Native Americans think that keeping everything the same and not meshing cultures will preserve theirs, but Night Swan acknowledges that this would only lead to ruin. Things that don’t change simply don’t grow. Without changing the old traditions, the culture won’t be able to survive in this new world they... ... middle of paper ... ...acters of mixed heritage opened Tayo’s eyes to reveal to him the knowledge of both worlds, a vantage point that people without mixed heritage had a difficult time comprehending. Change is threatening to the Native American people; the emergence of white society has shifted their world and brought ruin. They try to preserve their culture by rejecting white society but have instead made themselves stationary and unable to grow. Tayo’s hybridity, although rejected by many, revives the old traditions of storytelling and ceremonies. The identity of the Native American people is different now that it has meshed with white society. They are survivors of a war with themselves. “It seems like I already heard these stories before… only thing is, the names sound different” (Silko 260). Works Cited Silko, Leslia Marmon. Ceremony. New York: The Viking Press, 1977.

Show More
Related

  • Indian From The Inside Native American Culture Summary

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between

    Read More

  • Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    The novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko follows a young man, Tayo through his journey beginning when he returns home to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation, from World War Two; and is very ill. During the narrative Silko introduces us to Tayo's life before the war, which gives insight to reasons of why Tayo is ill. Through out his illness Tayo goes through many ceremonies both literally and metaphorically to try to cure his ailment. One of the ceremonies that is performed, is lead by Old Ku'oosh, the medicine man, where he performs a cleansing ceremony for someone who has killed someone in battle, even though Tayo doesn't recall killing anyone. However, he adds that this ceremony, which he has been performing for many of the returning war soldiers, has not worked for all of them. He then recommends another medicine man with the tools to cure and perform ceremonies, for the old ceremonies, since the white man had arrived, have not been able to cure the new diseases. Along with the medicine man ceremonies he also goes to American "white" doctors, which also acts as some what of a cleansing for him. In his case vomiting is can also be used as a ceremony for Tayo because he uses it to cleanse his body of the poisons and evil, both physical illness and mental illness. The ceremonies that Tayo goes through whether traditional through a medicine man or contemporary like visits to the psychiatrist and stays in the hospital, all add to his recovery, either through physical or mental cleansing.

    Read More

  • Kinship In Waterlily

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    With her attention to the kinship practices of Waterlily’s family, Deloria shows that the Dakota society uses these practices to honor and grace the members of their family. She allows readers to see that members of the Dakota society valued the interconnectedness of their society and aimed to extend it through kinship practices. In the quest to insure that all people in the Dakota community received honor, the members of Waterlily’s tiyospaye used these kinship practices properly insure that respect follows them for all of their

    Read More

  • The Earthboy Place by James Welch

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    McNickle, D'Arcy. "A Different World." Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Vizenor, Gerald. United States of America: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1995, 111-119.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Peace Came In The Form Of A Women

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    Native American’s place in United States history is not as simple as the story of innocent peace loving people forced off their lands by racist white Americans in a never-ending quest to quench their thirst for more land. Accordingly, attempts to simplify the indigenous experience to nothing more than victims of white aggression during the colonial period, and beyond, does an injustice to Native American history. As a result, historians hoping to shed light on the true history of native people during this period have brought new perceptive to the role Indians played in their own history. Consequently, the theme of power and whom controlled it over the course of Native American/European contact is being presented in new ways. Examining the evolving

    Read More

  • Spotless in Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony"

    1310 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cutchins, Dennis. " `So That the Nations May Become Genuine Indian': Nativism and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony." Journal of American Culture 22.4 (1999) : 77-89.

    Read More

  • Tayo In Ceremony Essay

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tayo is a Native American from the Laguna Reservation in New Mexico. He was born a ‘half-breed’ being part native and part white never knowing his white father. His mother left him at age 4 turning over custody to his Auntie. She never wanted to be responsible for Tayo that saw him only as a burden to her household. Although, Tayo did have people in his life that supported him. He had his uncle Josiah who was his father figure growing up, he taught him about life. He also had Grandma who taught Tayo the native traditions, she cared for him unconditionally. When Tayo joined his aunt’s family he gained a brother Rocky; while auntie never let them be called brothers they bond they shared was one of brother hood. The two

    Read More

  • "Custer Died For Your Sins" Analysis

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the work is 40 years old, “Custer Died for Your Sins” is still relevant and valuable in explaining the history and problems that Indians face in the United States. Deloria’s book reveals the White view of Indians as false compared to the reality of how Indians are in real life. The forceful intrusion of the U.S. Government and Christian missionaries have had the most oppressing and damaging affect on Indians. There is hope in Delorias words though. He believes that as more tribes become more politically active and capable, they will be able to become more economically independent for future generations. He feels much hope in the 1960’s generation of college age Indians returning to take ownership of their tribes problems and build a better future for their children.

    Read More

  • Conflicts In Ceremony, By Leslie Marmon Silko

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko is a novel that follows the recovery process of a Native American soldier, Tayo. The novel takes place after World War II and Tayo has just returned from the war. Tayo seems to be experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the horrifying scenes he witnessed while overseas. Silko incorporates flashbacks from Tayo’s war experience to show the readers what it is that he is going through. Not only is he on a journey to find healing, he is also trying to discover who he is. As a Native American of mixed blood, Tayo experiences tension between the two cultures. Raised as a Native American, Tayo attends a white school that causes conflicts due to differences in beliefs. Not only does Tayo have both cultures

    Read More

  • Tayo's Identity In Ceremony

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tayo and his cousin Rocky grew up together practically as brothers and attended a school where they were taught by whites. Curiously, it was Rocky who denounced the Native American traditions and wanted to leave the community and to “win in the white outside world” (Silko 47). Traditions such as covering the head of the deer after hunting, was something that Tayo believed in and followed, along with other Native American traditions that Rocky, a full-blooded Native American, declared as superstition. Tayo, being half white, could have just as easily as Rocky worked toward a place in the city with white men, but because of his mixed identity, Tayo always thought of himself as an outsider. He felt even less at home with the white men, because he grew up around Native American culture and

    Read More

  • This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona: Stereotypes

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona” discusses the physical and mental journey of Victor, a Native American man in the state of Washington, as he goes to Phoenix, Arizona to claim his father’s remains and his savings account. While on this journey, Victor learns about himself, his father, and his Indian culture with the help of his estranged friend, Thomas Builds-the–Fire. The author, Sherman Alexie, plays on the stereotypes of Native Americans through the characters of Victor and Thomas. While Thomas is portrayed as the more traditional and “good” Native American, Victor comes across as the “bad” Native American. Through the use of this binary relationship, Alexie is able to illustrate the transformation of these characters as they reconcile with each other, and break out of these stereotypes in the process.

    Read More

  • Tayo In Ceremony

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    He feels connected to his native side because of his mother, family members, and the way he was brought up. He feels close to his white side because of his father and his relationships with multiple white friends he has made in the war. Tayo says, “I’m half-breed. I’ll be the first to say it. I’ll speak for both sides.”

    Read More

  • Poahhontas, And Boutique Multiculturalism In 'The Other'

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first factor that we shall discuss is the concept of ‘The Other’ and ‘Boutique Multiculturalism’ in order to understand how Disney's portrayal of Pocahontas in its film has misrepresented the actual historical account. The notion of The Other is defined as, ‘An individual who is perceived by the group as not belonging, as being different in some fundamental way’ and at the same time, ‘The Other is almost always seen as a lesser or inferior being and is treated accordingly’. (Melanie 2010). In the case of Pocahontas, she was considered The Other because her Native American world was considered to be fundamentally different to the explorers of the New World, who were physically similar yet different, speaking another language and using distinct signs (Coppi Agostinelli 2012:2). Through the understanding of The Other, we begin to understand how Pocahontas and her tribe are seen as The Other in the eyes of the colonists who considered themselves to be from a more civilised culture. Similarly for the Powhatan’s tribe, the unwelcomed colonists are considered to be The Other as they are seen to come from an unknown culture. As Melanie has suggested, The Other is often treated as the inferior group, especially in the face of what is considered to be backwards and tribal versus civilised and modern. According to Ono and Buescher, while Pocahontas’ story is meaningful in the Native American history, it is not told as such because of its inferiority in comparison to colonists’ account of the turn of events (2001: 25). From this brief look into the notion of The Other, we can begin to understand how Disney's portrayal of Pocahontas in its film has misrepresented the actual historical account.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Silko's Ceremony

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tayo faced a struggle of recognizing his essence: the true definition of himself outside and most especially inside. Being a half Native American and half-Caucasian in an environment of a Native American tribe in Laguna, he was constantly reminded of being an outcast. Externally, whenever he would try to fit in any of his race, both sides would reject him with ridicules. As Emo stated against Tayo, “There he is. He thinks he’s something all right. Because he’s part white. Don’t you, half-breed?” It presented hatred from a full-blooded Native American because, “the only reason for this hate was that Tayo was part white.” In fact the shame of being a “half-breed” continued down to his relatives. Auntie’s, “shame for what his mother (Tayo’s) had done, and Auntie’s shame for him (Tayo),” was surprising even though she was one of the closest blood relative of Tayo. On his Caucasian side, encounters were similar with the Native Americans. He was not truthfully acknowledged by the Caucasians he encountered under the shadows of his military uniform, which symbolizes “his service and loyalty” for the United States because, “they had the uniform and they didn’t look different no more. They got respect” . He was automatically disregarded as “the different o...

    Read More

  • The Dilemma Of A Ghost By Ama Ata Aidoo

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    When two cultures meet, there is usually a disagreeable point. Either one tries to dominate the other, or both struggle for acceptance. This is shown by Eulalie’s behaviour in the presence of her in-laws and the reaction of Ato’s family upon knowing of his bride. Eulalie’s disgust at the ways and manners her fiancé’s family relate with her points out the theme of clashing cultures. Eulalie considers many of Ato’s family customs backwards and is disdainful of many of them. She also makes ignorant statements about the African women and culture. She states that all palm trees are the same, and she declares that knowing the difference does not really matter. The woman’s nonchalant act of smoking and excessive drinking displeases Ato’s family and even Ato himself. Ato’s family, on the other hand, displays the prejudice of thinking of African-Americans inferior because they are descendants of slaves. They think it is strange for Eulalie to have no tribe or surname, likening her to a “tree without roots.” When they hear that Eulalie is an African by descendant, the women in the house start weepi...

    Read More

More about The Preservation of Identity in Ceremony: Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony.

Open Document