Customer Reviews

Ceremony

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I'd read some of Leslie Marmon Silko's short stories before starting on this novel. They were like gems, polished, smooth, and echoing with a gentle quiet not commonly found in English literature. CEREMONY is a far more ambitious undertaking; the building of a literary castle. Set in New Mexico, in and around Laguna Pueblo, immediately after WW II, the plot concerns a young Indian war veteran who has been traumatized by his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese. When we meet him, he's barely conscious, being released from a mental hospital. He lost his half-brother on the Bataan death march, his favorite uncle had died at home, a herd of special cattle---adapted to life in the desert---has disappeared, and his old friends are drinking themselves away in bars. To top it all off, Tayo, the central character, is illegitimate and half-white, raised by relatives, not accepted fully by everyone in the family. He seems destined for the asylum, jail, an early death from alcohol, or suicide; not exactly unknown fates for young Indians then or now.

Elders arrange a healing ceremony for him, but the healer is a maverick, not tied to traditional methods. Tayo's whole life and consciousness merge into the healing process and that process begins to look like a prescription for the Indian peoples in North America to heal nearly-fatal wounds dealt their cultures over the last five centuries. Silko sees the materialism and violence of Western civilization as a curse threatening the continued existence of everyone on the planet, a curse stemming from evil itself rather than from a particular group of people. In tones that ring most uncannily today, she wrote in 1977 [p.191] "If the white people never looked beyond the lie, to see that theirs was a nation built on stolen land, then they would never be able to understand how they had been used by the witchery; they would never know that they were still being manipulated by those who knew how to stir the ingredients together: white thievery and injustice boiling up the anger and hatred that would finally destroy the world: the starving against the fat, the colored against the white."

The ceremony thus begins as a curative ritual for a single man, but expands beyond a simple hogaan to the whole world. Dream figures come to life, life becomes a dream, life is healing and healing is life. Silko attempted a very difficult task and I am not sure that it is entirely successful. Sometimes, the pieces don't seem to match. Her World War II sequences don't ring entirely true either. Americans never evicted Japanese soldiers from caves before the Bataan death march; they were not executing prisoners then. The shoe was on the other foot. But these are quibbles. CEREMONY's language, the poetry, the beauty of the land, the theme of healing--- all come through to make an unforgettable novel, an original voice that deserves an honored place in American literature. If you have a special interest in Native American literature and have enjoyed N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, or Sherman Alexie, Silko's work will be a welcome addition.

Never have I read such a novel as cathartic and therapeutic as Silko's "Ceremony". I first encountered it in an English Lit. class in college. As 'sophomoric' as I thought I was at the time, it was not until a few years later that I reread the novel and fully grasped what was being said through the protagonist Tayo and his actions.

"Ceremony" is a journey of the soul, a Bataan Death March that we are all forced to experience at some point or another in our lives. That is what makes this novel timeless and accessible to us all. Leslie Marmon Silko, who I believe won a literary award for this novel, opens the heart and mind of the reader to a theme which has been recorded since the ancient Greeks (see Aeschylus' "Oresteia"), that of mathos through pathos, enlightenment through suffering.

Having already paid a heavy price as a veteran of WWII, Tayo returns to the suffering of his tribe. It is then that Tayo is able to recover what he never knew he had lost, his heritage and soul that was intricately linked to everyone and everything around him. The author attacks the demons plaguing Tayo with the rich symbolism in Native American culture (pay particular attention to the use of yellow and blue colors) and the aid of an enigmatic medicine man. Silko's weapons are in Native American song and myth, histories that empower Tayo to fight the state of mind that oppresses the Laguna Pueblo people on his reservation. With this, Tayo is able to finish his Bataan Death march once and for all, his past behind him, and his heart born again as true a Native American.

Richard Alvarez Gonzalez 802-90-0261 Expository Writing

Review of Ceremony

War is one of the most terrible evils man has known, yet is has been going on for ages. Since the beginning of known history man has been at war with his fellow man, himself and the world. In Leslie Marmon's novel Ceremony the point of view towards war is different from that of most people. A sense of loss takes central stage in the novel; loss of loved ones, loss of land, of heritage, and loss of self. Tayo and his cousin, Rocky, joined the army looking for a way out and adventure, they would go and fight a Great War. While fighting in the jungles of Asia, Rocky gets killed. Now Tayo is back, the war is over, but not for him. Tayo feels responsible for his cousin's death. He was supposed to protect him and he failed, and now his memory haunts Tayo's every second of existence. In the beginning of the novel we take a look into Tayo's disturbed and tormented mind, as he takes us along the story of his life, of death, war, and rejection. Tayo is a man desperately trying to hold on to his sanity while he wastes it away on a bottle of alcohol which sends him into constant sickness spells and confines him to a bed from which he is terrified to move. As his sickness progresses, Tayo is taken to see a medicine man that sends him on a journey to retrieve his uncle's dreams, thus putting his own fears and doubts to rest. It is during this journey that Tayo completes his healing process with the aid of a woman with whom he will fall deeply in love, Ts'eh, a mystical character that appears and disappears various time in the novel, seeming as if a dream or a creation of Tayo's mind. Ts'eh is a very interesting character because there seems to be various references to her in the novel, but with different names, adding another spark of magic to the story, and making it a trip into fantasy and wonder. Of course, the story is full of legends and mystical occurrences, unlikely events that seem to complete the story and make it right; and poems that interrupt the story and explain the Laguna people beliefs, merging with the story and coming together in a story of hope. Complex and engaging, Ceremony reveals a whole new world of magic, mysticism and beauty. It is a book that must be read carefully in order to understand all the little details here and there, which will in order reveal a much larger picture. A piece of literature which may carry different meanings, and messages, to different readers.

This book is absolutely beautiful. I will warn you now, however, that it is not an easy read. It is complex and multifaceted, which makes it too complicated to be a fluff book even though it is fairly short. Reading it takes some serious thought.

The plot of Ceremony is that of a half Native American man who comes back from World War II and has difficulties dealing with the world he returns to. At first he turns to alcohol but he is slowly drawn to healing not only himself but the world around him with the revised rituals of the Laguna people.

The book is incredible for the issues it covers and on the way it discusses them. The questions of belonging, of being an outcast, of the mixing of cultures and of one's role in a greater society are just some of the topics that get discussed in the story. But they are not put easily on the surface for any person to pick up on. To understand at least some of what the book is really about one must get through the layers and really read between the lines. This is a good thing. It adds to the depth of the book and makes it much more potent.

It does, however, make the book much harder to read. Not only are the main themes hidden within the main plot but the way the book jumps back and forth between present and past, events and memory, can be very confusing unless one keeps careful track of what is going on. But all this means for the intelligent reader is that she or he must pay careful attention when reading, which is a good idea anyway since the book is filled with connections and underlying themes.

Ceremony is a very descriptive and intriguing novel. Silko presents us various situations of the Laguna Indian's life and their struggle to determine their self-identity. The characters were chosen very wisely. Tayo, the main character, is an Indian who served in the war and witnessed the death of his cousin Rocky. The war and the death of his cousin have caused him an internal conflict that haunts him. While he tries to untie the knots in his mind, his family and friends think that he has gone crazy. He also has to deal with the shame of his mother's past and the hate of Emo, a war-vet who hnows him since childhood, who envies Tayo's white roots. The autor presents us various types of Indians. The Indian who denies his culture presented by Rocky. Harley characterizes the sterotype Indian who is always drunk and in troubles. Emo presents the Indian who wishes to be part of the white world. Silko also presents us Auntie, the racist Indian, who discriminates against her nephew Tayo because he is part white. Betonie characterizes the typical medicine man that is an important character in the Indian's culture. Silko presents us these situations throughout anecdotes and memories told by the characters. The author uses poerty to presents us various legends that are part of the Laguna Indian's culture. This provides us a mythical background or explanation of the situations that are occuring. The author changes frequently from present to past. This may confuse the reader but it does mantain you in suspense asking yourself what will happen next.

In the book Ceremony, Tayo is a young Native American who is returning home to the Laguna Pueblo reservation after being held captive by the Japanese during World War II. Tayo deals with needing to find a solution to cure himself from the horrors of being held captive. Tayo is traumatized by many things, including being ordered to shoot a crowd of Japanese soldiers and watching his cousin Rocky die, driving Tayo out of his mind. After staying in a Veterans' Hospital for a while he returns to his home, with his Grandmother, his Auntie, and her husband Robert. He returns to the family that raised him after his mother left him at the age of four, giving birth to him by an unknown white man. He suffered the kind of trauma that left it hard for him to have the motivation to survive.
What made it even more difficult for him was the fact that other soldiers found comfort in drinking and mindless violence. Tayo needed to search for another kind of way to find comfort and resolution. He finds himself on a journey leading him back to the Indian history and its customs, from its beliefs about witchcraft and evil to the ancient stories of his people. In his search he finds a sense of healing, undergoing a kind of ceremony that overpowers the most dangerous of sufferings and misery. Ku'oosh performs for Tayo a ceremony for warriors who have killed others in battle. However, both Ku'oosh and Tayo fear that the ancient ceremonies are not going to be the solution to Tayo's mental anguish. Tayo is helped but not cured by Ku'oosh's ceremony. Tayo continues his journey of healing and peace through the help of Ku'oosh and the medicine man, Betonie, until he finds what he's looking for.
I definitely recommend this book, the quality of Silko's writing is very brilliant in a way that she interweaves the individual stories of Tayo and his people. She includes poems that tell old yet fascinating stories, as Tayo's quest unfolds. You really get into the kind of mental anguish that a veteran goes through after their experience being in a war and what they often have to deal with once they come home. Silko draws out her personal experience as a Native American in this story. She also uses the art of storytelling, a tradition of giving the present awareness of the past.
Native American storytelling assures that each version will slightly be changed and modernized for better understanding. Moreover, Silko goes to a certain depth in which she talks about the history of the Natives, giving forth the realizations of the sufferings that they had to go through when the foreigners came and invaded their lands. Through this reading, the readers are given a sense of the author's opinion about her concern in preserving the Natives American culture, its traditions, natural resources, and language, with a combination of awareness and reality of its history under the whites. Silko, herself is also of mixed ancestry, she doesn't blame the whites wholly, she also voices out the mistakes of the Native American people as well. She reprimands the people who continue to hold a tight grudge on the past, and talks about the need to accept the changes that have occurred in order to survive as a people and community.
There weren't really too many women's issues in the book, but what stood out was the trivialization of power through the character of Auntie, Tayo's aunt. Thelma is one of the negative characters in the book, who follows the Native American tradition in a damaging manner. Auntie misinterprets both the Native American and the Christian tradition and as a result it clashes both cultures and ends up affecting all the characters. Auntie is next in line to be the matriarch of the family. She feels that she must take on this responsibility to the community and set a good example to everyone. Thelma feels that she must also be the one to protect her family name and avoid bad gossip that can ruin it, to give merit to the position she is soon to have. For her, she feels that in order to gain the respect or her peers she must suffer the sins of others, a complete misunderstanding of her responsibility to her clan. In the Native American culture women have a voice and they have power, yet they carry a great deal of responsibility to their clan.

Ok, ok. So I'm a suburban WASP (well, half on the W) kid with far too much time on my hands. And except for what I've read in books, I don't know jack about Native American culture. But any way you slice it, this is an extremely well structured book.

Silko's writing style is very mystic, with adequate doses of hope and cynicism throughout. The integration of Native American poems throughout the novel is very interesting, as the stories parallel what is happening in the book, and they offer interesting symbols and history. It takes a bit of analyzing, but the result is very rewarding.

The main character Tayo is almost too easy to sympathize with, as many of the people around him are immature alcoholics or self righteous pricks, most notably the aunt. The narrative can be confusing, with its flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks. I had to read over many parts multiple times.

The ending is especially beautiful, though a bit precarious. The way the book starts and ends with "sunrise" suggests a cyclical nature to life. And, this sounds really stupid, I felt more connected to the earth after reading it.

If there's one drawback, other than the occasionally frustrating prose, it's that Silko's authenticity in depicting a battleground setting is questionable. For the most part, though, the scenes are not trying to show the horrors of war so much as stress certain key points of the story.

It can also make you sick if you're easily grossed out by vomit. I feel it in my belly...

I teach this novel every semester at a university. I have taught it in courses on American Indian literature and in courses on American novels (no ethnic categories). It can stand up against any American novel you can name, in terms of its emotional impact, its artistic achievement, its prose style, its narrative structure -- anything. I admit it is a challenging novel, but it is well worth the work. It is best if you can read it with others, or in the context of a class or online study guide. Some reviewers here are high school students who read it for class, and I admit that may be asking a lot of high school student to dig into the novel as much as it needs/deserves. But that can be done, especially with the right kind of guidance. However, it is hard for me to imagine teaching a university-level course on American Indian literature without teaching Ceremony.

A careful reading of Silko's masterpiece is a ceremony in itself. Its enduring power is testiment to Silko's ability as a poet and a storyteller in the oral tradition. It is best to know something about the Pueblo Indian cultures in general, or better yet, Laguna Pueblo culture specifically, before reading this, just to understand the nuances of the story.

Mixedblood protagonist Tayo must come to terms with a world in which he is not accepted entirely as Indian, but where most whites would not even recognize his anglo half. Tayo's journey through many worlds speaks to human spiritual connectedness to the natural world, where interesting and unusual intersections occur, whether on an island in the South Pacific or within the protected space between the four sacred peaks of New Mexico. If any reader finds this book slow reading, the problem is in the reader's understanding, not in the storyteller's craft. For other versions of some of the poetry in _Ceremony_, read Silko's earlier book _Storyteller_, a collection of poems and stories, several of which appear in _Ceremony_.

In an age of interactive television, virtual reality, and all other such technological advances, people have forgotten the transportive power of words. Reading Leslie Marmon Silko's CEREMONY is a stirring, mystical experience. Each time Tayo discovers something about the universe and about himself, the reader learns something, too. We are privelaged to be a part of the healing ceremony, to take part in the storytelling. Each time I walk through CEREMONY with my students I am reminded how massive and minute the world really is. To think such a spellbinding and visionary book was written over decade and a half ago!