Ceremony Part One

While reflecting back on this past week in SLCC, our class discussed the more meaningful and deeper quotes in order to better understand the sporatic mindset of Tayo within the first part of the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. Before Tayo had gone off to war he was facing a gruesome drought and as a result, he prayed for rain. It wasn't until he was in the war that he had gotten what he had yearned for. "Jungle rain lay suspended in the air, choking their lungs as they marched; it soaked into their boots until the skin on their toes peeled away dead and wounds turned green" (Silko 11). Tayo had prayed for rain but it had only come at the wrong time and he didn't want the rain when he was in the war. This can further be taken in to account as to be careful what you wish for and you don't know what you have until its gone. Another scene that ties into the idea of not knowing what you have until its gone is the image that the soldier portrays to the citizens. "The war was over, the uniform was gone. All of a sudden that man at the store waits on you last, makes you wait until all the white people bought what they wanted. And the white lady at the bus depot, she's real careful now not to touch your hand when she counts out your change" (Silko 42). The uniform shows that Tayo is a soldier and being in the military is very high ranking, therefore he is highly respected. Not only does the uniform illustrate one's ranking in society, but it eliminates race. Tayo is highly respected in his uniform regardless of the fact that he is a native, however, once the uniform was removed, all respect and high ranking was gone and he was back at the bottom of the chain in society.

After Tayo returns home from the war he is forced to face the horrible effects that the prison camps and the deaths of his friends had thrust upon him. Unlike his friend Harley who used alcohol as his refugee, Tayo found solitary through storytelling. "He realized the others weren't laughing and talking any more. They were listening to him, and they weren't smiling" (Silko 42). Being able to tell others what he had gone through and knowing that he was genuinely being listened to made him feel that he was worth something when he had gone his whole life being told he wasn't. "He could feel the words coming out faster and faster, the momentum building inside him like the words were all going to explode and he wanted to finish before it happened" (Silko 42). Telling his story released his pain a little bit every time. Knowing that his friends whom he was telling the story had also gone through similar pain made him feel more at ease because he knew that they could relate to him and that he wasn't the only one who was in pain. As our class progresses into this next week we will review part two of Ceremony and go more into depth of how Tayo deals with his his post traumatic stress.