Ceremony
Leslie Marmon Silko
Traditionally, Native American culture is oral, and everything from biology to
history to morality in medicine is passed on in the form of stories.
This mode of storytelling is presented in the Ceremony in the form of poems,
both framing the main narrative and are interspersed throughout. These stories are
basically traditional Pueblo stories are usually known to be out of context in regard to
the novel. Toys tales only reflects the traditional stories, and is also considered to be
original. Along with the arrangement of the prose and poem passages, it can be
clearly understood as Silko’s personal intervention in the communal process of
storytelling. The stories teach Tayo that he is not alone, both because he has shared
stories with a community as a whole and also because the content of the ancient
stories remind him that others before him have had similar experience he isn’t the
only person alone, and there is always hope for renewal. It can seen that Ceremony
presents an attempt to contend with the reality of a mixed cultural landscape in a way
that which shows the way Native American culture is going to persist, even though it
changes. Tayo himself gets embodied between the contact of Native Americans and
white cultures, as he shows mixed racial heritage through his green eyes. However,
the relationship between white and Native American cultures is completely shifted in
Ceremony when Betonie reveals that whites are an invention of Native Americans. In
this particular revelation, although they are still considered as a primary destructive
force, white people are basically a part of Native American culture and traditions.
Auntie represents those who simply follow the dictates of traditions, as she mistrusts
any form of an interracial relationship. On the other side Josiah represents those who
belief in the spirit of traditions, such as when there is path of interbreed Mexican and
Hereford cattle to create a herd that will be both hardy and productive. Many of the
traditional stories and ceremonies revolve around ensuring an adequate amount of
rainfall happens. Over here the primary signal of the spirits’ displeasure with
something the people has done is a drought, and one of the major feats of a
destructive spirit is the creation of a drought. However, as Josiah tells too when he is
a child, everything existing around has both its pros and its cons. Small amount of
rainfall can be disastrous as well as too much of rainfall also, Philippine jungle
teaches this to Tayo. Tayo committed a blunder when he forgets the lesson and,
ends up cursing the rain the midst of a flood. Have no clue whether Tayo’s curse was
to be held responsible for the drought on the reservation, it would be good for his
health as well as for that of his community that he learns through his ceremony to
respect the patterns of nature. Once he does that, the rain returns. Silko’s use of
poetry invokes the rhythmic, communal patterns of storytelling of the Native
Americans, while her user of prose belongs to a particular Western narrative
tradition. By the combination of both in her novel, Silko portrays that the form as well
as the content of the story is about the mixing of the two cultures. White and Native
American cultures end up clashing with each other and more often than they
complementing each other, but the prose and poetry come together very easily. Just
as whites are said to be an invention of Native American witchcraft, so is a Western
form of storytelling is shown to be contained within a Native American form of
storytelling. Every year, the white mayor and council of Gallup organize a
Ceremonial. Gallup Ceremonial portrays the ways in which whites misunderstand the
Native American tradition and appropriate it for their own purposes. The town of
Gallup at best ignores and at worst promotes the racist mistreatment of Native
Americans in particular, portrays the ways in which whites are eager to appreciate
the Native American artifacts, but they don’t want to interfere with the ongoing lives
Leslie Marmon Silko
Traditionally, Native American culture is oral, and everything from biology to
history to morality in medicine is passed on in the form of stories.
This mode of storytelling is presented in the Ceremony in the form of poems,
both framing the main narrative and are interspersed throughout. These stories are
basically traditional Pueblo stories are usually known to be out of context in regard to
the novel. Toys tales only reflects the traditional stories, and is also considered to be
original. Along with the arrangement of the prose and poem passages, it can be
clearly understood as Silko’s personal intervention in the communal process of
storytelling. The stories teach Tayo that he is not alone, both because he has shared
stories with a community as a whole and also because the content of the ancient
stories remind him that others before him have had similar experience he isn’t the
only person alone, and there is always hope for renewal. It can seen that Ceremony
presents an attempt to contend with the reality of a mixed cultural landscape in a way
that which shows the way Native American culture is going to persist, even though it
changes. Tayo himself gets embodied between the contact of Native Americans and
white cultures, as he shows mixed racial heritage through his green eyes. However,
the relationship between white and Native American cultures is completely shifted in
Ceremony when Betonie reveals that whites are an invention of Native Americans. In
this particular revelation, although they are still considered as a primary destructive
force, white people are basically a part of Native American culture and traditions.
Auntie represents those who simply follow the dictates of traditions, as she mistrusts
any form of an interracial relationship. On the other side Josiah represents those who
belief in the spirit of traditions, such as when there is path of interbreed Mexican and
Hereford cattle to create a herd that will be both hardy and productive. Many of the
traditional stories and ceremonies revolve around ensuring an adequate amount of
rainfall happens. Over here the primary signal of the spirits’ displeasure with
something the people has done is a drought, and one of the major feats of a
destructive spirit is the creation of a drought. However, as Josiah tells too when he is
a child, everything existing around has both its pros and its cons. Small amount of
rainfall can be disastrous as well as too much of rainfall also, Philippine jungle
teaches this to Tayo. Tayo committed a blunder when he forgets the lesson and,
ends up cursing the rain the midst of a flood. Have no clue whether Tayo’s curse was
to be held responsible for the drought on the reservation, it would be good for his
health as well as for that of his community that he learns through his ceremony to
respect the patterns of nature. Once he does that, the rain returns. Silko’s use of
poetry invokes the rhythmic, communal patterns of storytelling of the Native
Americans, while her user of prose belongs to a particular Western narrative
tradition. By the combination of both in her novel, Silko portrays that the form as well
as the content of the story is about the mixing of the two cultures. White and Native
American cultures end up clashing with each other and more often than they
complementing each other, but the prose and poetry come together very easily. Just
as whites are said to be an invention of Native American witchcraft, so is a Western
form of storytelling is shown to be contained within a Native American form of
storytelling. Every year, the white mayor and council of Gallup organize a
Ceremonial. Gallup Ceremonial portrays the ways in which whites misunderstand the
Native American tradition and appropriate it for their own purposes. The town of
Gallup at best ignores and at worst promotes the racist mistreatment of Native
Americans in particular, portrays the ways in which whites are eager to appreciate
the Native American artifacts, but they don’t want to interfere with the ongoing lives
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