Ceremony (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Leslie Marmon Silko
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: Just after World War II
- Setting: Laguna, New Mexico
- Principal Characters: Tayo, Rocky, Josiah, The Night Swan, Ts’eh, Auntie, Grandma, Ku’oosh, Betonie, Harley, Emo, Leroy
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Mythological literature
- Subjects: Values, Self-discovery, Mythology or myths, Race, Nature, Social issues, 1940’s, World War II, Alienation, Guilt, Spiritual life or spirituality, Mental illness, Native Americans or American Indians, War, Multiculturalism, Illegitimacy, Mysticism, Southwest, Mexico or Mexicans, Rites or ceremonies, Time, Smoke
- Locales: Laguna Pueblo, NM
The Story:
Tayo and Rocky joined the Army because Rocky wanted to join and because they both wanted to travel. However, the young men had not planned on seeing the Philippine jungle and the death that occurred there. Tayo could not bring himself to shoot Japanese soldiers because they all resembled his uncle Josiah. Rocky was killed, and as the rain poured down incessantly, Tayo cursed it and begged for it to stop.
Back at Laguna, New Mexico, Tayo saw the result of his curse. The land was dry, and nothing was growing. Tayo was as sick as the land. He kept throwing up and...
[The entire page is 2248 words long]
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