Ceremony Final English Paper
The book Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko details the story of Tayo, a young half-Native American and half-white boy who has a powerful relationship with nature. When Tayo was a boy, he felt connected with the world around him, but after he went to war, his connection to the earth started to fall apart. However, after the ceremony with Old Betonie, Tayo’s attitude towards nature improves again. The changes in Tayo’s relationship with nature seem to match his mental and physical well-being. Tayo’s changing relationship with nature parallels his health and welfare.
When Tayo was younger, he had a strong relationship with nature. When Tayo “was a little child he always wanted to pet a deer, and he daydreamed that a …show more content…
Interestingly, after Tayo goes to war, his relationship with nature worsens considerably, and that relationship often parallels the severity of his sickness. When Tayo was in the Philippines for the war, the weather was incessantly rainy, so Tayo “damned the rain until the words were a chant . . . all the time he could hear his own voice praying against the rain” (11). The fact that he “damned” the rain shows an immediate disconnect between him and nature. Before he went to war, Tayo performed a ritual to bring the rain back, but now, however, he wishes the rain away. Josiah, his uncle, had told him that, “praying . . . should be something he felt inside himself” (86); by “praying” against the rain, Tayo shows how his separation from nature is connected to his personal self. When Tayo is in the hospital, he says that, “He reached into his own mouth and felt his tongue; it was dry and dead, the carcass of a tiny rodent (14). To compare his own tongue to the “carcass” of a rodent shows that Tayo equates himself with dead nature. Before, Tayo felt “love” from the dying deer, but now he thinks that the rodent in his mouth is “dry” and “dead.” The contrast between how he considers animals before and after he goes to war shows how he has lost his loving connection to nature. Later, when Tayo is outside, he notices that “The more the wind blew and the sun moved southwest, the less energy Tayo had” (23). The wind’s diminishing of …show more content…
After the ceremony with Betonie, Tayo no longer gets severely sick and panics at his memory of Josiah and Rocky, his uncle and cousin respectively. He concludes that, “He stood there with the sun on his face , and he thought maybe he might make it after all” (221). Tayo performed the ceremony with Old Betonie as an attempt to make Tayo healthier and help him understand his culture and purpose. The ceremony with Old Betonie appears to have made Tayo better, both mentally and physically. The fact that he is “going to make it” implies that the drastic effects that the war had on his well-being are starting to disappear. Tayo’s mentioning this while he has the “sun on his face” proves that so does his relationship with nature gets better as he himself gets better.. During Old Betonie’s ceremony, Tayo travels to the top of a mountain and notes that, “the mountain wind was cool . . . it was a special place. He was smiling. He felt strong” (129). He claims that he feels “strong” when he is with nature and is “smiling;” being in nature now has a positive effect on Tayo. The strength and happiness that Tayo feels from the mountain show how both his relationship with nature and his health are improving. He also later says that, “The sunlight moved up and down his back like hands, and he felt the muscles of his neck and belly relax”
The book Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko details the story of Tayo, a young half-Native American and half-white boy who has a powerful relationship with nature. When Tayo was a boy, he felt connected with the world around him, but after he went to war, his connection to the earth started to fall apart. However, after the ceremony with Old Betonie, Tayo’s attitude towards nature improves again. The changes in Tayo’s relationship with nature seem to match his mental and physical well-being. Tayo’s changing relationship with nature parallels his health and welfare.
When Tayo was younger, he had a strong relationship with nature. When Tayo “was a little child he always wanted to pet a deer, and he daydreamed that a …show more content…
Interestingly, after Tayo goes to war, his relationship with nature worsens considerably, and that relationship often parallels the severity of his sickness. When Tayo was in the Philippines for the war, the weather was incessantly rainy, so Tayo “damned the rain until the words were a chant . . . all the time he could hear his own voice praying against the rain” (11). The fact that he “damned” the rain shows an immediate disconnect between him and nature. Before he went to war, Tayo performed a ritual to bring the rain back, but now, however, he wishes the rain away. Josiah, his uncle, had told him that, “praying . . . should be something he felt inside himself” (86); by “praying” against the rain, Tayo shows how his separation from nature is connected to his personal self. When Tayo is in the hospital, he says that, “He reached into his own mouth and felt his tongue; it was dry and dead, the carcass of a tiny rodent (14). To compare his own tongue to the “carcass” of a rodent shows that Tayo equates himself with dead nature. Before, Tayo felt “love” from the dying deer, but now he thinks that the rodent in his mouth is “dry” and “dead.” The contrast between how he considers animals before and after he goes to war shows how he has lost his loving connection to nature. Later, when Tayo is outside, he notices that “The more the wind blew and the sun moved southwest, the less energy Tayo had” (23). The wind’s diminishing of …show more content…
After the ceremony with Betonie, Tayo no longer gets severely sick and panics at his memory of Josiah and Rocky, his uncle and cousin respectively. He concludes that, “He stood there with the sun on his face , and he thought maybe he might make it after all” (221). Tayo performed the ceremony with Old Betonie as an attempt to make Tayo healthier and help him understand his culture and purpose. The ceremony with Old Betonie appears to have made Tayo better, both mentally and physically. The fact that he is “going to make it” implies that the drastic effects that the war had on his well-being are starting to disappear. Tayo’s mentioning this while he has the “sun on his face” proves that so does his relationship with nature gets better as he himself gets better.. During Old Betonie’s ceremony, Tayo travels to the top of a mountain and notes that, “the mountain wind was cool . . . it was a special place. He was smiling. He felt strong” (129). He claims that he feels “strong” when he is with nature and is “smiling;” being in nature now has a positive effect on Tayo. The strength and happiness that Tayo feels from the mountain show how both his relationship with nature and his health are improving. He also later says that, “The sunlight moved up and down his back like hands, and he felt the muscles of his neck and belly relax”