"Ceremony"

Paper Summary:

This paper studies "Ceremony", a novel by Leslie Marmon Silko about native Americans. The paper analyzes how the novel seems to be focused on the most minute, bleak and tawdry details and yet it is actually commenting on the broadest realities, the deepest human longings and powers. The author of this paper demonstrates how Silko is microscopic in her portrayal of Tayo, the novel's main character. Through a discussion of Tayo's life experiences, character development and emotions, the paper asserts that Silko ultimately contrives her books so that Tayo can finally see the pattern -- the way in which all his stories fit together.

From the Paper:

"Silko can be unrelentingly microscopic in her attention to detail. She tells you more than you ever wanted to know about what it feels like to be really drunk, and really poor, and totally desperate, and guilty, and remorseful. She captures the dismal ambiance of cheap bars in Gallup, makes you know what it feels like to be a native American in despair at the loss of his people's honor and dignity--not to mention their land and their heritage. But she doesn't tell you in an elevated tone, through an essay or a lecture. She hits you at a gut level with all the violence and the vomit that accompanies alcoholism, poverty, and hopelessness. Silko doesn't just say that whites and Indians mistrust each other and treat each other badly. She uses the way Tayo's Auntie Thema, a Christian Indian, treats her half-white nephew, her subtle facial expressions and unexpressed anger and embarrassment, to reveal the subtleties of hatred and mistrust that characterize the underlying racial themes of the book."

More papers on "Ceremony":

• Term Paper # 125870 : "Ceremony in Native American Cultures"
• Book Review # 73859 : "Myth in "Ceremony"
• Analytical Essay # 70619 : "Ceremony"
• Analytical Essay # 115785 : "Japanese Tea Ceremony"

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