At the climax of Ceremony (the novel) and of Tayo's ceremony, Tayo must watch Harley being tormented by Emo; he feels the desire to "[jam] the screwdriver into Emo's skull," but he remains as an observer and does not act. Why must Tayo stay passive in this scene? How does that help his "recovery," and what exactly does Tayo achieve at the completion of his ceremony? To what extent must Tayo act in either a passive or an active way in the earlier components of the ceremony?
Conversely, how might we describe the journey of Emo, Harley, Pinkie, and Leroy as an anti-ceremony? What does Silko mean when she says, "Their deadly ritual for the autumn solstice would have been completed by him"? (253 in my book; paragraph beginning "The moon was lost in a cloud bank.")
You don't need to answer all of these questions, but this should give us plenty of room for discussion.
10 comments:
The scene where Tayo watches Harley being tormented by Emo almost acts as the end of his “ceremony”. It is only by watching such gruesome torture, and not participating in it, can Tayo move on from his past. If Tayo had in fact gone through with jamming a screwdriver into Emo’s brain, he would have been just like the rest of them ,“another victim, a drunk Indian war veteran solving an old feud”(235). Throughout entire novel, Tayo has been fighting to keep distant from his friends at the cost of becoming just like them. Just as his aunt points out in the beginning of the novel, his friends are the typical war veterans who drown their sorrows in alcohol. The “ceremony” which Tayo completes, as stated in the post, is a mix of passive and active acts. The event which Tayo must face in the end is one of the passive components of the ceremony. However, many other acts, such as that with Betonie where he must step through hoops, are active components of the ceremony.
The journey of Emo, Pinkie, and Harley has been quite opposite to that of Tayo. In the beginning Tayo joins them in their habitual drinking, leading Emo to accuse Tayo of being “no better than the rest of us”(55). It seems that Tayo indulges in these activities with his friends, to make him feel a part of something. In experiencing this loss of identity after war, Tayo has become so focused on finding that which makes him feel whole. Drinking with his friends provided him with a temporary feeling of identity, however Tayo longs for more than just that. His three friends have continued down the path of so many war veterans, and Tayo is determined not to travel down that same path. The scene at the end, is certainly a form of “anti-ceremony”, because it is almost as if these men are still in the war-like state of mind with their “hands and knives so greedy for human flesh”(233). Through the completion of the ceremony he has rediscovered his roots, and in doing so he has let go of his troublesome past.
I agree with Erin that the significance of Tayo remaining passive as Harley is tortured is that he resists becoming like the others. By restraining himself Tayo won’t become one of the “destroyers.” Avoiding violence requires great strength on Tayo’s part because watching them reminds him of the atrocities he has seen: “He was certain his own sanity would be destroyed if he did not stop the suffering and dying they caused – the people incinerated and exploded, and the little children asleep on streets outside Gallup bars. He was not strong enough to stand by and watch any more. He would rather die himself.” (234) By remaining passive, Tayo is able to prevent becoming a victim of the “witchery” the others have fallen prey to.
I also agree with Erin’s comment about how this act of restraint marks the end of Tayo’s ceremony. This final act helps him to let go of the anger and hatred he has been feeling after the war. Resisting his violent urges is a way of overcoming these strong emotions. It also serves to help Tayo with his identity crisis. Observing his so-called friends during the last part of the ceremony highlights the differences between Tayo and them. Tayo realizes that he is not like Emo and the others. Although the thought crossed his mind, he did not join them and he realized that they were not his true friends. Tayo resists becoming one of the Indian war veterans who “couldn’t seem to make it” (235) according to the whites. He also does not become the kind of person that his people would feel guilt and shame for: “At home the people would blame liquor, the Army, and the war, but the blame on the whites would never match the vehemence the people would keep in their own bellies, reserving the greatest bitterness and blame for themselves, for one of themselves they could not save.” (235) Although Tayo realizes that Emo and the others are not actual friends, he realizes he has a deep connection to these people at home. It is their opinion that matters most and he does not want to disappoint them.
Great comments, Erin and Tara. I want to invite the other posters to build on these comments by thinking about how exactly this scene acts as the end of his ceremony, as Erin and Tara put it. What elements of it make it ceremonial? And is this passivity new, or does it reflect other, earlier parts of the ceremony?
As Erin and Tara wisely pointed out, the scene with Harley and the others is the climax of the story because it explores the breaking of a pattern. He notes “The witchery had almost ended the story according to its plan…their deadly ritual for the autumn solstice would have been completed by him” (235). In many ways this makes the scene seem almost anti- ceremony, as often times a ceremony is an event, steeped in ritual, which is repeated by others over the course of time. Within the context of the novel, though, as it becomes clear that “they were not his friends but had turned against him” (225)Tayo recognizes that while “human beings were one clan again” (228), there were several conflicting rotations of ceremonies being performed, and in order to perform one he had to turn his back on another. This acknowledgment of a necessary loss or sacrifice is a common element in rituals—the participant is required to give some of himself to get results.
In some ways the previous parts of his ceremony, the appropriation of the cattle, his journey through the woods, were proactive. They required initiative and individual resolve to be completed. Tayo at some points, however, seems to be allow pieces of himself to take over while others lay dormant- at first he is driven by righteous indignation to set free the cattle, beholden entirely to his emotions, but at the first sign of trouble he is again ruled entirely by logic, trapped with the realized consequences of his risky actions. Later he is forced into passivity to the world around him, to fate. He had no control over the mountain lion that appeared, nor on the actions of the hunters or his girl. Tayo is forced to rely on, and experience firsthand the interconnectedness of humans and nature. However, it is by his own volition that he does not succumb to the numbness of alcohol, cleanses his body. It is in the culmination of his ceremony that passivity and activity come together- fate calls the truck and its occupants into Tayo’s vicinity, but it is he alone who resists the allure of the screwdriver, the atomic bomb he holds in his hands, capable of terrible destruction both for himself and others. Tayo weathers the trials through much doubt and difficulty, and, though not unscathed, makes it through whole, perhaps more-so than he was when he started. This isolation, this act of self-discovery and renewal, helped mostly by the wisdom of the land, is what makes his experience a true ceremony.
I also agree with Erin’s comment on why Tayo decides not to act against Emo’s actions. He would be undoing any progress that he had made towards the ceremony which would have made it a pointless journey.” The white people would shake their heads, more proud than sad that it took a white man to survive in their world and that these Indians couldn’t seem to make it”(235). The ceremony’s initial purpose was to unify Tayo with his Native American heritage and give more of a reason for his culture to be mocked. Perhaps he thought fighting would put Emo to some unfair disadvantage. Emo was not only drunk at the time but he was also not on the same level as Tayo due to their ceremonial differences. Tayo and his friends both have different methods of healing. Tayo practices a method that is beneficial to his whole being. The others resort to drinking which temporarily suppresses their grief yet never seems to make a positive impact.
I definitely agree with everyone else who said that Tayo’s passivity at the climax of the story aids in his healing process. In being removed from the situation, he can have a clear view of what is happening. This in turn serves to point out the differences between Tayo’s ceremony and his “friends” ceremonies. The fact that he chooses not to act simply proves that he has matured and chosen the superior path toward a better life. In not acting, he ultimately rejects the path the others have taken, which consists of drowning one’s pain and grief in alcohol. Tayo finally realizes just how destructive this path can be as he views the torture of one of his former friends.
I also really liked Ariel’s point about how the ceremony’s “initial purpose was to unify Tayo with his Native American heritage.” This being said, maybe Tayo realizes during this passage that he should act the way his ancestors did. Throughout the novel the Native Americans are portrayed as being passive on the whole, even as white people came and conquered their land. Though they stood their ground, they also allowed the white people to limit their land to reservations. In a sense, they were like Tayo in that they saw horrible actions happening around them, yet they chose not to become involved, but rather to remain true to their culture and themselves in the midst of the absurd.
I think the key aspect of Tayo's passivity in the ceremony is that is reflects the give and take relationship that their culture has with nature. At some points, nature dominates their lives, like how the drought dictacts their crops and cattle, and so it is imperative that the humans fight against nature. Other times thought, humans must remain passive, and watchful, as the healing ability of nature (demonstrated by this ceremony and the earlier ceremony done by Betonie in the hogan) can give us guidance. The continuation of this give and take relationship gives Tayo's cleansing the ceremony aspects. The harvesting of herbs takes from nature, but the prays spoken by medicine men relinquish Tayo's self and soul to nature. Claire put it best when she said "Tayo is forced to rely on, and experience firsthand the interconnectedness of humans and nature." It seems as though the ceremony is the capstone in that realization.
Again, my religion class has got me thinking. We have been talking about rituals in the Jewish religion and I read a quote that immediatly reminded me of Ceremony. "The Jews do not keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath keeps the Jews." It made me thinking of the idea of rituals as losing importance over time. As Betonie pointed out, the rituals had to change, but as in Jewish tradition, the particulars are not important. It is the meaning behind each action that helps Tayo heal and become whole again.
I think it acts as the end of his ceremony, as Erin and Tara suggested, because he is finally able to recognize his anger and to restrain from acting on it. Becasue he is able to control his emotions and to resist them he is breaking the pattern that so many native american veterans have created.
Earlier on in the book when Tayo is cutting the cattle fence, he feels bad becasue it is a white man's land, and that he ouldnt have stolen the cattle. Native Americans are conditioned to feel that the white men can do nothing wrong, it must always be a "mexican or native american who have stolen".
The torture of Harley shows how the others have continued the native americans cycle of showing their anger for institutional racism/disempowerment by taking it out on their own people.
Tayo's passive observation allows him to clearly see the effects of the war and the ceremony on himself.
Tayo's ceremony is completed when he is able to show restraint when he is observing Harley being tortured by Emo. By allowing himself to separate from the situation enough to show this restraint and not participate in the act of violence, by hurting Emo, Tayo is showing the reader and himself, that he is capable of moving past what he carries with him from the war. On page 234 it says, "He understood that Harley had bargained for; he realized that Harley knew how it would end. . ." Tayo was able to recognize that he cannot hold onto his guilt for not protecting Rocky enough, because it is not his fault. Rocky went into the war knowing what could possibly happen and Tayo did his best to shelter and provide for his best friend. Sean summed it up well when he said, "Tayo's passive observation allows him to clearly see the effects of the war and the ceremony on himself." By holding himself back from the situation, Tayo was able to bring his experiences into perspective and see how they shaped him into who is today.
This does act as the end of the ceremony, not only because of the symbols in the cave, but because of how Tayo reacts to the heinous torture of his friend Harley. His whole life he had blamed himself for the deaths of Josiah and Rocky, and his whole life his connection to life was slowly eroding away. He can't escape his past because he shoulders the responsibility for things that he had no control over. He wasn't able to save his closest friends, and in order to complete the ceremony he and to accept that a certain element of loss is a part of life.
As he progresses deeper into the ceremony, his connection with humanity and materialism slowly withers and is replaced by his strong sense of nature. After the first part of the ceremony is completed, that is the ritual with the medicine man, Tayo is walking down the road and he is picked up by Harley and Leroy. He wants to, "catch a grasshopper and hold it close to his face, to look at its big flat eyes and shiny thin legs with strips of black and brown like beadwork, making tiny intricate designs" but his friends force him to ride with them. Whenever Tayo allows himself to be pulled back into Indian society, he becomes miserable. Ignoring Harley's torture is extremely hard for him, but just when he is about to give in the elements of nature remind him that he now belongs to the earth. The important things, such as the mountains and animals, will always be with him.
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