Use of Medicine in Ceremony
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To understand the use of medicine to cure illness in Leslie Marmon Silko's 1977 novel Ceremony, medicine must be regarded within a cultural context. Traditional Western medicine is based on the belief that illness is organically determined, relying mainly on drugs and antibiotics for cures. Other cultures, such as the American Indian culture portrayed in Ceremony, tend to believe that all aspects of the self, including the emotions and spirit, need to be considered in treating illness. In Silko's novel, the two differing views of medicine result in a cultural clash that impacts the character of Tayo. Part of the clash is based on the ramifications of the American colonization of Native Americans. The Indian approach to illness differs from that of western medicine in that most illnesses are thought to have a spiritual origin and therefore can only be cured by contact with the spiritual world through the intervention of a holy man, a medicine man or shaman. Tayo suffers from the effects of malaria and what later came to be termed Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD).His condition is both medical and psychiatric. The Army medics "called it battle fatigue and they said hallucinations were common with malarial fever" (8). While the malaria and PTSD are contracted when he was a soldier in World War II, his depression and physical symptoms such as vomiting and hallucinations are also rooted in the conditions of his earlier life, and his designated place as a "half-breed"-- half
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d by drinking heavily with his friends who are other Indian veterans. Their excessive drinking leads to violence, and Tayo only becomes sicker. The insinuation is that whites cause Indian illness. This is articulated by Emo, Tayo's friend and another veteran who thinks the Indians "blamed themselves just as they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took. They never thought to blame white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friendsà" (43). The result of this kind of thinking is self-hatredùblaming the victim rather than the victimizer. Silko, however, seems to believe both worlds, Indian and white, need to be integrated to live in contemporary society. Her belief is illustrated by the two medicine men of the novel: old Ku'oosh and Betonie. Old Ku'oosh tries to cure Tayo first. The old man tries traditional Indian cures but to no avail. He admits that, "There are some things we can't cure like we used toànot since the white people cameà." (38). He also says, ""I'm afraid of what will happen to all of us if you and the others (other veterans) don't get well" (38). The Pueblo Indian culture attributes evils they could not deal with to witchery, and the medicine man is responsible for challenging
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Pueblo Indian, Tayo VA, Native Americans, Veterans Administration, Native American, Emo Tayo's, War II, American Indian, VA Hospital, Santa Fe, western medicine, white people, va hospital, army doctors, indian culture, cure tayo, curing ceremony, pueblo indian, medicine cure, native americans, pueblo indian culture, makes matters worse, white army doctors,
Approximate Word count = 1761
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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