Silko's Ceremony is the story of a Tayo, a half Caucasian, half Native American, from the Laguna Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico, and his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder on his return from World War II (Vianes). He has survived being held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese, and is suffering the physical and mental effects of this captivity, and this is compounded by the added pressures of biculturalism tearing him between the Native American world and the White world. Throughout the novel, Silko introduces the paradoxes which run through American culture, values, and history. Tayo tries to reconcile the ideas that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, yet rejects its own native citizens; Native American soldiers are dying in a war defending the country which seized their lands; while history sustains Native American culture, White America often discredits or changes history to justify its actions; America places very little value on Native Americans, yet commercializes them and their culture; it recognizes their worth only when dangerous situations arise; America always tries to find peace through violent means; Native Americans struggle to preserve their history, full of culture and wisdom, yet edited versions of American history are readily available to everyone.
Tayo cannot find relief with Western medicine, and it is only through Native American ceremonies that he realizes the convergence of life and begins to understand the cyclic nature of emotions he has experienced (Vianes). Tayo discovers a new sense of bravery - not the American ideal linked to the military and heroism, but that which can be found within himself. He learns that courage and peace do not come immediately, but gather slowly inside as they are found from within. Through the Native American ceremonies, Tayo adds emotional and mental strength to the concept of bravery. The novel serve as a reminder to American...