The author is an Indian from the Laguna Pueblo tribe whose name is Leslie Marmon Silko.
Setting:
The main setting of the book is on an Indian reservation.
Significant Characters:
Tayo: Tayo is the main character of the novel and the book's protagonist. Tayo struggles with being caught between two worlds because he is half Laguna Pueblo and half white. He fights in the war and comes back home with severe post traumatic stress which cannot be cured by the Laguna Pueblo. He then goes to find and fix himself through a journey to bring his two cultures together.
Auntie: Auntie is an interesting character because she is very appearance-driven. She puts off this exterior that she really cares about her culture and family when really all she cares about is how the community views her and thinks about her and her family. She lost her prize of a son, Rocky, in the war and didn't hide the fact that she wished it had been Tayo instead.
Betonie: He is a medicine man, he tries to bridge together white and Laguna Pueblo cultures together as he guides Tayo through his Ceremony.
Plot:
Ceremony begins showing Tayo deeply disturbed by the loss of his cousin/brother Rocky during the war. Later on we learn that Rocky and Tayo were very close friends. Obviously this is very traumatic for him. Back at the reservation, he lives with Auntie, Robert and Grandmother. Tayo is a very troubled person because he is half white and half Pueblo Indian. In his culture this has made it difficult for him because not only is he different but he doesn't know who he is. His mother left him at a very young age and he never knew his father. The closest thing he probably had to one was Josiah, who unfortunately passes away. Tayo is not the only war veteran struggling with post traumatic stress, his friends are as well. These friends are not a very good example because they are using alcohol to deal with their problems.
Laguna Pueblo medicine does almost nothing to help Tayo. Tayo is sent by Ku'oosh to Betonie, a medicine man who will be good for Tayo because he has connections to white culture. He says that he must have a new ceremony to help Tayo and fix the drought. Tayo eventually finds the cattle and then he and Robert pick them up. Then Tayo learns that Emo (the villian of this story) and his friends are doing bad things and are blaming Tayo for them therefore he is in trouble with the police. Tayo is on the run and while he is hiding Emo and the gang tries to catch him, trying to lure him out of hiding by hurting Harley, but Tayo is too smart for that. Tayo is then cured.
Theme:A huge theme in this book is that one cannot totally connect both white and Laguna Pueblo cultures, but accept them into their lives and two equal parts of themselves.
Important Quotes:
"They never thought to blame the white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling and it was the white people who took it away again when the war was over."
-This quote was really meaningful to me because it makes me sad and makes me think about how often people want to be like and want things from people who hurt them over and over again.
