Ceremony Leslie Marmon Silko How does war bring meaning to life? And how does one find meaning in life after war?

Terms to Know Folklore: traditionally derived and orally or imitatively transmitted literature, material culture, and custom of subcultures within predominantly literate and technologically advanced societies; the term folklore is sometimes restricted to the oral literature tradition A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by the traditions of a community

Talk it Out What ceremonies do you celebrate? Why?

Introduction the story of Tayo, a Native American returning from World War II, who is seeking to resolve his war sickness, find peace with loss, and reunite with his past combination of flashbacks, narratives, and glances into the future, as well as rhymes and chants, to tell the story of an American Indian war veteran trying to recover his life after losing his cousin in WWII

a young World War II veteran, Tayo, born of a promiscuous Navajo mother and a nameless white father mental illness and identity crisis from the horrors of the war against the Japanese in the Philippine jungles and is kept for a while in a Veterans hospital his mother's family on a reservation in New Mexico As the story weaves back and forth between Tayo's past and present, it sometimes blurs a little, and readers may lose their bearings for a moment. But they will be rewarded, if they keep reading, with an emotionally convincing picture of a culture unfamiliar to most. (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 1977)

Author Background mixed Laguna Pueblo, white, and Mexican ancestry, grew up on the Laguna Pueblo reservation in New Mexico, where she learned Laguna traditions and myths combines concerns of Laguna spirituality, such as the relationship between human beings and the natural elements, with complex portrayals of contemporary struggles to retain Native American culture in an Anglo world

Talk it Out What do you know about Native Americans’ involvement with World War II? Consider your homework, other history classes, movies, etc Parallel to undocumented citizens fighting in war

Important Matters Honoring secrets? “On one hand, we read because we wish to know and seek to understand…on the other hand, the sacred traditions of the Laguna people are not meant for everyone to know and understand” (multicultural wiki). "The Navajos believe that language does not merely describe reality, it creates it" (p. 390). Toelken comments, and adds "Since words and narratives have power to heal, they may also be used to injure and kill” (Allen 1990).

Important Matters Foreign religion? “The book’s theology is somewhat wasted on the unitiated” (Sedey). Foreign language? Page Foreign matriarchy? 2/3 major gods in Pueblo are women

Important Matters Foreign medicine? Connections to Bless Me Ultima “The healers who work out of the Indian tradition try carefully to examine the sick person and then guide him, with story and ceremony, to a position where he is in tune with the universe, rather than in conflict with it” (Sedey).

Important Matters Real vs unreal? Ts’eh Montano… ghost-like character, not bound by time, space, and/or geography “Her presence is verified only through the filter of Tayo’s perceptions, and Tayo has already been certified as a cracked vessel” (Sedey).

Talk it Out How might the character of Ts’eh Montano connect to The Things They Carried?

Important Matters Identify issues – Mixed blood, accepted nowhere, shame of family, object of judgment (internally and externally) Inclusion vs. Exclusion – “Humanity is a family and its health is found in staying together” (Sedey). Order of killing? – When is murder ok? – Contrast in belief systems of Native Americans and the “whites”

Literary Devices…STRUCTURE Past, present, future Linear vs non-linear Foreshadowing and flashbacks Lack of chapter breaks, blend of poetry and prose “[Tayo] cried the reflef he felt at finally seeing the pattern, the way all the stories fit together—the old stories, the war stories, their stories-to-become the story that was still being told. He was not crazy; he had never been crazy. He had only seen and heard the world as it always was: no boundaries, only transitions through all distances and time” (Silko).

Talk it Out Discuss the connections between this quote and Tim O’Brien’s contrast between story-truth and happening-truth. “[Tayo] cried the reflef he felt at finally seeing the pattern, the way all the stories fit together—the old stories, the war stories, their stories-to- become the story that was still being told. He was not crazy; he had never been crazy. He had only seen and heard the world as it always was: no boundaries, only transitions through all distances and time” (Silko).