Tuesday, April 10, 2007
For her assignment for the novel Ceremony in grade 11, Guru Mittar wrote an essay about the role of his "friends" in the healing of the main character, Tayo. She bookended the essay section of the assignment with two paragraphs, one at the beginning and one at the end, written from the point of view of Tayo, commenting on his friends' struggle with alcohol and denial.
Tayo’s Healing
The beginning. When I look around me all I can see any more are the cylindrical beer bottles in the hands of my “friends”. Now all I can do is question whether or not I want to live that way. I know that it may be an easier way to heal but does that require me just numbing myself from the world and never facing my life. I look around at my friends and I can see that they have chosen this life style, as a way to cover up the pain or maybe as a way to just forget. Do I want to live like that? I need answers. I cannot just go on telling stories and drinking and never facing what’s in front of me, which is everything.
Tayo, the main character of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko is on a journey to heal himself. He is challenged by his friends and by his mind. People all around him are using false methods of healing. They drink beer and tell stories as a way to cover up the pain they are feeling inside. His friends are blocks that are set up in his life, and he must find a way to distinguish who is really there for him and who is not. Either way all of his friends are there to help him grow. His ceremony would not have been completed without them.
Leslie Marmon Silko has added many instances in the novel when Tayo is faced with a decision to drink. His friends who do it regularly often ask him to join them. All of his friends have lost faith in the old ceremonies; society has made them forget how important the ceremonies are. They know only to drink as a way to hide their pain, “liquor was medicine for the anger that made them hurt” (40). They think beer makes them happy when on the contrary it makes them numb and in less control of themselves.
When they are drunk, they no longer remember the things, which hurt them. The war affected not only Tayo, but it just affected him in a deeper way. There is a part that shows how Harley was affected and how he only began to drink after the war “ Harley didn’t used to like beer at all, and maybe this was something that was different about him now, after the war” (20). Tayo does go with them a lot to drink and because of this he is able to see how idiotic they all get when they are drunk and it upsets him, but they don’t really have a choice: they have forgotten the other ways.
They also tell old stories of war and the times they were respected by the white people. By telling their stories they can remember the past and it continues to feel real. Their stories are what keep them going. The author writes “You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories” (2), but then she also says “the only cure is a good ceremony…” (3) so his friends are never going to heal if they continue to live like this. The beer and the stories they tell will only get them so far.
Tayo’s friends in the novel help quicken the process of his ceremony, like the catalyst to his healing. Without them it would have taken a longer time for him to complete his ceremony. Because in some ways they are reflections of what he does not want to live like and of what he does not want to become, there are instances when he is with them listening to their stories or observing how drunk they are and he gets frustrated and disgusted by them. “Harley had vomited all over himself”… “One of them had pissed… the rubber mat at Leroys feet was wet” (168). These actions taken by his friends help push him, to make the decision not to drink, and to find other ways of healing himself.
One of the main problems for Tayo and his friends is the way society has set them up to believe things. This is also referred to by Silko as the “lie”. If his friends weren’t in constant need of feeling power and respect, they wouldn’t need to tell their war stories any more. Their use was only to remind them of the power they had. By them having to continuously talk about the past and the war, it also brings back the pain, which is then numbed by the alcohol. This is all a process, which was created by them, and society. It seems that if they didn’t let the lie control them, then they wouldn’t need the alcohol or stories anymore, and they could all heal in a proper way.
The lie was intended to make people feel lesser then others. It is all a corruption, and Tayo’s friends have all been captured by it. Tayo could also be if he hadn’t chosen to fight it. He was aware of the lie and how it affects people and how it had the power to affect him. “He cut into the wires as if cutting away at the lie inside himself” (191). His friends on the other hand didn’t have the knowledge and awareness to see how the lie was affecting them. “They would never be able to see what had been done to them or what they were doing to each other” (191).
The main person, who brought Tayo towards the completion of his ceremony, is Emo. He is the exact opposite of Tayo. He is war hungry and proud of the things he did “he poured the human teeth out on the table… they were his war souvenirs, the teeth he had knocked out of the corpse of a Japanese soldier”(60). He loves to create pain for people and in no way does he want to heal. Tayo can feel the hate that Emo has for him: “he looked across at Emo, and he saw how much Emo hated him”(42). Emo tests Tayo, provides him with a task, and in order to complete his ceremony he must conquer his mind and not fall into Emo’s trap.
Tayo finds out that he is going to be challenged by his friends, as his final step to the completion of his ceremony. This wasn’t easy for him to understand because he had grown up thinking that they actually were his “friends” and that they would be there for him no matter what. He understands they are going to turn on him soon after Ts’eh warns him, ‘“That leaves Emo and the others,’” she said. ‘“And that part wont be easy”’(233). Tayo says at one point that ‘“without friends he didn’t have a chance of completing the ceremony’” (241). He later realizes that this is true but not in the way he thought. He did need them in order to complete his ceremony but not in the normal “friends” way. They were there, as said before, to show him what he didn’t want to be, and they were there to test him and make him realize his strength over himself, and how he was in total control of his body mind and spirit.
During Tayo’s final test before the completion of the ceremony, Emo tries to make him fail by torturing one of Tayo’s friends: ‘“Scream…Scream loud so he can hear you’”(251). Emo wanted Tayo to fail but Tayo didn’t let them destroy him. He overcame his mind and learned not to let the lie and the witchery have power over him any longer.
Tayo completes his ceremony because of many things; he’s learned who he is, he has learned to control his mind: “the witchery had almost ended the story according to its plan; Tayo had almost jammed the screwdriver into Emo’s skull the way the witchery had wanted” (253). He knows that beer and stories won’t work to heal someone. But stories are very powerful and if the stories they had told weren’t about the war and didn’t constantly repeat what had happened then they could have been an aid in their healing. E.g. when Tayo tells Ku’oosh and the others what the steps of the ceremony included he was finally able to release what had happened to him. He told a good story. He also knows that he completed his ceremony with the help from his friends, they showed him he was in control. He no longer believed the witchery could work on him.
Tayo changed his destiny from what was planned for him to what he wanted it to be. If he had killed Emo then Emo would have won but since he refrained from that he could change his fate. Grandma says, “It seems like I already heard these stories before… only thing is, the names sound different”(260). If he had killed Emo then the names in the story that Grandma was telling would have included his own.
I’ve received my answers. I no longer question what my life will be like. How I want to live it is now known to me. I am in control of who I am and I can choose where my life will lead. My “friends” helped me figure this out and I am thankful to them for this.
No more beer, no more useless stories that contain no power. From now on the stories I tell will be the life changing ones, the stories I tell will be worth remembering.
The end.
Tayo’s Healing
The beginning. When I look around me all I can see any more are the cylindrical beer bottles in the hands of my “friends”. Now all I can do is question whether or not I want to live that way. I know that it may be an easier way to heal but does that require me just numbing myself from the world and never facing my life. I look around at my friends and I can see that they have chosen this life style, as a way to cover up the pain or maybe as a way to just forget. Do I want to live like that? I need answers. I cannot just go on telling stories and drinking and never facing what’s in front of me, which is everything.
Tayo, the main character of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko is on a journey to heal himself. He is challenged by his friends and by his mind. People all around him are using false methods of healing. They drink beer and tell stories as a way to cover up the pain they are feeling inside. His friends are blocks that are set up in his life, and he must find a way to distinguish who is really there for him and who is not. Either way all of his friends are there to help him grow. His ceremony would not have been completed without them.
Leslie Marmon Silko has added many instances in the novel when Tayo is faced with a decision to drink. His friends who do it regularly often ask him to join them. All of his friends have lost faith in the old ceremonies; society has made them forget how important the ceremonies are. They know only to drink as a way to hide their pain, “liquor was medicine for the anger that made them hurt” (40). They think beer makes them happy when on the contrary it makes them numb and in less control of themselves.
When they are drunk, they no longer remember the things, which hurt them. The war affected not only Tayo, but it just affected him in a deeper way. There is a part that shows how Harley was affected and how he only began to drink after the war “ Harley didn’t used to like beer at all, and maybe this was something that was different about him now, after the war” (20). Tayo does go with them a lot to drink and because of this he is able to see how idiotic they all get when they are drunk and it upsets him, but they don’t really have a choice: they have forgotten the other ways.
They also tell old stories of war and the times they were respected by the white people. By telling their stories they can remember the past and it continues to feel real. Their stories are what keep them going. The author writes “You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories” (2), but then she also says “the only cure is a good ceremony…” (3) so his friends are never going to heal if they continue to live like this. The beer and the stories they tell will only get them so far.
Tayo’s friends in the novel help quicken the process of his ceremony, like the catalyst to his healing. Without them it would have taken a longer time for him to complete his ceremony. Because in some ways they are reflections of what he does not want to live like and of what he does not want to become, there are instances when he is with them listening to their stories or observing how drunk they are and he gets frustrated and disgusted by them. “Harley had vomited all over himself”… “One of them had pissed… the rubber mat at Leroys feet was wet” (168). These actions taken by his friends help push him, to make the decision not to drink, and to find other ways of healing himself.
One of the main problems for Tayo and his friends is the way society has set them up to believe things. This is also referred to by Silko as the “lie”. If his friends weren’t in constant need of feeling power and respect, they wouldn’t need to tell their war stories any more. Their use was only to remind them of the power they had. By them having to continuously talk about the past and the war, it also brings back the pain, which is then numbed by the alcohol. This is all a process, which was created by them, and society. It seems that if they didn’t let the lie control them, then they wouldn’t need the alcohol or stories anymore, and they could all heal in a proper way.
The lie was intended to make people feel lesser then others. It is all a corruption, and Tayo’s friends have all been captured by it. Tayo could also be if he hadn’t chosen to fight it. He was aware of the lie and how it affects people and how it had the power to affect him. “He cut into the wires as if cutting away at the lie inside himself” (191). His friends on the other hand didn’t have the knowledge and awareness to see how the lie was affecting them. “They would never be able to see what had been done to them or what they were doing to each other” (191).
The main person, who brought Tayo towards the completion of his ceremony, is Emo. He is the exact opposite of Tayo. He is war hungry and proud of the things he did “he poured the human teeth out on the table… they were his war souvenirs, the teeth he had knocked out of the corpse of a Japanese soldier”(60). He loves to create pain for people and in no way does he want to heal. Tayo can feel the hate that Emo has for him: “he looked across at Emo, and he saw how much Emo hated him”(42). Emo tests Tayo, provides him with a task, and in order to complete his ceremony he must conquer his mind and not fall into Emo’s trap.
Tayo finds out that he is going to be challenged by his friends, as his final step to the completion of his ceremony. This wasn’t easy for him to understand because he had grown up thinking that they actually were his “friends” and that they would be there for him no matter what. He understands they are going to turn on him soon after Ts’eh warns him, ‘“That leaves Emo and the others,’” she said. ‘“And that part wont be easy”’(233). Tayo says at one point that ‘“without friends he didn’t have a chance of completing the ceremony’” (241). He later realizes that this is true but not in the way he thought. He did need them in order to complete his ceremony but not in the normal “friends” way. They were there, as said before, to show him what he didn’t want to be, and they were there to test him and make him realize his strength over himself, and how he was in total control of his body mind and spirit.
During Tayo’s final test before the completion of the ceremony, Emo tries to make him fail by torturing one of Tayo’s friends: ‘“Scream…Scream loud so he can hear you’”(251). Emo wanted Tayo to fail but Tayo didn’t let them destroy him. He overcame his mind and learned not to let the lie and the witchery have power over him any longer.
Tayo completes his ceremony because of many things; he’s learned who he is, he has learned to control his mind: “the witchery had almost ended the story according to its plan; Tayo had almost jammed the screwdriver into Emo’s skull the way the witchery had wanted” (253). He knows that beer and stories won’t work to heal someone. But stories are very powerful and if the stories they had told weren’t about the war and didn’t constantly repeat what had happened then they could have been an aid in their healing. E.g. when Tayo tells Ku’oosh and the others what the steps of the ceremony included he was finally able to release what had happened to him. He told a good story. He also knows that he completed his ceremony with the help from his friends, they showed him he was in control. He no longer believed the witchery could work on him.
Tayo changed his destiny from what was planned for him to what he wanted it to be. If he had killed Emo then Emo would have won but since he refrained from that he could change his fate. Grandma says, “It seems like I already heard these stories before… only thing is, the names sound different”(260). If he had killed Emo then the names in the story that Grandma was telling would have included his own.
I’ve received my answers. I no longer question what my life will be like. How I want to live it is now known to me. I am in control of who I am and I can choose where my life will lead. My “friends” helped me figure this out and I am thankful to them for this.
No more beer, no more useless stories that contain no power. From now on the stories I tell will be the life changing ones, the stories I tell will be worth remembering.
The end.
# posted by MPA Student Work @ 10:54 PM 
