Ceremony

1.) Given what you have read so far (esp. the Pueblo stories, the Hopi film, and Silko essays), what connections can you draw between the first few pages (the poems) of Ceremony and these materials?

So far I have found that the animals play a big role already, in the story. Tayo focuses on a deer in his mind to relax after his dream. When I think back to the story of the creation of the animals by the two sisters, I think of their baskets and how when they brought the deer to life, it made them happy because it was food for them to eat. Later is talks about him milking his goat and helping his father carry water to the few animals they have. Animals are a big part of what makes up the earth and what keeps the cycle of animal life and survival in sync.

Most importantly, Tayo speaks of a drought that he prayed for. It sounds a lot like the time when one of the sisters withheld the clouds from the shawmen because she did not like their witchcraft. The hummingbird had to help them find the sister and please her in order to stop the drought. Also, the importance of prayer and poems to the gods is very prevalent in both Ceremony and in the stories of the Pueblo.


2.)Describe, as best as you can, Auntie’s attitudes about Tayo, mixed blood, and religion.

Auntie's attitude is accepting to others that are unlike her. She is very critical towards others, as well as spiteful. She is to take care of Tayo. Although she is the eldest of her family and the motherly figure is to raise the children and to take care of the family, she is able to care of Tayo and her family well, but she is still critical of Tayo's mixed blood. She adds to his feelings of exclusion from the family. He is made to feel different and not as if he belongs. She even tries to call herself a martyr, but as a Christian, one should be open-minded and accepting of others. But in fact she is a rather narrow-minded "Christian."