Setting in Ceremony

In Ceremony, the setting plays a big role in the life of Tayo, bringing him into memories of both the war and before the war. Nature, and the respect of it, is big in Native American culture and one can see it come through in the Laguna culture the narrator describes. Seen especially in lines such as “”This is where we come from, see. This sand, this stone, these trees, the vines, all the wildflowers. This earth keeps us going”” (Silko 42). The land gives them sustenance and the animals are beautiful to them. They even have rituals, such as the sprinkling of cornmeal on the deer’s nose to feed its spirit and decorating it with ornaments. The Native Americans often use every part of an animal that they have killed, showing a deep respect of life. This also is true of the environment. They are conscious of their impact on the Earth and try to keep it to a minimum, unlike most cultures. Most cultures use the land to their own liking, for maximum production. The Native Americans took only what they needed and used just about every last part of any Natural thing they took to use. Tayo uses Nature as metaphors and similes to describe his emotions. Their environment shapes every part of their life, even their mythology and religion. The juxtaposition of the war-time weather and the weather in the book’s present is also very symbolic. The wetness and flooding of wartime represents the rush-of time and of emotions, and the dryness of the present represents a dryness of Tayo’s brain and a need for rejuvenation.