Ceremony Discussion (#6)

Tayo's journey to discover himself in 'Ceremony' continues as he travels across the land in search of Josiah's cattle. But before he finds them he meets a woman named Ts'eh - who directs him to where he might find the cattle. Eventually he discovers them (on land now owned by a white man). He finds a good place in the fence to cut a hole through for the cattle. And although Tayo finds the cattle they soon disappear from sight. He later is then captured by the man who owns the land and wants to put Tayo in jail for trespassing, but decides its to much trouble. Just before Tayo is trying to free the cattle he presumes are Josiah's  he has a kind of revelation about the the land and the people who now harvested it. "The loggers shot the bears and the mountain lions for sport. And it was then the Laguna people understood that the land had been taken, because they couldn't stop these white people from coming to destroy the animals and the land" (Silko 172). In this passage it is shown that the beautiful landscape that Tayo is witnessing has a sense of obsolescence - it was used by the white people to hunt for differing reasons and the land starts to die. The land has been taken away from the Laguna people and they see the affects it has had on the land - the new owners are destructive and bring about discord to the terrain. (again back to the idea that the white people are not as connected with the land as the tribes were and now that has taken its toll on the area). Later on Tayo returns to Ts'eh's house where he finds her again. When he speaks to her the second time she also disappears and Tayo leaves and goes back home. But he still dreams of her and he is almost surrounded by her presence even when she is not near him. "He was dreaming of her arms around him strong, when the rain on the tin roof woke him up. The wet earth smell came in from the window that Robert propped open with an old shoes the night before. He was overwhelmed by the love he felt for her; tears filled his eyes, and the ache in his throat ran deep into his chest" (silko 202). It is evident to see that Tayo associates 'Earth' with Ts'eh much like he does with Night Swan - who is 'Spring'. Both of them stand for an element of nature - and both help to along with Tayo's healing process. By learning from them  ideals and insight Tao starts to recognize the path ahead - as he gets closer to finding out who he is.