Ceremony

Just about each and every page of Ceremony has a part that can be analyzed.  Last week, we spent time analyzing the parts of the book that we have read so far.  While analyzing it was very interesting to see how different people interpreted different meanings of parts of the book.  Although somewhat difficult to understand at some points due to the stream of consciousness style of writing.  Discussing the book with others was a great way to get rid of some confusion as well and discover new parts of the book that may not have been noticed before.

While analyzing the book so far, one theme that stuck out was a hope.  This seems to be a prevalent theme throughout the book.  Ceremony starts off on the first page with just one word, "Sunrise" (Silko 4).  In something as simple as just one word comes a sense of hope.  It is showing a new start not only to the day, but also a new start for Tayo.  Another quote we found representing hope was, "'Y volvere' were the only words Tayo could understand" (Silko 90).  The words "Y volvere were mentioned at the very beginning of the book.  Seeing it once again many pages later shows that despite the trauma and difficulties that Tayo continues to face, there is a sense of hope that thing will get better.  Just as this picture shows, although hope may be hard to find, it is always there.    

Also, while analyzing Ceremony and discussing the book, we were able to find many more quotes pertaining to healing via storytelling than when initially reading the book the first time.  "He made a story for all of them, a story to give them strength.  The words of the story poured out of his mouth as if they had substance," (Silko 10).  This quote shows the power of storytelling and the strength that can come from storytelling despite the trauma and hardships that the soldiers are going through during the war.  Another quote we found shows the power of storytelling.  "Everywhere he looked, he saw a world made of stories, the long ago, time immemorial stories, as old Grandma called them.  It was a world alive, always changing and moving ; and if you knew where to look, you could see it, sometimes almost imperceptible, like the motion of the stars across the sky" (Silko 88).  This quote really shows the power of storytelling.