Summary Of Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony

In Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, there has been a reoccurring theme of guilt, shame, and suffering. It is not until after the ceremony that Silko clearly exhibits a sense of exhilaration through nature. Tayo and Betonie climbs the Chuska Mountains, a sacred monument where “highways,… towns, even fences [are] gone” (Silko 146), represents a notion of liberation. The lack of highways, towns, and fences suggest the absence of western influence and civilization, allowing Tayo to feel strong and connected to his Native heritage. Furthermore, Silko uses imagery to emphasize the beauty of nature that evokes great admiration to Tayo. Silko indicates that the world is “dwarfed by a sky so blue and vast the clouds [are] lost in it” (146). Silko romanticizes