ceremony

Summary- the first thing we see when opening Ceremony are the three poems. Mostly about the Spider Woman and how she created the world and tells stories. The book actually starts with us learning about Tayo is sick. through several flash backs we learn things like he has been in a mental ward for some time and is now returning to his home. Also that his father figure Josiah is now dead and so is his cousin, who was like a brother to him, Rocky. We do not know the cause of his sickness just that he feels responsible for the drought that has hit his land. He believes this because he was holding onto Rocky by a sheet and the rain almost killed them all so he prayed for the rain to go away and now he believes that it has. Tayo’s grandma believe that the white man medicine will not help him and that he needs traditional ways to be cured so she brings a medicine man to try and heal him. It is here that we find out that many others who came back from the war are also having problems. We find out through many flash backs that Tayo’s mother slept with a white man and that Tayo is half white. he was taken in by his aunt who had a son about the same age, Rocky. She always wanted the best for Rocky and sort of looked down on Tayo because he was half white. Rocky has kind of strayed from the traditional ways at this point, but his mother doesn’t seem to mind all that much because she wants Rocky to be the best. When Rocky and Tayo sign up for the army tayo tells his aunt that he will look after Rocky and wont let him die. But he did. Tayo leaves the reservation with a friend named Harley when he flashs back to a moment were he almost killed another man, Emo. Emo talks about how Tayo thinks he is better than them because he is white and alway talks about how many white women he has slept with. He also thinks that the white people have taken everything from them and so they should sleep with their white women. Tayo leaves the bar for a moment and when he returns Harley is gone and walks all the way back to Harley’s barn where he sleeps for the night. At this point Robert, Tayo’s uncle takes im to see a different medicine man who might be able to help. The medicine man tells him he has to complete a ceremony and Tayo realizes this is the kind of treatment the white doctors did not want for him. Tayo confesses to him that he thinks Emo might be right in saying the whites have taken everything from the Indians. But he says that whites are mistaken they cannot own land and whites are a plague released by the witches. The medicine man, Betonie and his helper Shush and Tayo go to a mountain to spend the night, there Betonie performs the ceremony on Tayo. Tayo thinks it is starting to work and wants to pay Batonie but he refuses the money. Tayo starts to walk home but is picked up by Harley and some friends who have been drinking they all stop at a bar and Tayo falls asleep. He is awoken by Harley and Leroy fighting and he drives them back and on the way becomes sick again. He realizes that he needs to become in touch with his people again. Some how Tayo is at a woman’s house and she invites him in for supper. Tayo had followed the stars Betonie had told him about to this place. He spends the night and she makes him breakfast in the morning while he feeds his horses. He goes off in search of Josiah’s cattle from his dreams following Betonie’s instructions. He tries brings them home to follow through with Josiah’s plans but some patrol men notice him. They m=plan to take him in but get distracted by a mountain lion. On his way back he meets a man that is not Laguna but knows their ways and he talks and walks with him back to the woman’s house. Tayo gets the cattle back to the ranch and realizes that the bad dreams were due to his sense of loss after the war. He meets back up with the woman at the ranch with the cattle. They spend the summer together up there while she is collecting plants. Robert tells Tayo about Emo and how he is spreading rumors Tayo is crazy. Robert suggests he goes back home but Tayo does not. He talks about destruction and how his ceremony will help prevent that. She tells him that the police and Emo are coming for him and that he should hide. Emo tries to get Tayo to come out by beating his friends and Tayo almost kills him but comes to his senses. Tayo and the old medicine man perform the ceremony to rid the word of evil. Harley and Leroy are found dead and that Emo has killed pinkie. The book ends with a poem about how the witch is dead... for now.