Ceremony Novel by Leslie Marmon Silko

Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony, follows the struggles faced by Tayo, a mixed-blood Pueblo native after he returns from serving in World War II. Tayo, along with other Native characters in the book, struggles to find an identity within the tribal community after returning from war. Characters like Tayo and Harley find that as a result of the conclusion of the war they are no longer accepted in white society and resented by their native tribe. What started off as a seemingly harmless way to bond with each other, quickly escalated into a drinking problem for the group of veterans.

The euphemisms and the causal way that alcohol is discussed at the beginning of the novel indicates to the reader that men themselves are unaware of the drinking problem they are suffering from.

In an effort to fit in after being pushed to the skirts of both native and white societies, the veterans create their own ceremony to partake in –drinking.

At the beginning of the novel, the reader is made aware of the fact that World War II had affected many of the characters. The narrator points out that since returning from the war Harley suddenly enjoys alcohol. The narrator indicates that Tayo knew “Harley didn’t use to like beer at all” and he notes that “…maybe this was something that was different about him now, after the war” (Silko 20). This change in Harley’s drinking habits shows the reader that the war has had a negative effect on the veterans.

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Harley drinks as a form of self-medication, to numb the effects of the war. This habit is later picked up by Tayo and shared amongst the other veterans, creating an unhealthy relationship between the men that solely revolves around drinking and reliving the

Hamby2war. However, it is also obvious through the nonchalant introduction of alcohol into the story, that neither Tayo nor Harley were aware of how detrimental their drinking habits would become.The beginning of the novel also underplays the scope of the drinking problem Harley has. Just as the men do not recognize their drinking as an insufficient way to cope with PTSD, they also do not view their abundant drinking as alcoholism.

The narrator simply tells the readers that Harley “drank a lot of beer now” which does not depict the true scope of the veteran’s alcohol problem (Silko 20). This approach to introducing the veterans’ alcoholism into the story allows the readers to understand that the men themselves did not believe their actions were unhealthy. Drinking as a way to cope with the horrors of war had simply become a way of life for Tayo and his comrades. Silko also incorporates Tayo and Harley’s habit of binge drinking into the story in a very casual way. The narrator explains to the reader that the men’s drinking ritual is called “going up the line” which refers to drinking at bars located “one after the other alongside [route] 66” (Silko 23). In Ceremony, “going up the line” is essentially a euphemism for binge drinking (Silko 23).

The veterans make a habit of traveling from one bar to another, getting increasingly drunk. This practice results in fights, drunk driving, and jail time for members of the group of friends. Harley also explains that he has gone to extremes in order to participate in the binge drinking ritual, which has become a tradition of sorts. He tells Tayo of a time his family attempted to stop him from drinking by taking away his keys. This resulted in Harley hotwiring the vehicle and later stranding himself without gas. The combination of the drinking ritual the veterans partake in and Harley’s determination to participate in the drinking shows the reader that the drinking is not a causal occurrence for the men. It is obvious to the reader that the veterans suffer from an addiction.

Hamby3As the story progresses the reader can see that the men’s drinking habits, which were originally described in niceties,become a horrific ceremony that they depend on as a coping mechanism. In order to come to terms with no longer having a place in society as a result of the war ending, the men create a community amongst themselves that is full of alcohol and despair. The veterans ultimately create their own ritual of binge drinking and comparing war stories in an effort to numb the psychological pain inflicted on them by serving in World War II.Work CitedSilko, Leslie Marmon.Ceremony. Penguin Books, 2006.