Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko - Essay Example

Joining the drinking pattern, however, only leaves Tayo sicker. One of the aspirations in Ceremony was to undermine the typecast of the drunken Indian by presenting the basis of alcoholism and by causing readers to commiserate with the alcoholic Indian’s predicament. The book strongly depicts complexities linking the Native American customs as the prevailing white mores, as well as the devastation of battle and alcohol. This paper, therefore, seeks to explore what the alcohol which the veterans turn to in order to heal their post traumatic disorders symbolizes, and how it contributes to the theme in Ceremony.

Alcohol is used in Ceremony to symbolize a source of alternative healing which veterans from World War II who could not find treatment of post-traumatic disorder in the white men turn to. Although fractions of the book are set throughout Prohibition, alcohol is at all times accessible in bars down the reservation streak. The detail that none of the bars are located within the reservation symbolizes alcohol and alcoholism as evil introduced by the whites. The people who are most influenced by alcoholism are those returning from combating in World War II, a fact which confirms the thought that it is not a crisis emanating from the Native Americans.

Without any helpful treatment from the white physicians or from the ancient ceremonies for the agony formed by the summiting of white and Native American customs, particularly in combat, majority of the Native American veterans medicated themselves with alcohol. Although Tayo left the treatment facility with a greater consciousness of himself and much aspiration to subsist than he had during the time when the war ended, his meeting with Harley demonstrates that all the indigenous Americans who battled in World War II were distressed in a manner that has not been tackled.

The veterans try to heal themselves with alcohol which not only wears their minds, but also let loose the grief, terror and rage which they still bear. As Tayo gives details, alcohol reduces some of the ache and rages the war veteran experience. Alcohol is, however, not a workable answer to the predicament. Alcohol is offered to Tayo frequently as a diversion from his ceremony. Although he in due course manages to abstain from the bars, his friends do not. The effect is lethal for every person involved.

Alcohol is also seen to bring hatred and shame in Ceremony. Tayo, being a half-caste and as one whose mother's persistent alcoholism had made her unable to raise him, must deal with his own self-hatred and disgrace. The conduct of his mother that led to his birth has brought disgrace upon the family. Consequently, he is dishonored and estranged from his indigenous roots. Tayo, a veteran, returns to an indigent society having no tools to assist him conceptualize his trauma. His sentiments of despair cause him to fall into alcoholism, illusions, aimless roving and unexpected aggressive outbursts.

In due course, Tayo finds completeness by talking to an aged, biracial Native American. Alcohol also contributes to the theme in Ceremony. Tayo’s path toward mental wellness is elongated and made more complicated. However, his people's conventional curative ceremonies are modified to heal the new contemporary sicknesses such as alcoholism which Tayo is