Ceremony Part 5 Analysis

In the fifth part of the book Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko explains more about alcoholism and how some native people view life and death. Silko describes what a drunk Luguna Pueblo Native American looks like towards the middle of this section. Silko says, "Their hair was dirty and straight. They'd shaved off their eyebrows, but the hairs were growing back and they didn't bother to pencil them any more. Their blouses had buttons missing and were fastened with safety pins. Their western pants were splitting out at the seams; there were stains around the crotch" (Silko 153-154). This is an avid description on what  Luguna Pueblo Native Americans looked like when the white man pushed them to turn to alcoholism. Earlier in this section Silko describes another type of drunk feeling. Silko says, "Tayo sank down into sensations–the truck vibrating and bouncing down the road, the bodies squeezed around him tight, the smell of perfume and sweat and wine, and the rushing fresh air cooling the sweat. Everything made them laugh, until they were laughing at their own noises and laughter. He didn't have to remember anything, he didn't have to feel anything but this; and he wished the truck would never stop moving, that they could ride like that forever" (Silko 147). Tayo finally felt happy and at peace in his drunk euphoric state. Towards the beginning of this section Silko describes life and death through the use of poetry. Silko says, "But there was no tobacco so Fly and Hummingbird had to fly all the way back down to the fourth world below to ask our mother where they could get some tobacco. 'We came back again,' they told our mother. 'Maybe you need something?' 'Tobacco.' 'Go ask caterpillar'" (Silko 140). The Fly and the Hummingbird represent life and death in some native cultures. The Navaho believe that the Caterpillar helped grow tobacco and in turn means that Tayo may be helpful to heal. As you can see Tayo is developing as a character and he is learning how to cope with his P.T.S through the use of alcohol.