Ceremony Themes

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! That's what Ceremony is all about. In this novel, change is associated with life, while stagnation means certain death. The protagonist, Josiah's cattle, and the traditional Na...

Love takes many forms in Ceremony, but it all seems to stem from the earth's love for human beings. The earth shows its love for people by sending rain, plants, and animals to feed them. We know wh...

Tayo's relationship to the natural world is the key to his ceremonial transformation from sickness to health. His story illustrates the idea that human beings have to honor and respect the earth in...

The theme of race in Ceremony is complicated, as you might expect. The hero and protagonist, Tayo, is half white and half Laguna Pueblo, and he feels out of place in both societies. Part of Tayo's...

The difference between traditional Laguna warfare and white warfare is a great illustration of why Tayo is so critical of white culture. Traditionally, Laguna warriors would know when they'd killed...

Ceremony tells the story of a young man named Tayo who starts out sick and isolated and is healed when he learns to reestablish connections with his community. These connections are forged through...

We hate to be a downer, but there's a lot of suffering in this book. For starters, our protagonist Tayo is really stressed out, to the point that it's making him sick. He's suffering from what doct...

This novel poses two different understandings of the world against one another. One perspective is based on traditional Laguna Pueblo and Native American culture, mythology, storytelling, and cerem...

We'd like to tell you that drinking is a harmless pastime in Ceremony—that these young veterans are just having a few beers together and enjoying each other's company. That's what several of Tayo...