For a three-act plot analysis, put on your screenwriter’s hat. Moviemakers know the formula well: at the end of Act One, the main character is drawn in completely to a conflict. During Act Two, she is farthest away from her goals. At the end of Act Three, the story is resolved.
Act I
Tayo comes home to the Laguna Pueblo reservation after fighting in WWII, but he's sick with what the doctors call "battle fatigue." He has nightmares about fighting in the jungles and feels guilty about surviving his cousin. Tayo also blames himself for cursing the jungle rain and thus causing a six-year drought back home (Careful what you wish for). Tayo and the other WWII veterans in Laguna try to drink their sorrows away, which often turns violent. The leaders of the Laguna community worry that the young men aren't getting better and encourage Tayo to see a medicine man who performs a new kind of healing ceremony. Tayo feels powerless and agrees to do whatever the community leaders say.
Act II
Betonie the medicine man tells Tayo that the fate of the entire world depends on his getting better. Tayo must complete a personal quest of healing, but the forces of evil, known as the witchery, will try to prevent Tayo him completing the ceremony. Betonie tells Tayo to watch out for some special stars, his uncle Josiah's spotted cattle, a mountain, and a woman. Tayo sets out on a quest to find these things, and in so doing falls in love with a woman who renews his spirit. But Tayo's healing is not complete. He has to survive one more night, the autumn equinox, without falling into the witchery's power. Emo and his gang try to capture Tayo, either to turn him over to the authorities or kill him. When Tayo escapes their clutches, Emo tortures Harley in an attempt to get Tayo to reveal himself.
Act III
But Tayo resists killing Emo and participating in the witchery's evil plan of unending violence. By staying hidden, Tayo defeats the witchery, which is forced to turn in on itself. The members of Emo's gang die suspicious deaths, and Emo is banished. Tayo tells his story to the old men of Laguna, and they celebrate the renewal of life—that doesn't happen just any day.