An Analysis of Tayo in "Ceremony" By Leslie Marmon Silko

Tayo is a half-Native American veteran of World War II and is also the main character in Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. War seems to have a profound effect on our main protagonist, who returns suffering from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. For the majority of the beginning of the book, he is almost always incessantly vomiting. His PTSD can most likely be attributed to watching his cousin, Rocky, die before his very eyes at the hands of Japanese soldiers. Because him and Rocky grew up together, Tayo often recalls memories from their childhood throughout the novel.

Another significant factor of Tayo's identity is the fact that he is mixed race. Tayo is half white and half Native American, as denoted by his green eyes. Tayo's mixed heritage is often a point of contention throughout the novel, as some people resent him for not being "full-blood". Him being mixed race gives him a unique perspective however, as he gives the reader insight into facets of both Native American and white culture. However, his mixed race, combined with the lack of his biological parents, often lead to identity problems for Tayo. He struggles to connect with the culture of Laguna, hence why he has to undergo the ceremony.

Tayo's ceremony is critical to his character development and is actually what helps him to completely recover from his post-traumatic stress disorder. The ceremony is orchestrated by Betonie, an older Indian medicine man who relies on ancient Indian medicines and traditions to cure his patients. The ceremony is begun halfway through the novel but it is not until the very end that it is completed and Tayo is fully immersed in Laguna culture. At this point, Tayo is cured of his ailment and is able to move on from his past.

At the beginning of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, we see a morally and physically depleted Tayo, who is heavily suffering from PTSD after World War II. As the novel progresses, the reader becomes more hopeful for his recovery. An ancient Native American ceremony facilitated by a medicine man leads to Tayo's recovery and his immersion into Laguna culture. It offers both closure to Tayo and the reader, as a feeling of satisfaction and relief is felt as a result of his recovery.

My Revised Ending of "Unaccustomed Earth" By Jhumpa Lahiri

The ending of part two of Unaccustomed Earth left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, as I'm sure it did to many other readers. Part two chronicles the lives and relationship of Hema and Kaushik, two Indian-Americans who had grown up together but then split apart as they went off to college and got careers. After years of separation, Hema and Kaushik are finally reunited in Italy, by pure coincidence. They spend the next few weeks traveling the countryside and slowly falling more and more in love with each other. But, the problem lies in that Kaushik will be moving to Hong Kong soon and oh yeah, Hema is supposed to get married to some guy she doesn't even like.

Faced with the idea of losing Hema, Kaushik asks her to travel to Hong Kong with him and break up with the other guy in order to continue their own future. To every reader's surprise, Hema says no. At this point I thought to myself, 'What the hell is Lahiri doing?'. After this, Kaushik goes on vacation to Thailand, where he is killed by a tsunami. At this point I was furious with Jhumpa Lahiri. She had created the perfect arc for Kaushik and Hema to get together and get married and live happily ever after.

I'm sure there is a reason that Lahiri chose to end Kaushik and Hema's story in this manner; after all she is the author and I am just the reader. That being said, I think that many readers including myself would have been much more satisfied had they gotten back together. After decades of separation and lost feelings, Kaushik and Hema find each other by coincidence in Italy but Lahiri could not allow them to get back together.

Had I been the author, Hema would've ran out of the airport before boarding the plane, realizing the awful mistake she had made. Kaushik would have accepted her back and they would have traveled on vacation to Thailand together. However, Hema would have been more observant of the weather and they made it safely inland before the tsunami hit. They would have then traveled to Hong Kong and raised a family there with the money from Kaushik's new editor job. Kaushik would one day return home and apologize to his father and Chitra for how difficult he had been earlier in life and that he had found happiness with Hema. The end.

Although I respect Lahiri for being adventurous and not taking the predictable route in the ending of her book, I felt very dissatisfied as a reader. As the reader, you are truly rooting for Hema and Kaushik to get back together and are devastated when it doesn't happen that way.

An Analysis of Part One of "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri is a collection of short stories that revolve around Indian-American people living in the United States, often the Northeast. The stories are often from the perspective of an Indian-American whose parents have immigrated from India. The stories of Part One can be unified by their focus on familial relationships.

The first story of Unaccustomed Earth focuses on Ruma, a second-generation Indian-American who lives in Seattle with her white husband Adam. Ruma's mother has deceased a number of years before the story takes place, leaving Ruma in a somewhat awkward situation with her dad, as they have never been very close. The familial relationship problem in this story lies in Ruma's struggle to decide whether she should ask her dad to move into her home with her, as he is getting older. However, after he visits, she notices that he is self-sustaining and old age has not burdened him nearly as bad as she thought. She also learns during this visit that he is dating a new woman, which upsets Ruma. 

The second story of Unaccustomed Earth dissects the marriage of Amit, an Indian man, and Megan, a white woman. (It is worth noting that Jhumpa seems to love interracial marriages in her stories). The familial relationship problem in this story is the mutual feeling between Amit and Megan that the quality of their marriage has rapidly degraded. And it is not as if they make a conscious effort to repair their marriage either; both characters seem to express a feeling of indifference towards the subject. The story takes the couple to a wedding, which is a good foil for the lack of love that Amit and Megan feel in their own marriage. This setting creates a strong juxtaposition between the strong love of newly-weds and the lackluster marriage that Megan and Amit have now come to know.

The third story is centered around two Indian-American siblings, Rahul and Sudha. The main issue in the story is Rahul's alcoholism and the harmful effects it has on his family. Rahul's alcoholism takes Rahul from being a proficient student at Cornell to a college-dropout turned laundromat manager in the span of a few years. His alcoholism takes a huge toll on Sudha, as she feels responsible for it due to her supplying him alcohol in his teenage years. The simple act of supplying a younger sibling alcohol as a teen eventually led to the near-death of Sudha's son as Rahul gets drunk and almost allows her son to drown in the bath one evening when he visited. The story ends on this sorrow note and leaves the reader questioning whether Rahul will ever defeat his alcoholism and what the future with his family will hold. 

The fourth story of Unaccustomed Earth brings the reader into the life of Paul and Sang, two housemates. Although not ever romantically involved, Paul seems to have developed a small crush on Sang. This is evident when he is presented with evidence that Sang's boyfriend is cheating on her. At first hesitant to tell her, he eventually tells her and destroys their relationship. Paul accompanies Sang to confront her boyfriend and in a way becomes her "protector". This role gives Paul some satisfaction, knowing that he keeps Sang safe. This story analyzes friendships, infidelity and couples. 

Part One of Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri is a collection of short stories that analyzes relationships amongst Indian-American people. The stories tell their struggles as they face problems pertaining to distant parents, marriage problems, alcoholism and couples. Jhumpa Lahiri does a wonderful job of illustrating the circumstances and the effects that each problem can have on Indian-Americans.