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The quotation from the book review of The New York Times suggests that Leslie Silko is the most accomplished Native American writer of her generation (Silko unpaged). It is really so, for the book of the authoress is really captivating, lyrical, and mysterious at the same time. Initially, it had been planned as a comic story describing the mothers attempts to save her son from alcohol abuse after his return from the battlefront, but eventually, the authoress created a powerful and impressive story about her people, their culture, and the urgent necessity of observance of customs and traditions in contemporary society. The journey of the protagonist that stretches from the abyss of despair and moral tortures to the final recovery of Tayo and his people, serves as a representation of the main theme of the novel, the theme of personal and national healing.
Tayo, the protagonist of the book, is the embodiment of the Pueblo people, but the situation is complicated by the fact that he has mixed descent, for his mother is a Pueblo woman, and his father is the unknown white . This is why the protagonists inner conflict starts with his conception, and continues further, becoming more and more involved. The beginning of his inner malady is in his unhappy childhood; this explains his alienation from white men, who were using his mother indirectly to draw a picture of injustice and abuse of Indians. The national tragedy is added to Tayos personal tragedy when he along with other young Indians appears on the battlefield of World War II. The reason for the young mens participation in the war is that all Americans take part in it; this is why they must do it as well: Everyone can fight for America & even you boys (Silko 64). However, the violence and horrors of war prove to be unbearable for the young people and they ruin their inner world.
The theme of malady and healing may be observed from the very first pages of the book when the action unfolds on the battlefield. Tayo sees Josia bring him the fever medicine when he had been sick a long time ago (Silko 6). When there appeared the first signs of Tayos mental unstableness, they forced medicine into Tayos mouth (Silko 8). However, it is evident that it is impossible to heal him at war; neither can a Veterans Hospital help. Finally, the protagonist returns to his Reservation with deep grief in his soul.
It is evident that after the soldiers return they are injured both physically and psychologically, but the latter trauma is really incurable for the majority of young men. Here the authoress starts spinning a web of variants of healing of Tayo. The first way to cure a psychologically injured soldier was alcohol; it was known that the majority of American soldiers after the war found refuge in alcohol addiction. So do Tayo and his fellows: Emo, Harlley, but Tayo comes to realize that alcohol cannot help him. What is more, the remedy of the white cannot help Tayo because he is more sad than angry, and his sadness is killing his inner world. The protagonists soul and thoughts are depicted as imprisoned and entangled by little threads (Silko 7).
Tayo understands instinctively that the healing is somewhere near his native people and his native land. This is why the second attempt to cure the man is made by the old medicine man, Kuoosh, who resorts to old traditions to heal Tayo. Kuoosh explains to him that his curing is necessary not for him only, but for the entire world that is under the spell of witchery (Austen par. 19). Unfortunately, it becomes clear that it is not in the power of the old man to heal Tayo, his vomiting may be seen as a symbolic rejection of the treatment because the traditional ceremonies Kuoosh uses are too old for modern problems: Some things we cant cure as we used to & not since the white people came (Silko 38).
The above-mentioned quotation is the recipe of Tayos treatment, it is necessary to combine the original traditions and to add modern details to them. The man who is able to cure Tayo is a new medical man, Betonie, who is a man of the mixed-race just like the protagonist. His character is the main means of the realization of the theme of healing in the novel. The Pueblos are critical about his ritual ceremonies, which combine prayer sticks, herbs, roots along with coke bottles, phone books and calendars (Austen par. 21). However, Betonie explains to Tayo the necessity of this combination: I have made changes in the rituals. The people mistrust this greatly, but only the growth keeps the ceremonies strong (Silko 126).
This is the key to success, but it should be mentioned that the medicine man is not omnipotent; he is just a teacher, a mediator between the world of traditions and the human world. It is Tayo, who manages to heal himself with Betonies help.
Drawing a conclusion, it should be mentioned that the reason for Tayos long journey and enduring sufferings is the fact that traditions need adaptation to function successfully in the contemporary world. Tayo is a cumulative character who represents all Indian people. The theme of healing is the main theme realized in the novel. Leslie Silko proves that the healing of her people and their cultural survival are possible only in case if they live according to traditional ceremonies modernized according to contemporary circumstances.
Works Cited
Austen, Suzanne M. Leslie Marmon Silkos Ceremony and the Effects of White Contact on Pueblo Myth and Ritual. 2009. Web.
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. NY: Penguin, 1986.
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