As the novel progresses, it demonstrates this power by showing how rituals are more effective than anything else in helping Tayo heal.

The novel’s opening poem describes the incredible powers that language, stories, and rituals have in Native American cultures: ceremonies are the only cure for human and cultural ailments, and stories and language have the power to create worlds. As he develops an increased understanding of native cultural practices and ritual ceremonies he finds psychological peace, which he quickly loses whenever he seeks other sources of healing-whether he seeks them in the glories of war, the pleasures of alcohol, or the medical practices of the army psychiatric hospital. He progresses towards recovery when he visits medicine men, returns to traditional customs and practices, or develops an intimate relationship with someone like Ts’eh who lives according to traditional ways. Most of the crucial turning points in the novel occurs when Tayo listens to, takes part in, or learns more about Native American cultural traditions. Throughout the novel, the key to Tayo’s psychological recovery is his rediscovery of Native American cultural practices. The central conflict of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony is Tayo’s struggle to gain psychological wholeness in the face of various traumatic experiences, ranging from a troubled childhood to cultural marginalization and combat experiences during World War.

Ceremony book silko