Open Prompts, Grand Finale!

For this post, I chose the 2006 prompt: Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.

In Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, the story is set in the isolated location of a Laguna reservation, which is much more natural and isolated from the influences of modern culture. This setting is particularly important due to the importance of natural balance in the Laguna belief system, and the setting has a strong influence on the main character, Tayo. The setting works to reinforce the idea that classifications, positive or negative, are actually meaningless as all things exhibit good and evil qualities in their own way.

The primary setting of the story, the Laguna Pueblo reservation, changes along with the action of the plot in ways that highlight Tayo's transformation throughout the novel. In the beginning of the story, Tayo's prayer for no rain, resulting from his wartime experience in a muggy forest, is repeatedly mentioned with regards to his belief that his prayer has caused the drought on the reservation. Additionally, the mood comes off as depressing and torturous as a result of the arid conditions. However, as Tayo finds his place within the community and gets back in touch with the Laguna values, the setting also begins to change and show hopeful signs of life. In particular, when Tayo prays in the cave, where Tsi'tsi'inako's presence is implied, it rains afterward, which shows how the setting is tied with the characters due to their values, as well as how Tayo's journey transcends his individual experience and has ramifications for his people. Thus, the setting finds a balance just as Tayo does, urging the reader to better understand the world around them.

Tayo is also deeply influenced by the setting, which aids him on his quest to complete the ceremony. Many of the animals in the setting, such as the mountain lion and the cows, connect with the cultural values that guide Tayo on his journey. The transition from drought into rain reinforces the progress that Tayo makes, connecting him to the values that he seemed to have lost from his experience in the war, which introduced him to the values of the "civilized" Western world, which deeply contrast to the free, isolated setting of the Laguna reservation. In addition, the setting exemplifies the balance that Silko continually recommends for the reader. Many of the elements of the setting have good and bad attributes that allow the reader to connect, via Silko's heavy use of sensory imagery, to Tayo's experience in acquiring his lost balance.

In Silko's Ceremony, the primary setting of the novel, a Laguna pueblo reservation, assists in reinforcing the idea of balance in its unique natural attributes. The blend of good and bad attributes, which Tayo comes to embrace and eventually embody, serve as Silko's means to urge the reader to embrace a balance in their own life and do away with distinctions.