'Ceremony' by Leslie Marmon Silko

This is the situation in Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Ceremony. The protagonist, Tayo, has suffered what we would consider a nervous breakdown as a result of traumas suffered in the war. (Allen, 379-86) The trauma actually occurred because he was ordered to shoot enemy soldiers, who seemed to him to bear the faces of his ancestors. He is first sent to a Veteran's hospital where he is diagnosed as suffering from "battle fatigue" and released with no real remedy. He then returns home to his aunt's house, where his symptoms grow steadily worse. Tayo has been told that he really should separate himself from his Indian heritage as much as possible, that is what is making him sick, and that the worst thing for him is "Indian medicine" (Allen, 379-86).

By "Indian medicine," the VA doctors do not mean herbs and weeds ground up into a poultice or steeped into tea, although that may be part of the treatment. What they mean is the treatment of Tayo's spiritual condition through his reassimilation into the culture and heritage of his people. The Indian culture is one of deep spirituality, and it is impossible for the Indian to conceive of one's having a mental disorder that was not a reflection of a spiritual disintegration. (Allen, 379-86) The fact that Tayo feels his connection to his spirit and to the spirit of his people fading is why he perceives himself as "white smoke". He feels that he is smoky because he is no longer solidly an Indian, and the smoke is white because Tayo has intellectually accepted too much of white culture that flies in the face of what he feels inside. As a result, Tayo's aunt calls a native healer to treat the fundamental problem -- Tayo's spiritual distress, reflected ...