Betonie points out that animals adapt to changes in their surroundings and that that's how they survive, meanwhile humans tend to resist change. In order to ensure the survival of his spirit, the land, and the larger community, Tayo has to reconcile the older, traditional Laguna culture and the newer, modern white culture. Tayo's own hybridity is what makes him especially suited for this task, it's the return of the hybrid cattle that ultimately complete the ceremony.
Summary: Tayo is very sick after returning to the Laguna Reservation after serving as a soldier in WWII. He is especially haunted by the deaths of his cousin Rocky and his uncle Josiah. At the Laguna Reservation, a drought is plaguing the people and many other Laguna are having mental and emotional problems to Tayo. Many are trying to escape the Laguna culture and immerse themselves in white culture, with Emo being among the worst. With modern medicine and traditional Laguna methods unable to cure Tayo, he goes to see the medicine man Betonie who gives him instruction on how to reconcile the two traditions and cure himself, the land, and the community. Tayo begins by seeking out a herd of hybrid cattle bought by Josiah. He finds them, and encounters Ts'eh and Hunter. He has a fleeting romantic encounter with Ts'eh, who represents Yellow Woman. After returning the cattle, Tayo learns that Emo is recruiting people to come after him, claiming that he is crazy. Tayo runs. He encounters Emo and two other Laguna veterans, who have joined Emo's side, at the emergence point and hides. Tayo watches as he kills one, but knows that he must do nothing. Having returned the cattle and evaded Emo, the ceremony is completed. The drought ends and the destruction of the land and the community is stopped.
Author: Leslie Marmon Silko is mixed race, she is both Laguna Pueblo and white. She grew up on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation.
Setting: The Laguna Pueblo Reservation in western New Mexico post World War II, though there are some passages that occur in the Pacific Theatre of World War II
Characters:
Tayo: Half-white, half-Laguna, Tayo is the protagonist of the story. He grew up on the Laguna reservation and fights in WWII along with his cousin Rocky. He is very traumatized by the death of Rocky during the war, and the death of his uncle Josiah while he is away. Tayo becomes very ill after the war and the story follows his journey to be cured through ceremony. He represents the Sun Father and the completion of his ceremony brings spiritual balance to him and balance to nature and his community.
Rocky: Tayo's cousin who dies in the war. He was often disdainful of Laguna culture and was more prized in the eyes of Auntie.
Josiah: Tayo's uncle who dies while Tayo is fighting in the war, and is Tayo's father figure. He believes in Laguna customs and buys the hybrid cattle.
Auntie: Tayo's aunt, she is effectively the head of the family given Grandma's age. She does not adhere to the Laguna customs and tends toward white culture and customs. She is a Christian. She alienates Tayo and always holds Rocky on a higher pedestal. Her relationship with Tayo becomes especially strained after Rocky dies.
Grandma: Tayo's grandmother, She very much adheres to Laguna tradition.
Betonie: A "hybrid" medicine man, as he uses Navajo and Pueblo methods. He sets Tayo on the right path to complete the necessary ceremony, telling him to reconcile with change and to adapt to it. It's his instruction that ultimately leads Tayo to balance and cure.
Ts'eh: The Yellow Woman. She helps guide Tayo through his ceremony and has a fleeting romantic relationship with him. She essentially impregnates Tayo with stories.
Hunter: The husband/partner of Ts'eh, represents the mountain lion. Also assists in guiding Tayo through his ceremony.
Emo: The main antagonist of the story. He is a witch, looking to work against the reconciliation between the Laguna and white cultures that Tayo is working toward. He was one of the Laguna natives who fought in WWII.
Motifs:
BALANCE
NATURE
ANIMALS
STORIES
CULTURE
Hybridity
Ceremony
Change
Tradition
Sickness
Cyclicity
Sex
Weather
Direction
Ground
Fertility
Matriarchy
Color
Spirits
Witchcraft
Imagery: Heavy emphasis is placed on natural imagery and the significance of natural landmarks. The colors yellow and turquoise are given powerful spiritual significance, while white is significant in its artificiality. Red and brown colors are often used to depict drought and gray often represents conflict, usually spiritual conflict.
Perspective: From Tayo's perspective, though it will sometimes shift time periods oddly as if his thoughts are drifting through various memories. There are some poems that break up the book to help guide the story that are not from Tayo's perspective, but could be told by any Laguna.
Tone: Silko's tone is serious and thoughtful. She carries us through Tayo's thoughts and wants to feel the anguish and personal struggle that he does, while still considering the bigger picture and considering the larger implications that the story deals with.
Symbols:
Mountain Lion: The mountain lion is associated as the helper of Yellow Woman, and can be seen in characters such as Hunter. But the mountain lion also embodies faith in spirit, which is why the mountain lion is there for Tayo when he is trying to return the cattle, even distracting the two white men who capture Tayo so that Tayo can escape.
The Hybrid Cattle: The cattle bought by Josiah represent the clouds in the sky and rain. Their very appearance is supposed to suggest clouds, but their absence also aligns with the disappearance of the clouds and rain in an old Laguna story. When Tayo returns the cattle, he also returns the rain to the Laguna people and ends the drought.
Quotes:
"it seems like I already heard these stories before--only thing is, the names sound different" (242)
Demonstrates the common motif of cyclicity. The old Laguna stories can be applied to real life, and used to help the newer generation. Tayo's own story of returning the cattle greatly mirrors an old Laguna story about returning the rain. It shows the importance of the old Laguna tradition.
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