Life As A Constant Process Of Learning And Sacrifice

Alcoholism causes several individual problems in a family ad community. (Smoke Signals)

Alcoholism causes several different problems in a family and community. It is a slow evil circle that can ruin generations of happiness. People die from alcohol every year in unsuspected ways. Anyone can get involved in alcoholism, but the problems can get even worse. For example, 1 out of 10 Native Americans die from alcoholism per year. In a report done by nbcnews.com, they say “11.7 percent of deaths among Native Americans and Alaska Natives between 2001 and 2005 were alcohol-related, compared with 3.3 percent for the U.S. as a whole.” (1 in 10 Native American deaths alcohol related, nbcnews.com) When the numbers are presented, it becomes a surprising reality for people not affected by alcohol. Although death is an obvious problem, there are several more problems which can all interestingly be related to alcoholism. Alcohol is a depressant, if depression already exists, it will only be amplified. “depressed people turned to alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate to ease their emotional pain. But a large study from New Zealand showed that it was probably the other way around -- that is, heavy drinking led to depression.” (12 Health Risks Of Chronic Heavy Drinking, webmd.com) It is hard to tell whether depression or alcoholism comes first, either way alcohol will not solve problems, only make them worse. Depression eventually causes hate, which spreads negative energy and leads to more depression. Interestingly, alcoholism is also known to cause dementia. When humans get old, their brain naturally shrinks. However, someone who is a heavy drinker may have excelled brain reduction. Alcohol definitely kills brain cells, but it also puts a lot of stress on the individual's brain. “Heavy drinking can also lead to subtle but potentially debilitating deficits in the ability to plan, make judgments, solve problems, and perform other aspects of executive function, which are the higher-order abilities that allow us to maximize our function as human beings,” (12 Health Risks Of Chronic Heavy Drinking, webmd.com) These are some of the activities of daily living that alcohol affects. These problems can ruin someone’s life, their marriage, their relationships, their work. Alcohol is something that does not have to be bad, but can easily be abused because of it’s addictive qualities. Too much can shatter a family and knock down a community, literally and metaphorically.


People can and should use their sense of empathy to become a stronger community instead of taking it for granted. (Empathic civilization)

People can and should use their sense of empathy to become a stronger community instead of taking it for granted. The sense of empathy is not unique to humans as a species, but it is unique to mammals.  Human and animal social behavior is quite similar to one another.  In fact, some animal species treat others with more compassion and empathy than humans.  Yet humans have a more developed sense of empathy.  “Many animals are far more empathic and fair than many people realize. Even mice are empathic beings and capuchin monkeys and domestic dogs expect to be treated fairly.” (Why Animals Need Empathy Too, Marc Bekoff)  In studies designed to learn more about the psyche of animals, the animal has an understanding of a “treat”, or an incentive offered to him, and expects to get treated fairly when he performs certain duties.  Although humans have a very evolved sense of empathy and compassion, some people misuse it or take it for granted.  Since humans have a more advanced empathetic sense, they tend to use it on animals.  For example, they train their dogs by rewarding them with a treat when they do something good.  Through all observations of animals and empathy, much can be learned.  A scientist, Marc Bekoff does a study on wild dogs and domestic dogs and finds that,“Basic rules of fairness guide social play and similar rules are the foundation for fairness among adults. This moral intelligence, so evident in both wild canids and in domesticated dogs”  (Why Animals Need Empathy Too, Marc Bekoff)  Evolutionarily, what starts off as a small sense of fairness can lead to a much more evolved emotion of empathy.  This sense could be a big part of evolution because it subconsciously tells the being how to live in a community.  With animals, they learn rules which helps them survive in a community.  “Four basic aspects of fair play in animals are: Ask first, be honest, follow the rules, and admit you're wrong. When the rules of play are violated, and when fairness breaks down, so does play.” (Why Animals Need Empathy Too, Marc Bekoff)  These four things are all very simple concepts yet they have taken the human race so far and have helped people prosper and become a community.  If the human race studies empathy in it’s entirety, people may be able to do so much more with it.  The sense of empathy and compassion may not yet be anywhere close to fully evolved.  Imagine a culture where empathy and compassion are used to their fullest, there may not even be a word for war.


Nature can be emotionally healing in many ways.(ceremony)

Nature can be healing in many ways, physical, mental and emotional.  Nature is a peaceful retreat for anyone in need.  It has been scientifically proven that being in nature, or even seeing images of nature can reduce stress, anger and possibly depression, especially for someone with  recent trauma.  For some people, depression is caused by lack of personal connection. Interestingly, a study done by the University of Illinois showed that nature can connect people and minimize depression.  “University of Illinois suggests that residents in Chicago public housing who had trees and green space around their building reported knowing more people, having stronger feelings of unity with neighbors, being more concerned with helping and supporting each other, and having stronger feelings of belonging than tenants in buildings without trees.” (How does nature impact our wellbeing? www.takingcarge.csh ) Throughout history, it seems as though humans always have a remarkable connection with nature subconsciously.  There is an energy connection between humans and nature no matter how stressful,  painful or traumatizing life is.  Even the smallest bits of nature help.  “Nature helps us cope with pain. Because we are genetically programmed to find trees, plants, water, and other nature elements engrossing, we are absorbed by nature scenes and distracted from our pain and discomfort.” (How does nature impact our wellbeing? www.takingcarge.csh ) Most hospitals are built around parks and green areas for these reasons.  In turn, nature plays a large role in emotional pain as well.  For example, PTSD is something that can consume one's mind with negative thoughts which make them more and more depressed.  Nature can somehow bring them back up.  “humans find nature inherently interesting, we can naturally focus on what we are experiencing out in nature.  This also provides a respite for our overactive minds, refreshing us for new tasks.”  (How does nature impact our wellbeing? www.takingcarge.csh)  In the book Ceremony, the main character Tayo, had a significant amount of PTSD coming back from World War II.  However, as he spent more time in nature, his mood started to get better.  Nature eventually gave him a new purpose in life and in the end, made his life complete.  Nature is part of human life just as much as human life is a part of nature.


Sometimes, the imperfections make things even more beautiful.(press pause play)

Sometimes, imperfections can make things even more beautiful.  A defining quality of humans is to make mistakes, in art, media, daily routines, and work. It is very natural and easy to make a mistake.  However, when someone tries to be perfect, it feels unnatural and eerie to another.  A music producer says this about his inspiration for music, "I like listening to Billie Holiday because there is vulnerability.  I get really almost intimidated and bored by perfect digital art." (Moby, PressPausePlay.) Billie Holiday was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, she is a jazz musician with a very distinct voice.  She had a soothing but unpredictable musical style.  Many people all over the world believe music is meant to have subtle mistakes or else it would simply not be music, only sounds that have been over manipulated.  There is a fine line that can be crossed when small beautiful, subtle mistakes become blatant mistakes.  "Younger musicians and some older ones that I've seen rely too much on the technology. They give a subpar performance and expect the technology to compensate for it." (Nick Sansano, PressPausePlay.)  If one  overuses tools like technology and forgets about the beauty in the subtle mistakes deep within the music, they may destroy the music and it becomes predictable and boring.  Some people could argue that new editing software is a tool that would create the illusion of perfection in music, when in reality it only makes it sound more robotic.  Also, technology is a tool to help the artist, not control the artist.  According to an article by Boundless.com,  “Beauty in terms of art refers to an interaction between line, color, texture, sound, shape, motion, and size that is pleasing to the senses.” (boundless.com, what makes art beautiful?)  This quote means that all these factors come together to make one visual, audible, touchable interactive piece of art.  It becomes something beautiful, in fact, it is arguable that art is already beautiful, and it just needs the artist to put it together to make it even more beautiful. There is no correct way to arrange emotions and feelings, which is one of the reasons why art is incredibly powerful.  It is about the human spirit, and the human spirit is not about being perfect.


P.T.S.(D is a normal human human stress reaction that could happen after a dramatic experience to anyone. (pts(d)

P.T.S.(D) is a normal human stress reaction that could happen to anyone after a traumatic experience.  It is a weight that can be held on an individual's shoulders from a very young age, which can lead to many other sorts of problems.  This horrific human reaction can be caused by any sort of traumatic experience in one's life, as explained in this video giving background on P.T.S.(D) “Most people have been through  some type of life threatening or traumatic event, and it's common to have stress related reactions after trauma, but when symptoms last more than 3 months and there not better, it's time to get help.”  (What Is PTSD? Veterans health administration)  It is natural to be afraid in a life threatening situation.  In Fact, a split second sensation occurs in the body called fight or flight.  This reaction makes the individual choose whether they can stay and fight or leave and escape.  With P.T.S.(D), this reaction is damaged within the individual's mind.   P.T.S.(D) works against empathy.  Empathy is the act of understanding and feeling something happen to another.  P.T.S.(D) makes this reaction immensely stressful.  “the harm may have happened to a loved one, or the person may have witnessed a harmful event that happened to loved ones or strangers.”(What is post traumatic stress disorder? Mimh.nih.gov) The human brain is not designed to see very much danger, destruction, or trauma, so when it does, parts of it shut down.  People who have P.T.S.(D) are known to feel unsafe or in danger when there it may be nonexistent, but how common is it to get P.T.S.(D)? According to an article from nature.com about this topic “50–60% of people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives, whether through military combat, assault, a serious car accident or a natural disaster.” (Stress, The roots of resilience, Virginia Hughes)  This world is filled with trauma and destruction, and the odds are in humanity's favor to experience some of it.   Sometimes bad situations happen to good people, and the good people are the ones that can handle these bad situations and emerge from them.

Thing-Link

a Transcendence of Community and Nature of Empathy

As the population continuously grows, some say the presence of a community is diminishing.  This could be because of a lack of attention in technologically addicted people.  However, is there really such a thing as "technologically addicted"?  The answer may be "yes" according to Joe Garner.  He made a film experimenting with this topic called, Craigslist Joe.  In the movie, Joe says, "have we become so caught up in our  lives that we are not willing to go outside our bubble, are we less willing to see each other as neighbors?" This bubble he is referring to could perhaps be a virtual bubble?  This bubble could very well explain our addiction to technology.  If one stripped every thing

away from their life except for technology, would it still be possible to have a human connection? After doing just that for a month, Joe Garner experienced a connection with community that blew him away, "The generosity of people, and like, the stories they share and the connections I made."  There was immense emotion in his journey.   Joe used technology (Craigslist) to create a community of generous people who came together to help him go across the country.  For example, "Studies have shown that Americans spend more time with media than they do eating, sleeping and participating in family activities." Media Literacy  Human spirit is the one thing that cannot be broken.  Although it can be abused, it can also be used as a tool to help people become closer to their community.

Empathy is something that every human is capable of.  It is a feeling that makes people cringe and shriek due to others' pain or suffering.  It is amazing how all humans can quite literally feel another person's pain. "6.8 billion people, at various stages of consciousness, theological, idealogical, phycological, dramaturgical, all came from two people." Jeremy Rifkin, The Empathic Civilization.  Studies
show that all people are actually related to many of the same ancestral humans.  Interestingly, studies also show that all mammals show empathy towards different creatures.  This is caused by mirror neurons.  Most homo sapiens have them, but it was first tested on monkeys.  The following quote helps explain mirror neurons and what they do. "If I'm observing you. Your anger, your frustration, your sense of rejection, your joy, whatever it is, the same neurons will light up in me as if I'm having that experience myself." Jeremy Rifkin, The Empathic Civilization.  An example of this would be when a spider crawls up someones arm and the other person watching gets creeped out.  It is easy to take this feeling for granted because it occurs so often.  However, it can be used for good as long as people don't repress it. "Bring out our empathic sociability so we can rethink the institutions of society and prepare the groundwork for an empathic civilization." Jeremy Rifkin Empathic Civilization.  Humans naturally have been building civilization around this feeling for millenniums.  That's why empathy is one of the most amazing and incredible human traits.

Videos/Images

The room is off balance with the picture

Jesse moving into a daze state

there is a black shadow in the side of the picture

his green cloths and the money symbolize sickness

there is more light in the picture than dark.

some of the image is black and the other lighter

It starts with the main character blurred in the mirror of a car, which moves to a diegesis.  The shoot is edited and moves to him singing to landscape to a bar. The shots focus on her face in that rear view mirror. then moves to a graveyard.  The lighting brighter in the beginning and darker at the end.  At the beginning it is also a open space sence and towards the end it is more closed may meaning a escape getting smaller and smaller.  At the end he turns into a squid which could mean he is de evolving back into a creature from the ocean based on earlier evidence when he is in the ocean and has a bit of a connection while watching a seal.

The sense is shot in a gloomy diner which focuses on a woman while a man is trying to get her attention in the background.  It starts off low key lighting and moves to highly lighting. Throughout the video, the clock does not change,  which means it could be a flashback and/or a dream.  He could feel as though he needs love in his life therefore

What the Internet Consists of

The internet has many different purposes.  It is a way to connect with others or a way to enhance one's knowledge about almost anything.  It is a tool for good and evil and an information haven for people all around the world.  The internet makes new information almost too easy to access.  "The peoples right to know is much more easily fulfilled than it has ever been in the history of the world. We've come a long, long way and the information revolution is coming." (Culture and Communication)  In other words, because information is more accessible to the average person than it used to be, it has a greater affect on society in many ways.  One effect is mass fear.  This is caused by media showing people the horrors of the world that they may not necessarily otherwise.  For example, when Princess Diana died, people from all over the world were fearful and sad but also intrigued. "The Internet which became a bona fide news medium by the end of the 20th century, also proved to be a successful vehicle for covering the story of Diana's Death." (Culture and Communication)   The internet can be a way for millions to connect and come together.  In this case, people could mourn the loss of Princess Diana together.  With situations like these, the internet is constantly becoming bigger all the time, "research also showed that hundreds of thousands of internet users around the world turned to chat rooms and message boards to express their shock and share grief together.   Princess Diana's death is a prime example of how the internet is used to bring together groups of people to share the human spirit through a virtual way.

Technology Is Great. Or is it?

Many old questions can still be debated today. What comes first? The chicken, or the egg? This question can be taken into consideration when thinking about different kinds of art, like music, literature and film. For example, some say technology is assisting music too much, but what came first, the technology, or the musician?  Bill Drummond, an artist says, "The technology always comes first, then the artist comes along. The artist always comes after the technology." Bill Drummond, PressPausePlay.  In a very basic way this statement is true, with arguably every artist throughout history. VanGough could not paint his masterpieces if paint was never invented. However, can the artist overuse or mis-use the technology?  Evidence points to the answer being yes.  Nick Sansano, a music producer says, "Younger musicians and some older ones that I've seen rely too much on the technology. They give a subpar performance and expect the technology to compensate for it."

Nick Sansano, PressPausePlay.  Although  technology may make these musicians sound better, it leaves out room for human imperfections, that give art creative expression.  Moby, a well known artist says, "I like listening to Billy Holiday because there is vulnerability.  I get really almost intimidated and bored by perfect digital art." Moby PressPausePlay.  Perfection is something that is unnatural to humans.  If one feels "intimidated" by listening, one must feel "intimidated" or worse by creating it.  Technology may have always come before the artist, but does the artist create technology that can be considered art itself?  Time can only tell.

As the internet changes and evolves, so do people.  When someone uses the internet it leaves an electronic footprint thus building a larger picture called an (e)dentity.  In an article written about (e)dentity, Stephanie Vie explains what her definition of an (e)dentity is, " "(e)dentity, an electronic identity composed of the digital traces left behind as we participate in virtual worlds." Stephanie Vie, Your (e)dentity.  One can choose what kind of persona they would like to become in a virtual world. Someone may portray an (e)dentity online who they may not truly be.  Another problem with an (e)dentity is that it is a violation of privacy. "When the news feed feature was introduced in September 2006, thousands of users were outraged, concerned that changes in their relationships, conversations with other users and so on were now immediately visible to everyone else in their network." Stephanie Vie, Your (e)dentity.  People feel their privacy is invaded.  It is almost like living in a big city -vs- a small town. In a city people don't really have an idea of what is going on in the life of people around them however in a small town people know every detail about each other's lives.

(E)dentities, of course, can also be good.  For example, if a music group is just starting their career and needs to promote themselves, it could be used as an effective promotional tool.  (E)entities can also represent a community.  It can  be used to send a message, "An event that clearly illustrated both the power and the limitations of social media was the flood of rapid reactions to the shooting of U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords."  When people form a community to send a message through social media, it makes a massive virtual footprint, and an even greater (e)dentity.

Forgiving Forgetting

Humans are forced to pay for what their ancestors have given to them.  Why should one have to pay? Why should one want to forgive themselves or their ancestors?  As Thomas says in the beginning of the film Smoke Signals;  "How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever."
Born into pain.  People cannot simply choose their lives. Thomas says in Smoke Signals "You know, there are some children who art really children at all. Theory just pillars of flame that burn every thing they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that they fall apart if you'd touch em. Me and victor, we were children of flame and ash. Someone that is born into pain is typically very weak. and as a result of that, they may feel like they destroy every thing around them or get destroyed by every thing around them emotionally.  One way to heal from this situation is to simply not take anything that has happened in the past or is currently happening too seriously. To recognize it, but not pick at it. Thomas is a good example of this, because even though he lost both of his parents, he does not let it get to him. He understands it happened, but does not focus on the facts too much. "Sometimes its a good day to die, sometimes its a good day to eat breakfast" He is starting out by saying something depressing and serious, but ending with a way to bring things back to a lighthearted place which his mind is in. There is a time in every ones life, when they must come to understand an emotional wound and why it happened. That is where the journey of healing begins.

It has been proven that Human communication is the hardest thing people do on a daily basis. Why? Several reasons. One being that it depends on the outlook that person has, meaning their mood. When someones outlook is bad it projects on someone else, giving them a bad outlook, the cycle continues. It shows a great example of this in the film Smoke Signals, Arnold Joseph has been racially profiled his whole life giving him a bad outlook "Back then Arnold Joseph was a hippy but that was ok because back then most hippies were trying to be Indians any way!" Therefore projecting these thoughts on his son Victor Joseph, and eventually leaving his family as a result. This makesVictor bitter, and gives him a bad outlook on life. Victor is usually trying to spread his outlook on other people like Thomas for example but he can seem to get through to him. Thomas says "Hey Victor Hows your Dad?"  Which only seems to make Victor's outlook even worse by binging back  memories about his father he wanted to vanish. Why would Thomas do that? he simply did not know. This is another reason why communication is hard. People simply do not know what other people will get offended by. Although Victors father was an alcoholic, that is something he did not pass down to his son. Victor says "I don't drink, never had a drop of alcohol in my life, not a drop." His father taught him not to drink by being a bad example. This is important, however still leaves him with emotional wounds. There are reasons why Communication is hard for Humans, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. By communicating, one can heal.

Witchery: The Roots of Evil

Some people might think of Witchery as a silly idea given some American colonies' tragic experiences In Tayo's culture, Witchery is considered real and a very significant part of life. In Pueblo tradition, all evil comes from Witchery. This quote gives the reader a good idea about what witchery is. "Finally there was only one. Who hadn't shown off any charms or powers. The witch stood in the shadows beyond the fire. And had no one ever knew where this witch had came from. Witch tribe. Or if not man or a woman." Silko Pg.134 many things were brought up in the statement. First of all, it says that the Witch or evil could be man or woman. Second, It will show charm or powers. Last, Fire is a classic metaphor for evil in literature. However this witch is standing behind it, making it featureless. Only a dark entity.

the Healing of Tayo

There are several key factors in the process of Tayo's healing. Baton is one of them. He is somewhat a turning point for him. Tayo is intrigued because Betonie is something he has never seen before. He starts out very subtly, teaching him life lessons. He takes this action because Tayo is very emotional and fragile in this point in his life, which this quote depicts. "Betonie sounded as if he were explaining something simple but important to a small child. But Tayo's stomach clenched around the words." Silko Pg. 125 Betonie is trying to get a point across to Tayo however, he is realizing that it hurts. He is also realizing that he must hear him. In the long run this helps more, making Tayo and Betonie close friends. One thing Betonie may have taught him is that nature is not always bad. Infact Tayo is
seeing nature in a whole to spectrum. ""mountain lion becoming what you are with each breath, your substance changing with the earth and sky." Silko Pg.196 This quote is a very important factor showing Tayo's healing because he is not only connecting with something that is more powerful that himself but also understanding it. Tayo has had many people showing him the good and evil of nature and everything around him but one stood out. Tissea may not be literal person, nevertheless Tayo's mind he was intrigued. "From the stars and the woman, the mountain and the cattle would come." Silko Pg. 186 In this quote, instead of connecting nature with bad memories like rocky dying for example, he is now connecting it with fantasies. Like a woman or the cattle. Even if it seems impossible to heal from something, it is. There is always hope which is what makes tay amazing and stick out from others. Even though he did not have any good memories to connect with nature. He came to understand that he actually did, He just had to create them.



Tayo is inevitably healing through nature. One year ago, according the the book Ceremony, Tayo was so riddled with P.T.S. and emotional distress. This led to him only connecting nature to bad memories. He's has learned many new things since that time. Tayo has changed changed greatly. For example, this quote gives input on how Tayo feels about tissae,"When she left, he got dressed and followed her, he stood in the west and looked at the morning stars." Silko Pg. 189 Tayo after a year is finally starting to live in the present which is being cause by this mystical woman. It s apparent that she is helping Tayo, but how much? this quote is a perfect example that she is one of the biggest factors in his healing process. "I don't want any of those around. They can do their drinking some place else. Not at our place. Her face was stiff." Silko Pg. 218 She is making an impact on Tayos life because she is the only female role model for
him. This quote is also important because at the beginning of the book, Tayo would usually use  drugs to take out his emotions and pain, but now he is staying away. As he becomes closer with Tissea, Tayo begins to understand the balance life needs to have. It is interesting how much is changing. Throughout the book, there will be poem that starts with sunrise. What does this mean? and how is it significant to his healing process? "sunrise sunrise, his words made vapor in the cold morning air." Silko Pg. 216 It almost seems like a new beginning, or a new hope. He is starting to feel the world around him and notice things. each "sunrise" in the book may be a significant milestone in his healing process. If one picks at a scab. It will never heal, but if they understand how they got it and leave it alone. it will eventually heal. Tayo is almost though that process.

Shifting of Life and Tayo's Transformation

Nothing can stay the same. Cultures, Individuals and nature. These things all have phases as explained by Betonie in Ceremony in fact he may be a symbol in the book for the changing of culture. "shopping bags poked out; piled to the tops of woolworth bags were bouquets of dried sage and the brown leave of mountain tobacco wrapped in swaths of silvery unspun wool." Silko Pg. 120 Betonie's home is a completely different place for Tayo. He is at first unsure how to react, Tayo is used to a traditional Indian. As medicine man Ku'oosh is very traditional, Betonie is not. Tayo is realizing that in this quote, "and what do I make of all this? He nodded his head slowly up and down. "Maybe you smelled it when you came in. "I the old days it was simple. A medicine person could get by without all these things. But nowadays..." Silko Pg. 121 The "things" Betonie is referring to are all of the new world items Tayo is seeing scarred throughout Betonie's house. He is saying how he needs all these things nowadays in order to be a successful medicine man. The culture is changing. As Tayo heals, nature has played a big roll in his life. At first the nature he describes is very dark and deeply moving. However, tward the current stage in his healing he is describing more and more beautiful depictions. For example, "Any way, I couldn't help any one who was afraid of me." "He started humming softly to himself, a song that Tayo could only hear only faintly, but that reminded him of of butterflies darting from flower to flower." Silko Pg. 123 This is  interesting
because instead of triggering his P.T.S. this reminds of him something more beautiful. This is symbolizing the shifting in his state of mind. Individuals change through out their life. This makes life change through time. It is a circle that will not change until life on this planet ceases to exist.










Tayo has unfortunately gone through a lot of negatively impacting things during his lifetime. He blames most of those things on himself. One of the things Tayo is burdened with never being able to fit in. At the reservation he is too "white", outside the reservation he is too "Indian" Although for some reason, Gallop was one place he seems to fit in even and Ironically could be where Tayo was conceived. "They don't understand. We know these hills and we are comfortable here." there was something about the way the old man said comfortable, it had a different
meaning" Silko Pg. 117 What is that "different meaning? Even if the whites pushed these people to a different type of land, they still come here and some live here despite all of the failure and poorness of this town. This is what Tayo began to figure out. Tayo has seen more death and destruction than any human should in the Baaton death march. In this quote he talks about witches, the root of all evil. These witches are a possible cause for all the destruction tay has seen. "The witch stood in the shadows beyond the fire and no one ever knew where this witch came from, which tribe? or if it was a man or woman. but the important thing was, this witch didn't show off any dark thunder charcoals or red ant-hill beads." Silko Pg. 135 This which could be a metaphor for Tayo's P.T.S. Or it could be evil in general. Either way it is a dark presence which is somewhere within Tayo. Out of all of this he seems to be healing. which is naturally beautiful. He "He blinked back the tears, but he didn't move. He was tired of fighting. If there was no one left to trust, then he had no more reason to live" and "if you can't trust me you should go home before it gets dark. You can't be too carful these days. Silko Pg. 122 He is somewhat still in pain, but Sometimes one has to resurrect the pain in order for it to go away. It is only human nature.

Tyao Vs. everybody

Tayo has many conflicts in the book Ceremony. However, there are conflicts within every character in  this book. These conflicts are most likely caused by many of the same reasons. Given that all of these characters have been oppressed throughout their entire lives,  they are all angry and want to oppress others. This is shown in Emo and his hatred towards Tayo. "There he is. He thinks he's something all right. Because he's part white. Don't you, half breed?" Silko Pg. 57  Emo is not a good person, in general, but this quote especially shows his darkness. He is Native American and does terrible things in WWII. This makes Emo a worse person than he already is. "Tayo could hear it in his voice when he talked about the killing-how he grew from each killing.  Emo fed on each man he killed, the higher the rank the dead man, the higher it made Emo." Silko Pg. 6
1 Emo is different from most characters, because he is blatantly mean, rude, and scary.  However, some characters are rude and not trying to be. In old man Ku'oosh's place, he says racist things only because that is the way he was raised. "more than an hour went by before Ku'oosh asked him. "you were with the others,  the ones who went to the white peoples war?" Silko Pg. 37  This is obviously a racist statement, however ku'oosh does not see it as such.  He was raised racist, and white people are racist towards hi
m, and so the circle never ends.

Alcoholism effects P.T.S. in a very negative way.  It can make it significantly worse by bringing up bad memories causing emotions to come to life in horrific ways. This is true for Tayo in Ceremony. He says while drinking several beers, "Something was different about the beer this time; it swelled through his blood and made all the muscles loose and warm, but it was also loosening something deeper inside which clenched the anger and held it in place." Silko Pg. 62 Alcohol is a depressant. Therefore, drinking makes Tayo feel angry and upset. Violence can be a product of hurt and anger and sometimes drinking is a product of violence.  The guys may drink to escape, but in the end, it makes things worse increasing violence, "reports note that since the
 second world war a pattern of drinking and violence, not previously seen before, is emerging among Indian veterans." Silko Pg. 53 intact alcohol can make people someone their not. For instance, Tayo is not a violent or hateful person at heart, but when he drinks it is different. "when Emo laughed at him. He moved suddenly, with speed which was effortless and floating like a mountain lion. He got stronger with every jerk that me made" Silko Pg. 63 Tayo acts savage as he punches Emo in the stomach repeatedly. He does not like Emo and is filling himself with alcohol. Mixing those things together can never end good. 

The Injun

The film "Reel Injun" shows the reality of what it is like to be a Native American, and how Hollywood portrays them.  As times have changed, the stereotype of Native Americans in Hollywood has has changed as well. In the early 1920s when cinema was still young, there were silent films of Native American ceremonies.  Jesse Wente says, "there were more than 100 silents made involving Native Americans because this part of American history was ongoing at the time." (Reel Injun) During this time, native people were given more respect in cinema.  Their ceremonies were real. However, as time went on, the social problem continued to get worse.  Cinema made native people out to be savages and not human. Through classic "western films" the Natives were played by caucasians who did not even know how to speak the native language.  They wore headbands and head dresses only to keep their wigs on.  Richard Lamante, a hollywood costume designer says "if you look at movies in the 30s, Native Americans much like African Americans are used as props." Lamente is saying Native Americans were only in movies to portray a stereotype. This trend went on for a long time, and cinema had a big affect on the Native American sterotype.  John treadle, a Native American activist says, "The predatory mentality shows up and starts calling us Indians and using this as a vehicle for erasing the memories of being a human being." This is a powerful quote. The memories of being human slowly disintegrate over watching these unrealistic films.  This is a sad thing but it is getting better.


There are poor representations of Native Americans shrouded throughout Hollywood's history.

There are so few real representations of Native americans that they become an inhuman stereotype. John Trudell says in the film Reel Injun, "Im a human being, this is the name of my tribe, this is the name of my people, but I'm a human being!" (Reel Injun) What he is trying to get across is how he and his people want to be portrayed as human beings. For so many years and still today, Native people are treated as objects, or props in a film. Several years ago when Marlin Brando won the Oscar for "Godfather" a Native American woman named Little Feather went up to the stage and said "I am representing Marlin Brando this evening, and he has asked me in this very long speech that I cannot share with you due to time. He cannot accept this award and the reasons being of the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry." Something appaling happens while she is talking, people from the crowd start booing. What Little Feather does is very controversial at the time. It is insane to think that something like that is "controversial". However it is how Native Americans were

treated in cinema at that time. Since then, several films have been made that glorify native people and their culture, for example, Smoke Signals and The fast Runner. Although these two titles do not come close to showing what it's like to be Native American, they do give a glimpse. Grahm Green says this about The fast Runner, "This movie brought it top the point where cinema was telling our stories, our way." Of course not all stereo types will be erased with two or three movies.  Cinema is finally coming to the point where they will let Natives tell their story the way it should be told. Why tell it any other way?

the Opresser and the Opressed

There are many indicators of Tayo's hard life that cannot go unnoticed in the novel Ceremony. These  make him want to become invisible to the world and everything around him.  For Tayo, the best way become invisible is using large amounts of morphine. A great quote that emphasizes this is, "He wanted to go back to the hospital. Right away. He had to get back where he could merge with the walls and ceiling, shimmering white, remote from everything." Silko Pg. 32  He wants to go back to the hospital for the morphine and wants to merge with the walls to block himself out of everything that is happening to him and the pain
he is feeling. Tayo may not be suffering from the pain of P.T.S. either.  This quote shows how subtle racism was a big part of his life. "You know the army doctor said "no Indian medicine". Old man Ku'oosh will bring his bag of of weeds and dust." Silko Pg. 34 Tayo has much respect for Ku'oosh and everything he does. This quote speaks to the fact that Americans are trying to take culture away from the Native Americans. Incidents such as these happen to Tayo often which can have a big emotional impact of him. When so much happens to one person, it eventually makes them have the need to oppress others.  This is called 'Transfer of Oppression'.  In this quote, Auntie wants Tayo to talk to the medicine man. "You know what people will say if we ask for a medicine man to help him. Someone will say its not right they'll say he's not pure blood any way." Silko Pg. 33  Because Auntie is being treated unfairly and ridiculed about using a medicine man, she is almost sure people will do the same to Tayo.   Throughout the novel Auntie ridicules Tayo. It is sad to see, but anger and pain can create a domino affect for those around you and those you care about.








Humans will always escape from pain.  People will do what it takes to heal. In Tayos case, it seems to be nature that heals him. Every time he brings up the Baton death march, he will associate it with rain which causes him to feel uneasy. However, he also brings up other types of nature when talking to old man Koo'ush. "Then he
heard the old man describe a cave north east of laguna where bats flew out on summer evenings. The rattlesnakes liked to lie there in the early spring. The snakes went there to restore life to themselves." Silko Pg. 35 First of all, Tayo is talking about animals in this quote, which calms him. Second he has a cheerful spirit when talking about this cave. Some might say, "He can't just ignore what happened and think about nature!" but right after that quote Tayo says "He remembers the wide round hole, so deep that lying on his belly beside Rocky, he had never been able to see the bottom." Silko Pg. 35 Although the animals and such are making him feel calm, any type of nature he thinks about can somehow be related to the Baaton death march. Tayo tells him that he has never killed anyone in war yet is still sick. This is when the old man slows down and begins to understand what is really going on in Tayo's head. "The old man shook his head slowly an made a low humming sound in his throat. you couldn't  kill another human being in battle without knowing it without seeing the result because even a wonder deer that got and ran again left great clots or lung blood or spilled guts on the ground." Silko Pg. 36 Old man Ku'oosh is basically saying, even if he did not kill any one, just the participation in war can give emotional scars. The old man still has faith in Tayo because although he is lost at the moment, does not mean he can come back. The past is not equal to the future.

Invisibility by Drugs

On this journey Tayo is going through, there are many ways he learns to deal with his pain. He talks a lot about becoming invisible or disappearing from the world. That could be taken several different ways, it could go the rout of racism, or maybe

The Path to Healing

There are many grenades being thrown at Tayo's life in the beginning of Leslie Silko's, Ceremony. So many grenades that one may think he will never come out of this deep depression.  In fact some believe he is on a path to healing by telling stories. "You don't have anything, if you don't have stories. Their evil is mighty, but it can't stand up to our stories" Pg. 2 Silko. This statement says a lot. First of all, it touches on the evil of something out there.  However Tayo is also saying his stories demolish it. This quote summarizes how he feels at the end of the book, but not necessarily how he is feeling in the beginning of the book. Frightened and distraught from World War II "Japanese soldiers shouting orders to him, suffocating damp voices drifted out in the jungle steam." Silk Pg. 6  This statement was only a memory but even for the reader it feels real.  It is hard to imagine, but what Tayo is dealing with is a natural reaction to a traumatizing event in ones life. Tayo can most likely recall almost everything that happened when he was at war, especially the traumatic parts. One example is when he was carrying Rocky, he remembers the very rocks he was walking on. "The words of the story pouring out of his mouth as if they had substance, pebbles and stone extending to old the corporal up, to keep his knees from buckling." Silk Pg. 12 It is also interesting how he talks about telling a story to give strength. Although pain is riddled through out this book, from pain comes growth which is what will come next for Tayo

among the obvious themes in the book, there are subtle ones as well, like racism, classism, and alcoholism. this quote gives a subtle yet strong example of classism. for example there is a quote that says "She spent all day splashing down the summer rain, but her sister corn woman worked all day sweating in the sun, getting sore hands." Silko Pg. 13 This is a poem which has not been explained yet in the book however, as a metaphors it makes complete sense. One person looses so the other can win. Another interesting underlying theme in this novel is alcoholism. Tayo's friend Harley seems to be constantly drinking to solve his problems or at least subdue them. "Harley didn't use to like beer at all, and maybe this was something that was different about him now after the war. He drank lots of beer now." Silko Pg. 20 This quote makes an interesting point that even though he did not

use to drink at all, harley had been changed by the war. racism is also a big hidden factor to this book, ad there are many facts to prove it, for instance, when Tayo is talking about his school, he talks about basically intuiting him his own religion. "He had believed i  stories for a long time, until the teachers in indian school taught him not to believe in that kind of nonsense." Silko Pg. 19 it is astonishing how many themes are brought up through the pain this man is going through in this book. one may be able to feel for what he has been through because they have gone through it too. Even if they have not been through the same types of problems and issues one is sure to understand it.

the metaphors and cultures of Dances with Wolves

Two Socks is a wolf that the main character John Dunbar is befriending in the film Dances with Wolves. Above all, Two Socks represents several different metaphors in the movie. First of all, Dunbar's relationship with the Sioux Indians parallels his relationship with Two Socks. As Dunbar is creating a bond with this creature throughout the movie, he is also creating a bond with a Sioux tribe. These two bonds are very similar. For example, the first time Mr. Dunbar see's the wolf he immediately gets his gun and takes aim, but when he realizes it is only a wolf, he does not shoot. This shows a lot about his character. Mr. Dunbar is not only aware of his environment but cares about it. The same type of situation happens when he encounters the Sioux for the first time.  One of the first times Mr. Dunbar sees the Indian man, his first thought is to kill him.  However, he cannot bring himself to do it because of a rush of emotions flowing through him as the mysterious Indian man stands in front of him.  Instead he lowers his gun as the Indian screams and rides off into the distance on his horse. Dunbar is instantly intrigued.  Both characters are not yet sure why they didn't kill each other. Interestingly, the wolf comes around more often, because he is realizing that Dunbar is not a threat.  Dunbar offers the wolf a piece of food from his hand, and he takes it, then runs off. In order to offer food from his bare hand, Dunbar has to completely trust the wolf. In addition, as Dunbar grows closer and closer with the Suix tribe, the tribe had to completely trust him, in order to survive.  Sadly, the wolf is eventually killed by the American military while Dunbar is being held captive.  The tribe comes to rescue Dunbar, and he goes and lives with the tribe.  Just as the wolf would have always come back to him.



John Dunbar goes through a great transformation throughout the film. He slowly becomes one of the Sioux people, but at first he is very satisfied with his way of life. He is also very clueless about other cultures, as subtly shown in the movie, when he is getting ready to go to a Sioux village for the first time. Dunbar wears his formal soldier uniform to try to impress them. In reality, this only makes him look worse to the tribe because they're in conflict, if not warring with the soldiers.  Most of the soldiers don't just want to talk to the Sioux, they want to kill them. Although the tribe is weary of Dunbar, they decide to talk. As the tribe and Dunbar become closer, they show each other many new things about their ways of life. For instance, the tribe eventually teaches Dunbar how to speak their native language, and Dunbar teaches the Sioux people how to use a rifle. Although this may not be historically accurate, it is a good way to express what the two different cultures have to give to one another. Ultimately there is no "superior culture".   But the movie portrayed the white culture to be more brutal.  That is most likely why Mr. Dunbar decides to join the Sioux people. They are more peaceful people than the American military by far. For example, as the American soldiers were riding back to the camp to execute Dunbar, because they viewed him as a trader, the soldiers saw Two Socks and shot him in cold blood without thinking twice about it. The Sioux people would have had more of a respectful connection to the wolf and would not have killed it. In the end, Dunbar's beliefs are completely changed due to all his experiences with these people. In fact he is willing to sacrifice everything for them.

Dancing With Wolves

One could say that Dancing with Wolves is a strong display of post dramatic stress, stratification of power and a lack of communication and understanding. The film shows many creative ways to depict these things. For example, Lieutenant Dunbar is on his horse looking into the distance as inspirational music plays. This happened multiple times throughout the film. It doesn't just happen with Dunbar either, there have been scenes of pathos on the Native American side as well. However, throughout scattered pathos scenes of Native Americans there are scenes of fear mis-communication and misunderstanding between cultures. For instance, there is a scene where Lieutenant Dunbar encounters a  Native American. It is obvious they are both scared of each other  most likely because of what each of there cultures have done to the other. Dunbar most likely sees the Native American to be a mysterious and deadly character. When in reality, he is just the same type of person as Dunbar. One thing that makes the two cultures different is their stratification of power. For the most part, the Native American warriors and elders are the leaders in their society.  This is shown in the scene when they were talking about what they should do with Dunbar. Interestingly, in the American military, the creators of this film decided to depict the leader to be a drunk, strange man who seemed unfit for his duty, however the Native Americans were depicted as wise. All these factors helped this film become a great visual tool to help people understand both sides of the story.

It could argued that before this movie, the American military is mainly depicted as the good side or the protagonist. Numerous people will not even acknowledge Native Americans and see them as bad or dumb people because of how Hollywood, for the most part, portrays them.  In the first scene of the film where  Native Americans are introduced, they are portrayed as brutal and savage. The Shawnee see a traveler and automatically kill and scalp him. This is an interesting point of view for someone who is seeing a Native American for the first time in the film. However, the film does not depict them as dumb, only savage. In a later scene, there is a group of Native American leaders sitting and talking about how they should proceed with Lieutenant Dunbar. This shows Native Americans did not just kill for fun, they have a mis-understanding of white mans' culture. A very bloody mis-understanding, American military came into several villages around that time and scalped woman and children as well.  In this film, costume shows cultural differences between people. For example, the Pawnee warriors are dressed up with all sorts of leather armor, headgear, face paint and other extremities. On the other side, Dunbar is dressing up with his sleek blue jacket, hat sward and golden cuff links. Dunbar might think he looks more civilized but really it is just a matter of perception. While Native Americans costume looks scary to us, a human probably looks just as scary to a lion.