Ceremony

Tayo has a conflict with himself and his own mind. He has a conflict with how society treats him. He has a conflict with other people in his town. He has a conflict with how wet the jungle was in the war and how dry it is at home. Everywhere he turns there is some sort of conflict. A lot of the conflicts stem from the war and his PTSD, but some of it also stems from his mother and her reputation in the town. The fact that he is half native american half white doesn’t help him out at all either. I think that to resolve the conflict he has to find peace within himself. I’ve finished the book so I know what he ends up doing to try and resolve the conflict. I think that his way of thinking is sound in what he has to do to finally find peace with himself and that inner peace will spread to the other aspects of his life. It’s hard for me to pick a particular scene that I like the best because they are all so detailed in helping you to understand how he feels. I think that showing how much pain he has helps people to connect with him and feel sympathy for him. I’ve never experienced that much pain but I have been in pain so it helps to create a kind of connection to him. I feel sorry for him and I wish I could have been able to help in some way. (Sure it’s a fictional book but still I generally feel the need to help those who are hurting.) One scene that I do like, and please don’t take this a sign of me being a psychopath, is when Tayo gets drunk and attacks Emo. Part of it is because Emo is awful and has is coming, but part of it is because Tayo is addressing his pain. He isn’t addressing it in a healthy way mind you, but at least he’s saying to himself, “I’m hurting and I’m going to do something about it.”