Ceremony Blog #2

    Even though Rocky and Tayo shared a household, their dynamic was complex. Rocky's mother continuously tried to keep them separate, or at least make it clear that Tayo would be seen as "less than" because he had a white father. That chasm hung over Tayo much of his childhood, never being quite as accepted as Rocky. Yet under the pressure that pushed them apart, the two were able to form a brotherly relationship. Rocky was seen as a golden boy, usually supported by his school teachers and coaches, and his relatives used him as a success story. Tayo, however, had to suffer being half white and forever viewed as an outsider, not being white or black. Tayo, however, admired Rocky and followed him around, even joining the military with him, the connection that made Rocky's war death tragic, not the tragedy for the losing relatives, but the only person that Tayo felt truly connected to. Silko uses this relationship to illustrate that war ptsd and the loss of a brother are not the only issues he is facing after returning home, but the feeling of displacement without his brother is a driving force and weight for Tayo's grief. Their story instructs us in how profoundly cultural and personal conflict can be intertwined and sets the course that Tayo walks through in the ceremony.