Guilt In Tayo's Ceremony

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Through out Ceremony we see Tayo struggle with all types of negative life experiences; guilt being his most detrimental, leaving him mentally and physically crippled, not being able to go anywhere without throwing up. Tayo let his guilt control his life and he discovers the white man’s medicine is useless and must use his native cultures practices to guide him back to his old self and have inner peace. Through out Tayos journey to recovery, he learns how and why he suffers from this guilt and learns what he must do to overcome it. There are two main reasons Tayo struggles with guilt and even though they are out of his control, his war wrecked mind keeps him captive. During Tayo’s tour, he spent most of his time not only fighting the Japanese, but also Mother Nature, “So he had prayed the rain away, and for the sixth year it was dry: the grass turned yellow and it did not grow” (13). Tayo’s community is struggling with a long drought and he believes his prayers from the war are to blame. Before he left for the war he helped with his family's ranch…show more content…
Tayo now has inspiration to live and, in order for him to let go of the guilt, he must understand death, “ ‘Death isn’t much,’ she (A’moo’ooh) said. … ‘sometimes they don’t make it’” (213). These are the words that convince Tayo, death is a natural part of life and he has to learn to live in the present. The journey of him finding the cattle stolen by the white men and meeting A’moo’ooh were the main parts of the ceremony to show him the ones you love cannot be lost. The guilt leaves Tayo as he thinks about the past “ He took a deep breath; it hurt his chest. He thought of Josiah then, Rocky” (213). The search for the cattle and meeting this lady are all apart of the ceremony for Tayo finding himself and give him the willpower to overcome his
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