Revision of Open Prompt 12/4/11

Open Prompt 12/4

1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

            The more things change, the more they stay the same. The cyclical nature of time and nonlinear narratives are a central device in American Indian literature, and particularly in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. The novel jumps in its chronology constantly. Sometimes, a past event or memory will begin in the middle of a paragraph or sentence without warning. Silko uses the nonlinear narrative to show the interconnectivity between all things, and the cyclical nature of time.

            After he returns from WWII, Tayo suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and falls ill. The narrative constantly switches between his memories and his current life. An artifact or event will take him into the past, where another element may remind him of another memory, and his narrative constantly shifts between his past and present. He is confused and disoriented by this, mistaking Japanese soldiers for his uncle thousands of miles away, or becoming ill at the sound of a crack, which reminds him of his friends skull crushing. Silko weaves time periods and memories together seamlessly and constantly because everything is the same. A key point throughout the novel is that things repeat themselves, and time works in circles, not lines. By connecting the past and present, Silko shows the unitary nature of time.

            The story of Spider Woman, or Thought Woman, runs throughout Ceremony creating a literary backbone. Spider Woman is a primary Laguna deity, who weaves the world with her thoughts. Silko mimics this idea in her story’s chronology, which is not laid out in a line, but is woven into a web. Everything is connected, and everything repeats. Completely separate events, like a sunrise and nuclear explosion, can be the same. The mysterious old woman his father has an affair with is not so different from the mysterious young woman Tayo has an affair with. By bending and shaping the way that time operates in her story, Silko shows the cyclical nature of the world and everything in it, emphasizing her motif throughout the story.