Tayo's Psychological Characteristics In Ceremony

In a different manner, Tayo’s psychological traits in Ceremony are also affected by his physical surroundings. In the very beginning of the book, Tayo describes that “he had prayed the rain away, and for the sixth year it was dry; the grass turned yellow and it did not grow” (Silko 13). As a part of his Native American culture, Tayo wanted to pray the rain away because it was causing so many troubles in the jungle he was in during World War II. Later, when he came back to the reservation, Tayo believed that the drought that had been plaguing the land was due to his actions during the war. While they were not a direct result of his praying, Tayo still blamed himself as his mind sank deeper into depression. The drought of the desert can also symbolize the emptiness that Tayo feels with the loss of Rocky and Josiah, the only things that made him grow back at home. His physical surroundings made Tayo take on a pessimistic outlook on everything, making him blame himself for all the wrongs in the world. Even if it wasn’t a positive development of his traits, Tayo’s original surroundings of the reservation negatively impacted his psychological traits and his view on the world. Moreover, when Tayo is still at the hospital at the beginning of the book, he comments on how he feels. He says that
For a long time he had been white smoke. He did not realize that until he left the hospital, because white smoke had no consciousness of itself. It faded into the white world of their bed