Tayo, the main character of Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, is a biracial man.

His

mother is a native american from the laguna pueblo people, and his dad is white. Tayo is a

veteran dealing with PTSD from world war II. His mother has passed away and he lives with his

aunt and the rest of his extended family. As a society people are judged for their exterior, and

these things change their experiences. Tayo in particular is judged for his race, this creates his

experience with the world around him.

Tayo is accused of things that he doesn’t always do, or feel based on his race. In this

scene he is in a bar with his friends. They are all very drunk. Tayo goes to the bathroom, and

when he comes back Emo, a friend, says, “There he is. He thinks he's something alright.

Because he's part white. Don't you, half breed?” (57) Tayo is very quiet, and doesn’t tend to

draw much attention to himself, particularly compared to his friend group. From the character

traits Tayo has expressed self-righteousness is not one of them. This statement lacks validation,

and justifies that people make judgements based on who he is from the exterior rather than his

actual characteristics.

Assumptions are made about Tayo based on stereotypes, or experiences they have had

with people similar to him. These assumptions are not based on Tayo himself. Tayo stops at a

gas station, and this encounter follows, “The station man came inside. He looked at Tayo

suspiciously, as if he thought Tayo might be drunk, or in there to steal something,” Tayo asks,

“the man if they could buy some candy, ‘Down the road,’ he said not looking up from the cash

register.” (154) The man has never seen Tayo or his friends before, and they have no

relationship. Despite this he acts as though they have wronged him in the past. This reinforces

stereotypes around native americans. These stereotypes shape Tayo’s experiences with the

world.
 When a person is in a society long enough they begin to believe it’s stereotypes,

no matter how wrong they are. Although Tayo knows that these stereotypes are not true of all

native americans society has ingrained them into Tayos mind. In one scene Tayo questions his

own thoughts, “Why did he hesitates to accuse a white man of stealing but not a Mexican or an

Indian?” (191) Of all people Tayo should be the one who knows the best that a race can not be

defined by the actions of few. However, after being stereotyped so many times he begins to

believe these stereotypes of others.

I, Madison Roberge, am white. I live in central vermont, a primarily white place. The

time that I personally notice my race the most is when I travel. As a child we went to Maine

often, and upstate New York. To places that were also primarily white. Not because my parents

didn’t want to take me to the places that were primarily black. The touristy places within driving

distance just happened to be primarily white.

When I was in the sixth grade we went to New York City for the first time. Everytime

we were walking down the street and saw a person of color I noticed that I looked for a second

longer than I did at white people. Not long enough for it to be considered staring, but noticeably

longer. I distinctly remember asking myself, “Am I racist?” After thinking about it a touch longer

my sixth grade self determined that, “No, looking at a person of color for a bit longer than a

white person does not make me racist. It makes me sheltered.” Since then I’ve been to New

York City many times, and no longer pay attention to anyone around me. Head up, eyes

forward, stone face, walking fast; my new york attitude now natural.

On my last trip to New York City I went with a friend. She is biracial. Her mother is

Guatemalan and her father is white. As we were walking out the door to head to the airport her

mom asks us if we have toothbrushes, hair ties, and all the regular things. She then turns her
attention to just my friend and asks if she has her passport. I was surprised at first, why did she

need her passport? We weren’t leaving the country. Then it hit me. I’m white. I don’t need to

prove my citizenship with multiple documents, it’s simply assumed. She on the other hand never

knows.

In addition to being white, I am a women. Which has its own set of issues. The most

recent issue has been the school dress code. In writing it seems reasonable. Keep your

underwear, and private parts covered. Don’t wear things that promote the use of alcohol or

drugs. However, in reality they are not enforced in a manner that is respective to both genders.

Last fall, the boys soccer team wore boxers to school for team spirit, twice. The year

before the cross country team did the same thing. I sent an email to our administration, which

they responded to in a way that sort of brushed the issue off to the side.

When I was little I always played games in PE working my hardest. I never let gender

define how well I did in a game. I was always happy to fake someone out, and sweat if it meant

winning and having fun. As we got older my friends who were female started to feel differently

about this and chose to try less in these games. I followed. Never would I fake someone out or

sweat. The way I had always played sports was with a lot of aggression, however suddenly I

didn’t want to push anyone. I didn’t want to be the aggressive girl. I wanted to appear gentle.

Like Tayo some part of society taught me how I should see the world and act in it. I

should be gentle and kind. Easy going and never argue. Tayo was taught that native americans

and mexicans steal. Even though he is a native american it took him a moment before

questioning it. I thought that women shouldn’t be assertive or play sports as hard as men, and it

took me a bit before questioning it. I don’t think I really did anything about this until the eighth

grade. I was put in a group of all boys and we were playing soccer. They were very bummed to
have me on their team. As a soccer player I was slightly offended. So I tried, and I was

aggressive. They were stunned, and extremely impressed. Stereotypes affect everyone, and

sometimes we choose to be a part of those stereotypes because it’s easier than carving out our

own path.

Tayo is judged on his exterior, as am I. I sometimes when I am being assertive people’s

faces wil show surprise. I know that what I am saying is not crossing a line, so it’s the

confrontation that people are surprised about. They are surprised that I know what I want and

that I am willing to ask for it. This is partially my gender, but also my age. People tend to see 16-

year-old girls as less than assertive. Tayo is judged as a felon from his exterior. He gets denied

service, and he sometimes even makes these assumptions about himself.

White people don’t tend to know the differences between races. If your skin is not white

or a very dark black, as far as they are concerned you can be anything from mexican to native

american. This means that even though Tayo is native american if he was living in our modern

world he would need his passport then flying within the US. Something I will never have to do.

Although the book does not touch upon this Tayo is the person that gets stared at a

second longer than the rest of the world by sheltered children. Everything about a person’s

experience can shape how they see the world. Since our experiences shape who we are, so

does our physical appearances. I will never experience the world the way that Tayo does, and

Tayo could never possibly experience the world the way that I do. The most I can do is be

empathetic. Everyone has had something not so great happen to them based on something that

they can not change. Remembering that you have felt that way once and using that to really

hear another person on something is extremely valuable.

 I have issues, some of which are primarily because I am a women, but I am still white. I

can never feel what a native american person is feeling. I will never be turned away from a store

because of my race. I will never be too white for the native americans, or to native american for

the white people the way Tayo is. This is demonstrated in quotes with Emo, and a women

earlier in this piece. I will never question the behaviors of my own race, and whether they are or

if those are just what society tells me they are.

By looking at someone it is impossible to know their whole story, and everything they

have been through. It is impossible to know who they are. All people mess up sometimes, but

the most we can do is be empathetic and work to understand each other. Every person has a

different experience as shown by Tayo and my lives. These experiences make us who we are.

Despite these differences people still judge you based on your exterior, and this changes your

experiences to make you who you are.