Ceremony Section 6 Summary & Analysis

Summary

Tayo leaves Harley in the bar and goes to get menudo (a Mexican soup) in a nearby shop. The man in the shop is killing flies, and Tayo remembers when he killed flies as a young boy and Josiah told him how important the fly is to his people. Tayo heeded his uncle, but in the jungle, when he saw flies crawling all over Rocky, he killed them.

When Tayo returns to the bar, Harley is gone. Tayo walks to Cubero, to Lalo's bar, which closed down during the war but still looks the same. He has not returned to the spot since the night with Night Swan. That September, he and Rocky enlisted. Tayo heard that she left after Josiah's funeral. Tayo walks all the way back to Casa Blanca and sleeps in the barn behind Harley's grandpa's house; he sleeps all night without dreams.

Fly and Hummingbird go see their mother. They ask her for food and storm clouds. She tells them to have old Buzzard purify the town.

Tayo tells Robert that he is feeling better and is ready to take on some responsibilities at the ranch. Robert informs him the other members of the community want him to get help. Tayo understands that they want him to leave, that they have always wanted him to leave. He starts to feel terrible again.

Gallup is a town where white people go to get drunk and Indians visit as quickly as possible. A large number of half-breeds live in Gallup. Once a year, there is a great Ceremonial there. A young boy, who could be Tayo, lives with his mother under the bridge in Gallup. He eats scraps and sleeps under tables at the bar while she goes off with men. She builds a shack under the bridge where they live until some white men come and throw bottles at the women, who retaliate. All of the women are arrested, the shacks are destroyed and burned, and the boy is left alone.

Fly and Hummingbird go to old Buzzard with an offering and ask him to purify the town. Old Buzzard requests more offerings.

Previous section Section 5 Next page Section 6 page 2