The Almanac Of The Dead Silko Analysis

The Mansion Of Colonialism The path to revolution, to legitimate change, is paved in the blood and sweat of those willing to exert change, but of those people, what compound of groups creates the ideal coalition, that is what Leslie Marmon Silko seeks to prescribe in her works The Ceremony and The Almanac of the Dead. Both works address the predicaments of the disenfranchised in a world with an ineffective safety net, but they both also address the solution to this conflict in two separate ways, cultural warfare, and physical revolution. For ages in human society the question of the means to go about overthrowing the oppressor and the measures that can morally be taken have been questioned, should rhetoric or weaponry win the day, Silko’s

And this perspective is exactly what Silko questions, throughout The Almanac of the Dead there are characters displayed that question their predicament and wish to better themselves, but they choose to better themselves through the means of hostile takeover, of oppressing the oppressor and in doing so they sacrifice the moral high ground required to make revolution justified. In contrast The Almanac gives us the character of Tayo, a Native American veteran, who upon returning from World War II returns home to go on a cultural and spiritual journey that ends in his mental state being restored and his people being bettered. In these two narratives, one can draw two distinct lines that the oppressed can take, fight against impossible odds, or endure and change the odds in your favour. As Tayo partakes in traditional ceremonies of his people, he reinvigorates them, having succeeded in bringing rain back to his people after a long drought, he reflects on the perspective of his uncle Josiah, the man who taught him the ceremonies, Josiah had said to Tayo “...Nothing was all good or all bad either; it all depended.”(The Ceremony, Silko, pg 432) In this Tayo is reflecting upon the nature of rain but also on the “white men” and how they are not simply an evil force but that they may also bring salvation. On the reverse of this The

The steps to crumbling the mansion of colonialism and oppression need to be answered or bloodshed and a continuation of the cycle will continue, Leslie Marmon Silko’s ongoing commentary on this is dedicated to bettering her people, that much is clear, but it is also clear that Silko knows the way that a movement thrives and as an outspoken supporter of Native American rights she knows that successful movements of the past have been peaceful. History tells a story of success found in compassion, not cannons and this story is perpetuated through Marmon’s work, the stories of the oppressed are linked, and the solution is written in the blood, sweat and tears of those who consider this tale of persecution a remake of those in the