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Personification
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
In Ceremony, the natural environment is of paramount importance—for the plot, for Tayo's development as a character, and for the novel's comprehensive philosophy. Both the American Southwest and the jungles of Southeast Asia are critical settings in the novel, and they appear diametrically opposed to one another: jungles are humid with high rainfall, where the American Southwest tends to be arid.
Despite these differences, Tayo grows to appreciate both settings, resisting the animosity he feels towards the jungle after Rocky's death. Tayo's "growth" in this regard is a key part of completing the ceremony. He realizes the interconnectedness of all people and ecosystems around the world, understanding that to resent the jungle is to do violence against his own land, back home. For this reason, the most important relationship in Ceremony is arguably not between any two people, but between Tayo and his natural environment.
Tayo does not view the environment as a separate entity,but as an extension of the self. He is not superior to the ecosystems around him—whether jungle or desert—but a part of those ecosystems, just as they are a part of him. This relationship to setting is not a traditional feature of novels in the western tradition, which often feature nature as an antagonist.
Related Themes:
