Tayo and the Earth: Fates Intertwined
Tayo is an Indian man, who is true to his family and the ways of his people. He is subjected to the horrific battles of war, which change him forever, sending his mental and physical health into a downward spiral. He has flashbacks that send his mind reeling, and make his stomach tie up in knots. At the same time he is dealing with this, the earth is at a battle to keep itself healthy. There is a lack of rain, and everything is drying up and dying off.
Throughout Tayo's journey, we come to understand that Tayo and the earth's fates are
intertwined, and they are both looking for the same ending. Being well again. It is not a task
that is easily attainable, but throughout the book, both Tayo and the Earth show perseverance, by
surging forward, and never giving in to the hardships that arise.
When Tayo goes off to war, the Earth is in good health, and so is Tayo; he is ready for
the challenge ahead. There are huge rainstorms that are replenishing the land and Tayo is strong
in mind and body. But when Tayo goes off to war, he resents the rain, because it causes him to
drop his cousin when conditions get too slippery and he loses him to the Japanese, because they
think that he is too weak to carry on. "He lifted him to his knees and all the time he could hear
his own voice praying against the rain." (Silko 12) He curses the rain, and in turn, it ceases to
fall at home. His people tell him there was a drought for the six years that he is gone. It seems
impossible to people who don't believe in the connection between people and Earth that one
person cursing the rain would cause it to end, but Tayo is strong to his heritage and the Indian
people's ideas and believes he has done something terrible to his homeland. Tayo sets out on a
journey when he returns home. It at first seems he is lost, wanderin...