Leslie Marmon Silko suggests during the novel Ceremony, that human beings cannot exist by themselves without any connection to nature, culture, or the land. When the human population distances themselves from those key concepts they become lost and sick individuals. Once distanced enough one has no sense of community and the only hope to finding one's self is by escaping back and connecting with nature. The protagonist named Tayo, a Native American, returning from World War II. He suffers from serious mental and physical illness stemming from Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has lost the sense of belonging within his community after returning from the war. Tayo visits a medicine man who tells him he needs to connect with the land and shortly after he will find himself and develop deep meaningful relationships which will give his life a purpose. Leslie Marmon Silko creates a metaphor that when the king has illness, everyone in the kingdom, plants, animals, and land embody sickness too. Tayo functions as the he metaphorical king of his land: once he heals, everything else around him will heals also. Tayo's difficult journey through has many hardships and many factors contribute to what makes him uneasy.
             Tayo's Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder separates him from his community, causing him endure a life with no meaningful, interpersonal relationships Tayo's flashbacks of his past encounters prevents him from forming intimate bonds with others. His past distracts him all through the day and night, preventing sleep: "Tayo didn't sleep well that night. He tossed and turned in the old iron bed... Tonight the singing had come first.. sometimes the Japanese voices came first, angry and loud,... he could hear uncle Josiah calling to him," (p.5). These traumatic events from the war and the subsequent loss of his uncle Josiah will haunt him for the rest of Tayo's life. He fears coming into contact w...