Tayo and Emo

Tayo tries to balance his conflicting emotions of sadness, fear, remorse, anger and chaos, but he is constantly surrounded by racism, alcohol and poor relationships with family or friends.  Tayo can see through the invisible racism that is put on Native Americans, but is powerless to stop it.  Life is good when a Native Americans can put on a uniform and be respected man in society by covering up his native roots.  However, if one finds out his true indemnity, that person will not judge him or her by their interaction, but by misleading stereotypes of the Native American culture as a whole.  An example of this is when Emo is trying to get with a young girl, but the girl figures out that he is and Indian.  Emo is called “Geronimo,” which is a stereotypical name for Indians and the girl wants no part of him.  “She says, ‘that’s an Indian isn’t it?’ She yells back at him, ‘this guy’s an Indian?’  He says, ‘yeah-his name is Geronimo.’  She starts screaming and faints”(Silko 55). No matter what the first impression is, being Indian means him or her is an alcoholic, crazy person.  Emo gets mad at this and many other things that he is unable to handle and he often transfers his oppression to Tayo.  Tayo and Emo are opposites, where Tayo represents good and Emo represents Evil.  Emo enjoys the act of killing people; “Emo fed off each man he killed, and the higher the rank of the dead man, the higher it made Emo”(Silko 56).  Emo sees killing as a game, where as Tayo understands that killing is universally a bad thing.  The feud between the two causes Tayo to drink and drink so he can try and ignore Emo’s ways.  However, drinking only makes one lose control and do irrational actions.  After a couple of drinks, Tayo loses control and stabs Emo in the stomach with a glass bottle.  This shows that

alcoholism can never lead for a way out of a situation, but only force one to make bad decisions. 

Tayo has trouble moving forward in life because he has constant flashbacks of his past.  He looks to the past to find happiness, but it also reminds him of dreadful memories.  Tayo remembers the racism shown when him and Rocky are recruited to the United States Army.  The recruiter said, “Anyone can fight for America,” he began, giving special emphasis to “America,” “even you boys”(Silko 59) This is an example of clear racism displayed by the recruiter, where he sets himself apart from them by saying “you boys.”  The recruiter even lies to Rocky saying that he can be a pilot, when he knows that Rocky is going to be sent to worst position there is because of his race.  It is hard for Tayo to forget these memories especially when he lives with his aunt Thelma, who haunted his childhood.  Thelma pretends to take him in as a loving child, but treats him like dirt.  Thelma tells Tayo only disturbing stories about his mother to imply that he was a mistake to be born.  At a young age, Thelma tells Tayo the story of his conception: “Right as the sun came up, she walked under that big cottonwood tree, and I could see her clearly: she had no clothes on.  Nothing.  She was completely naked except for her high-heel shoes.  She dropped her purse under that tree.  Later on some kids found it there and brought it back.  It was empty except for a lipstick”(Silko 65).  Thelma tries to justify telling Tayo this at a young age by saying, “she was your mother, and you have to understand”(Silko 65), but it only brings pain to Tayo.  Tayo resolves to the land and nature to find a place of solitude.  Tayo and the Laguna people represent the cattle of the land.  “Cattle are like any living thing.  If you separate them from the land for too long, keep them in barns and corrals, they lose something…they are scared because the land is unfamiliar, and they are lost…scared off animals die of easily"(68).  Tayo disconnected from the land when he shiped of to the Philippians and now the land is the only thing that can save him from his PTS.  The land is a source of healing, as long as the cattle can survive in harsh climate, so can Tayo.