Leslie Marmon Silko's 1977 novel Ceremony provides an introspective view of a half Native American, half white man named Tayo while essentially providing all of society with a new prospective at life and exhibiting how assimilation into a new culture can be attained through many different means. Silko displays through the characters of Tayo and Rocky how Indian integration to the white culture can be sought over and yet never found simply because of the difference of heritages. Tayo, Silko"s protagonist, looks for assimilation by combining both the values of his Indian heritage with the values of white America while Rocky, Tayo's cousin, seeks acceptance by white culture by disregarding his own background and emulating the white man . Rocky, who "wants to get away from the reservation and make something of himself" (Silko, 131), shows how assimilation into a culture can be not only a failure if done improperly but also destroy the individual who tries to integrate. Silko shows by using Rocky that incorporation must include keeping the values and traditions of old while encompassing oneself with the knowledge of the new; a premise that Rocky overlooked and, in essence, ended up destroying him.
Rocky's attempt to conform to white culture ends with his death in World War II in which he defended a country that fails to even acknowledge his existence. Though Rocky tries to become a white man, he will never be regarded as one. Even the derisory army recruiter says to Rocky as he and Tayo enlist, "Anyone can fight for America, even you boys" (Silko, 64). The army recruiter, who is made out by Silko to look foolish as his papers fly around vigorously in the sharp western wind, makes an attempt to bring the Indian boys together with the whites by fighting together for a cause that is lost on Rocky. In context, the diction, with the word "you" italicized, shows that the army recruiter does not even consider these natural born citizens true Americans.