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Throughout her text, “Ceremony”, Silko presents her readers with several paradoxes surrounding the American ideal of bravery. Although the novel is several decades old, let’s face it. In the era of Donald Trump, these paradoxes are as relevant as ever.

While the United States often associate themselves with the bravery of their military forces and their patriotic values, how ironic is it that they drafted Native Americans to fight for them during the Second World War? "The destroyers had sent them into this world, and day by day were doing it” (204). The Indigenous, a group that was heavily marginalized and discriminated against, fought for a country that significantly belittled their efforts.

Silko also makes reference to the American paradox of achieving peace through violence. Throughout history, Americans have - and continue to - violently impose themselves in different political affairs to “restore global harmony”: "The destroyers had tricked the white people as completely as they had fooled the Indians, and now only a few people understood how the filthy deception worked; only a few knew that the lie was destroying the white people faster than it was destroying the Indian people" (204).

Although the American ideal of heroism and bravery is defined based on the premise of masculinity and military efforts, over the course of Silko’s novel, Tayo challenges these notions through his emotional awakening. By finding bravery and strength within himself, he thereby added an emotional level to these ideals.

As Danielle said, I too would like to see a Captain Shammer challenge Trumps ways, although I don't think it would do much good to thwart his racism against Native cultures. Trump would have a field day discussing the ideas of the skin dunk, while sporting his au-natural "orange glow". The problem with Trumps administration is that they are unwilling to open up to new ideas and ways of thinking. Instead, they are reverting back to the conservative ways of their ancestors in an attempt to "make America great again". The scary thing about this is that now, living in a modern world, America has become much more of a multi-cultural nation. Trumps campaign to deny immigrant entry and to deport has left many people who have travelled to America and adopted the country as their own scared for their future. In more areas than one, the Trump administration has regressed. I think the Irony dogs would be quite silent listening to one of Trump's speeches for the wall, or his adamancy against immigration. He is complaining about these "invasions" of America, meanwhile the Native people and their cultures have been dealing with these exact issues for many years.