How we cite our quotes: (Poem.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The only cure
I know
is a good ceremony,
that's what she said. (III)
The connection between "curing" and "ceremony" is established very early on in the novel. Since the title of the novel is Ceremony, this association suggests that the novel itself is a cure. You know the saying: A novel a day keeps the doctor away.
Quote #2
"You've been doing something all along. All this time, and now you are at an important place in this story." (XIII.47)
Tayo doesn't realize it, but everything he's been doing has been a part of the ceremony. Now he's at an "important place." Is this the beginning of his transformation?
Quote #3
"She taught me this above all else: things which don't shift and grow are dead things. They are things the witchery people want. Witchery works to scare people, to make them fear growth." (XIII.62)
Change is good. No, it's not just good—it's necessary. If you don't change, you die…or just kind of waste away.