A Mexican woman who Uncle Josiah loves. Night Swan was a cantina dancer all over the southwest, and was even run out of town for her “improper” relationships with men of other races. Night Swan represents another figure of cultural hybridity in the novel, moving easily between towns and settling where she feels most comfortable rather than where she is most accepted. Night Swan teaches Tayo about the power of his green eyes, explaining that she too has been the object of scorn for her place in the changing cultural face of the region. Night Swan remains confident in her own power, and makes choices for herself rather than for social acceptance.
Night Swan Quotes in Ceremony
The Ceremony quotes below are all either spoken by Night Swan or refer to Night Swan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Books edition of Ceremony published in 2006.
Section 3
Quotes
They think that if their children have the same color of skin, the same color of eyes, that nothing is changing." She laughed softly. "They are fools. "You don't have to understand what is happening. But remember this day. You will recognize it later. You are part of it now."
Related Characters:
Night Swan (speaker), Tayo
Related Symbols:
Green Eyes
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Night Swan Character Timeline in Ceremony
The timeline below shows where the character Night Swan appears in Ceremony. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Section 3
The Mexican Woman, called Night Swan , tells Josiah all about her past as a dancer in cantinas across the Southwest....
(full context)
The people of Cubero do not entirely trust Night Swan , seeing her as a whore, but the men visit her often. The women of...
(full context)
...take so much of Josiah’s time that he can no longer sneak away to see Night Swan . Josiah hires another ranch hand to help with the sheep camp while he focuses...
(full context)
...gather to watch the rain start falling. Josiah gives Tayo a note to deliver to Night Swan , as he was going to see her today but the rain means he has...
(full context)
Tayo goes to Night Swan’s apartment in Cubero, hearing her Victrola play a Spanish record singing “y volveré” (I will...
(full context)
Section 4
...gets back to the bar, Harley is gone. Tayo walks to Cubero and sits on Night Swan’s stoop. Tayo remembers sitting here with Rocky when Lalo’s bar was still profitable. Tayo is...
(full context)
Tayo tells Betonie about Night Swan’s hazel eyes and Auntie’s suspicions that Night Swan was evil all along. Betonie does not...
(full context)
