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Betonie
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:
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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."
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Tayo delivers a note from Uncle Josiah to Night Swan, a Mexican woman with whom Tayo’s Uncle Josiah has formed a relationship. At Night Swan’s apartment, Night Swan sleeps with Tayo after telling Tayo that she has been watching him because of Tayo’s green eyes. Tayo scoffs, saying that the other people of the Pueblo community tease him for having lighter eyes than is normal for a Pueblo. Tayo’s green eyes come from his white father, and serve as a reminder that Tayo’s mother slept with a white man and weakened the cultural purity of the Pueblo tribe by introducing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deser
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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....
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The people of Cubero do not entirely trust Night Swan , seeing her as a whore, but the men visit her often. The women of...
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...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...
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...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...
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Tayo goes to Night Swan ’s apartment in Cubero, hearing her Victrola play a Spanish record singing “y volveré” (I...
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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...
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Tayo tells Betonie about Night Swan ’s hazel eyes and Auntie’s suspicions that Night Swan was evil all along. Betonie does...
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