Stories are powerful tools that “are all we have, you see, to fight disease and death” (Silko 1). Within the novels Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories by Salman Rushdie, the stories serve exactly this purpose. Each protagonist, Tayo and Haroun respectively, has an obstacle to overcome. Tayo is a Native American veteran of World War II who suffers from an illness of the mind, supposedly post-traumatic stress disorder. He is told that a ceremony is the only way to cure him. The ceremony mentioned involves stories. Haroun is a young Indian boy who experienced tragedy at a young age. His mother is gone and his father has lost his job as a narrator. Haroun believes that both of these events are his fault. The stories tell how Haroun saves his sad city, his father's job and brings his mother back. Both protagonists have burdens to carry on their shoulders. The authors, despite coming from two different cultures, use stories in their novels in similar ways: as healing tools. This shows that stories are universal elements that can be used in the same way regardless of culture. In both Ceremony and Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories, stories are central elements that consistently appear in each novel. They are woven into every novel like a spider's web. The spider web is also a metaphor that Silko uses for fragility. In these novels the stories are fragile and constantly in danger. The antagonists in each book “try to destroy the stories” (Silko 2). In Ceremony the destroyer of stories is oblivion. Tayo, a mixed-race individual, must remember his Native American heritage to cure himself of the disease he suffers from. Alana Brown author of “Pulling Silko's……middle of paper……mic Search Premier. Network. April 6, 2014.Marrone, Alanna Kathleen. “Pulling Silko's Strings Through Time: An Exploration of Narrative.” American Indian Quarterly 19.2 (1995): 171-179. Premier of academic research. Network. 6 April 2014. Re, Tommaso. The truth about stories: a native narrative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. Print. “Leslie Marmon Silko.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2013. Britannica Online. Network. April 8, 2014. Rushdie, Salman. Haroun and the sea of ​​stories. London: Penguin Books. 1990. Print.Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. New York: Penguin Books. 1977. Print. "Sir Salman Rushdie". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2013. Britannica Online. Network. April 8, 2014.Teverson, Andrew S. “Fairytale Politics: Free Speech and Multiculturalism in Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories.” Twentieth Century Literature 47.4 (2001): 444. Premier Academic Research. Network. April 6. 2014.