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A Brief Summary Of Shiloh By Betty Mason

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Shiloh (Vonda Griffith)4

In the short story of "Shiloh," Betty Mason illustrates throughout the story of how a happy marriage is in the eyes of the beholder until reality slaps you in the face and wakes you up. Mason writes about a couple, Leroy and Norma Jean, with events in their lives that depict the shape of their lives and how their future as a married couple will be. Mason uses the battlefield of "Shiloh" to compare to that of Leroy and Norma Jean's marriage and the battles that they face in the unfolding of events in their lives. In this story, Mason writes about a log cabin that is symbolic in the marriage of Leroy and Norma Jean's marriage by depicting the emptiness within the log cabin as being the emptiness within their …show more content…

Leroy was a truck driver for over 15 years leaving Norma Jean on her own most of the time. After Leroy's accident, Leroy began to realize the loss of his identity as a father, husband, and provider of the family which became constant reminders of the battles within their relationship. Mason writes about Leroy feeling guilty for being gone so many years and of how he thinks Norma Jean feels about him, "but he wishes she would celebrate his permanent homecoming more happily," (Mays, 361) which gives the reader the thought that Leroy has lost his identity as a husband in the eyes of Norma Jean because he no longer knows who she is, since they were married at 18 and he shortly left to drive on the road. Leroy grieves for his son, Randy, over the years with each year a loss of memory since neither Leroy nor Norma Jean ever talk about their child's death. As he thinks of Randy, he notices that his memories are fading causing him to lose his identity as a father, "They never speak about their memories of Randy, which have almost faded," (Mays, 361). For example, Leroy meets a kid named Stevie Hamilton that reminds him of how old his son would be today. This brings up the memory that he has suppressed for so many years of …show more content…

When Leroy and Norma Jean were finally convinced to travel to Shiloh, Tennessee, Leroy comes to the conclusion that the battlefield and graveyard of Shiloh relate to the death of his and Norma Jean's marriage. Shiloh represents the emptiness of their marriage, the graveyard indicating the end of their marriage and the log cabin emphasizing the emptiness within their marriage. Lack of communication within their marriage is a strong indicator and the seriousness of the ending of their marriage. While visiting Shiloh, Mason writes how Norma Jean wants the marriage to end, "I want to leave you," (Mays, 370). Leroy came to the realization that his marriage was not what he thought it to

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