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Shilh Bobbi Ann Mason Analysis

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Analysis of “Shiloh”
In the short story, “Shiloh,” by Bobbi Ann Mason, published in, Shiloh and Other Stories, a woman named Norma Jean explores the ideas of female power and independence in the 1980s. She takes up body building, piano and furthers her education in an attempt to gain freedom. The relationship Norma Jean has with her husband, Leroy, is not considered normal because Norma Jean does a substantial part of the money because Leroy can no longer work. He sustained a leg injury that left him unable to fulfill typical male roles in a relationship. Because “Shiloh” reveals atypical gender roles, Norma Jean gains the physical and mental strength to start the new life she has always aspired to begin.
Leroy, Norma Jean’s husband, was in a trucking accident four months ago, which rendered him unable to walk due to a leg injury, leaving Norman Jean as the working partner of the relationship. Leroy’s fairly new physical …show more content…

He keeps insisting to Norma Jean that, “I’m going to build you this house… I want to make you a real home,” he is clearly trying to fix the problems in his relationship by building a new home for the couple, proving he is still dedicated to Norma Jean (Mason, 1982, p. 6). He tries to persuade Norma Jean by appealing to her new love of body building saying, “You and me together could lift those logs. It’s just like lifting weights,” (Mason, 1982, p. 6). Laurie Champion (2001) says that Leroy, “Implicitly equates building a home and a stable marriage with physical exercise, body building,” essentially he is telling Norma Jean that they can still have a good marriage while she becomes more independent, she does not need to give up their relationship to be a successful woman. Leroy is still very invested in the relationship, and while he does notice that things are changing, he wants to fix it before giving

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