Sophistication and Separation in “Shiloh”

Bobbie Ann Mason’s “Shiloh” is a story not only about the dissolution of a marriage, but also about the evolution of two people. Leroy and Norma Jean, the main characters, have to maneuver through new territory to redefine their relationship after Leroy’s trucking accident. With their traditional roles upset, “he has the feeling that they are waking up out of a dream together – that they must create a new marriage” (9). As Leroy is now unable to pursue his former job and therefore maintain their status quo, the couple must reevaluate their bond and their goals and come to the conclusion that they are no longer compatible.
As Terry Thomspon noted, much of Leo’s characterization centers on his obsession with log cabins. His wish to build one for Norma Jean manifests in a very infantile way. His first log cabin is built from “notched Popsicle sticks” (6). From these humble beginnings, Leroy moves on to the slightly more sophisticated Lincoln Log cabins. Finally, his coveted blueprints arrive for the house that will never be built. Both Norma Jean and her mother react negatively to these attempts: Norma Jean reminds Leroy that a log cabin would not be allowed in a subdivision; Mabel easily and derisively takes the roof off of his model cabin and sets her coffee cup on his blueprints. When he and Norma Jean finally drive by a real and really unattractive log cabin in Shiloh, Leroy feels the need to explain “apologetically” that this is not the kind of house he meant (126). To Leroy, the cabins represent a home, a place where his marriage can be fixed. At the very least, the cabins are associated with the past (ie, the historic cabin at Shiloh), and Leroy would like to return to the couple’s state when they were first married. Leroy’s plans for a cabin are a dream, a child-like fantasy manifested in a rather appropriately immature way.
Interestingly, only one of the main characters truly changes throughout the course of the story. Leroy stays pretty much the same: incompetent and unsure how to best put his life back together. It is Norma Jean and her new interests that move the story along. Although through several reminisces we learn that once Leroy and Norma Jean were content, the same does not appear to be true now. Norma Jean undergoes a gradual sophistication as Leroy goes through a corresponding descent into apathy. This transformation, finally leading to Norma Jean leaving Leroy to go out in the world on her own two feet, is exemplified through her musical acumen (as shown by Blythe and Sweet). When Leroy first gives her the piano, she can barely pick out “Chopsticks.” Later, she moves on to rock music and even Latin interpretations of modern songs, showing a change and growth that Leroy does not echo. Eventually she moves beyond playing music altogether and instead focuses on her new passion: writing. This step, too, represents Norma Jean’s ascent into intellectual thought and her steps away from Leroy.
Leroy sees these changes in Norma Jean; he notes inspiredly that “something is happening” (86). However, he feels paralyzed; having been physically crippled by his accident, he is now emotionally crippled by his wife’s intellectual mobility. In fact, as several critics have noted, it is also possible to notice a distinct reversal of male/female roles as the story progresses and the rift between the couple grows wider and wider. As he becomes more and more home-bound, Leroy clings more and more to his plans for a log cabin, as if their staid tradition will keep everything the way it should be. Instead, everything is topsy-turvy: Norma Jean lifts weight, while Leroy is physically incapacitated; Norma Jean attempts to ameliorate her marketable abilities, such as writing, while Leroy pursues such traditionally female pastimes as needlepoint; Norma Jean goes out for most of the day, while Leroy stays at home. These changes help lead up to the final breaking point; when it finally comes, Leroy is not surprised, as he has known the whole time that she will leave him and has merely been “waiting for time to pass” (94).
The final acknowledgement of the dissolution of the now hopeless marriage occurs, appropriately, in a graveyard. Norma Jean rather blatantly tells Leroy that she doesn’t want to be with him anymore. In addition to the factors mentioned above, there are other reasons that Leroy and Norma Jean could not stay together. Most important of these was the death of their baby, Randy, which left a deep scar on their emotional bonds. Furthermore, Leroy and Norma Jean simply have nothing in common anymore. Neither Leroy nor the reader is surprised when Norma Jean confirms their separation; instead, the overwhelming feeling at the end of the tale is that of sadness and regret for the time spent in the wrong relationship.
(813)

Articles I read to spark inspiration:
Mason's Shiloh
Terry Thompson, The Explicator(Washington) , Fall 1995, Vol. 54, Iss. 1, pg. 54
Mason's Shiloh
Hal Blythe, Charlie Sweet, The Explicator(Washington) , Fall 2001, Vol. 60, Iss. 1, pg. 52


Questions for Discussion:
How does the paragraph about Norma Jean’s personality as recently discovered by Leroy help us understand their separation?
How do you feel about Leroy’s passive attitude – ie, how he knows that Norma Jean will leave him but does nothing? Why do you think he is not more proactive?
To what extent did the death of their baby hurt their relationship? Should they have tried again? Look closely at the hospital passage – does Leroy’s inability to recognize Norma Jean count as foreshadowing?
What role does Mabel play?