Bobbie Ann Mason - Shiloh

I enjoyed reading the short story Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason.  This was a very interesting story and I was drawn into to it from the beginning.  One theme that I noticed in this story was the persistence of grief.  The death of their child, Randy, happened years before this story took place.  The death of their child continues to invade the consciousness of Leroy and Norma Jean.  The two of them never speak of their child’s death and Leroy’s memories are very fuzzy of their child.  There is still grief about that tragedy that persists.  Leroy tells every hitchhiker he picks up about Randy until it begins to seem self-pitying.  When Leroy sees grown-up kids the same age as Randy, he is reminded of his son.  Every time Leroy sees Mabel he thinks of his son.  Mabel believes that Randy’s death was a cruel trick of fate because she opposed Norma Jean’s pregnancy from the beginning.  She tells a nasty story about a dog killing a baby and claims that the mother was to blame for the disaster.  Leroy and Norma Jean assume immediately that she is taking a jab at them.  With their sensitivity to Mabel’s suggestions implies that Randy is always at the front of their minds.  The death of their child donates to the ending of Leroy and Norma Jean’s relationship.  The routine of avoiding any mention of the baby becomes an overwhelming force in their marriage.  Leroy considers mentioning something about Randy to his wife but is unable to bring up the topic.  Norma Jean complains about her mother’s spitefulness while Leroy pretends not to know what she is talking about.  Their silence between the two drove a wedge between them.  At the very beginning of the story, Leroy thinks about how lucky they are to be together despite the tragedy of their child.  Leroy has heard that the death of an infant can spoil a marriage.  At the end of the story, it seems that Leroy had been overconfident.  The death of their child has affected them both exactly as it affects most couples.  There were a few symbols that I noticed in this story.  One symbol is the log cabin that Leroy dreams of building for his wife.  The cabin is an unreasonable idea.  Norma Jean is of no interest in the building of a cabin. Leroy embraces his dreams of building the cabin with the same touching and misplaced determination with which he clings to his wife.  There is nothing that discourages him, not even the straightforward words of Mabel and Norma Jean.  They repeatedly tell him that living in a cabin is unpleasant, that new developments would not allow such a structure, that building is too expensive, and that Norma Jean hates the idea.  Leroy won’t let go of the idea of the cabin even though there is strong opposition.  Leroy won’t give up on his marriage although his wife has.  At Shiloh, Leroy realizes that his marriage is as hollow as the boxy interior of a log cabin.  He then realizes the link between his dreams of a cabin and his failed marriage.                                        

 SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Shiloh.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.