In the short story Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason, there were two main aspects of the story that remained in my mind after reading it. The first is the swapping of gender roles within the story, something almost everyone else picked up on as well. The story opens up with Leroy’s wife, Norma Jean, lifting weights (5). This is the first image the reader receives of Norma Jean and frankly, a very masculine one to that. My first mental image was Leroy as this small, skinny twig of a man with a super muscular wife in neon exercise spandex, complete with matching headband. Now that Leroy is incapacitated and no longer employed, it is Norma Jean who goes to work and supports them. Norma Jean is the one improving herself physically and mentally, while Leroy does needlepoint (35). Leroy’s overall image throughout the story is a weaker one compared to his wife. It seems that Norma Jean has the more dominant, powerful personality. Leroy comes off as more laid back than his wife, casually sitting on the couch smoking a joint while Norma Jean bustle around with her weights or the organ (15). Leroy’s nonchalant attitude and Norma Jean’s motivation and energy often clash, causing conflict, such as when Leroy joking threatens her with leaving out a joint for Mabel to see (60). As Norma Jean shrieks and freaks-out, Leroy attempts to ease her, “I’m just kidding. Here, play me a tune. That’ll help you relax” (60). I believe the differences between the two personalities play a significant role in the inevitable break-up of the marriage.
The character of Norma Jean is one I found to be very interesting. When I first read the story, I felt no sympathy towards her and even a little bit of contempt when she leaves Leroy. However, when we learned of her intentions when she got married and how that has affected her in the long run, she starts to become more human and less of a cruel woman leaving her lovesick husband. It is safe to assume the only reason Norma Jean married Leroy because she was pregnant and she felt the baby deserved a mother and a father. Yet when Randy dies, there is nothing left for her in the marriage. It’s as if she gave up her life for nothing and now she is trapped in this practically arranged marriage. When Leroy begins to spend more time at home, Norma Jean is forced to come to terms with her unhappiness and realizes that she needs to experience what is left of her life, “ . . . I have this crazy feeling I missed something” (15). Although we still feel sorry for Leroy when his wife leaves him, we know that it is for the best. It is unfair to Leroy and to Norma Jean if she stayed married to a man she did not love. Unfortunately the longer it took for her to figure this out, the more in love Leroy became. When Norma Jean announces her leaving Leroy, it hits him like a dull pain, one that he cannot fully comprehend (140). Norma Jean does eventually find her independence and is able to live her life to the fullest, but it was all at the expense of the man who truly loved her.
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Natalie, I think it's always interesting when you find your sympathies toward a character changing in the process of reading a story. Or did it happen after you read the story and we discussed it in class? In either case, sometimes it's a result of something the author did to cause us to re-evaluate a character (Darcy in P&P is a good example) and sometimes we realize as we read that we hadn't been paying attention to all the clues we were given and we have to re-evaluate our own reading of the story. But it's always an interesting phenomenon to observe and think about the reasons why, so thanks for commenting so thoughtfully on how it happened to you.
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