The Struggle in Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason Essay

Marriage is a difficult thing to maintain now-a-days, and it was not much different back in the 80s. Bobbie Ann Mason’s Shiloh tells the story of how, the main character, Leroy slowly realizes that him and his wife, Norma Jean, are drifting apart. The 80s was a time period of expanding poverty, rising social problems, and drastic economic changes. Leroy decided to stay fixated on the past, while Norma Jean accepted the fact that the world is changing and prepared herself for it. Things change over time, and the couple disagreed on a way to enter the new world together.

The Battle of Shiloh is also called The Battle of Pittsburg Landing and was fought April 6-7, 1862. The battle took place in southwest Tennessee, the western theater. An army known as the Army of Tennessee, lead by Ulysses Grant, advanced into Tennessee territory by route of the Tennessee River. While they were camped deep in Tennessee territory the Confederate Army of Mississippi launched a surprise attack on General Grant and his soldiers. General Albert Sidney Johnston and his second-in-command P. G. T. Beauregard initiated the first assault on the Union troops. Unfortunately General Johnston was mortally wounded. General Beauregard decided not to continue the attack throughout the evening. In the morning Grant’s army having been reinforced

The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh starts as reinforcements from General Buell’s Army of the Ohio and a unit of Grant’s own reserve division joined the Union Army now positioned at Pittsburg Landing. These reinforcements added over 22,500 men to the Union lines13 bringing the total number of Union forces to over 45,000, which is more than they had on 6 April, the first day of fighting.14 On April 7, General Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counteract.15 Greatly outnumbered (Confederate forces now around 25,000) and disorganized the Confederate forces now under General Beauregard fought hard but eventually had to retreat to back Corinth.16 The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh was won by General Grant and his Union forces due to two main reasons. The first, Union troop numbers greatly outnumbered their enemy, over 45,000 to 25,000 respectively. And secondly, the reinforcements received by General Grant had not fought the day before and were fresh and excited to fight, unlike the exhausted remaining Confederate troops.17 This was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil up to that point, with 23,746 casualties (Union: 13,047; Confederate: 10,699).18 The Union lost more men but claimed the victory because the Confederate Army retreated back to Corinth, Mississippi.

In “Shiloh,” by Bobbie Ann Mason, the reader is able to glimpse the beginning of the end of a marriage. Mason allows the audience to see the different strings unravel as the character’s separates from each other, emotionally, mentally and physically. In “Shiloh,” a woman’s husband, Leroy, has been in an accident and is no longer able to continue with his work of truck driving. The woman, Norma Jean, is unable to cope with her husband being home all of the time and begins to find ways to get away from him and her overbearing mother, Mabel. Throughout the story we see Leroy’s struggle to stay with his wife and Norma Jean’s struggle to break away from her husband. As Leroy and Norma’s marriage continues to drift apart, Mabel

Leroy and Norma Jean are both victims of rapid social change. Norma Jean was the most affected by her surroundings comparing to Leroy. Norma Jean had to marry at the age of eighteen to the man who got her pregnant, and in a cruel twist of fate, the child dies of sudden infant death syndrome. This event from her life prevents her to look towards the

At first, John from “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Leroy Moffitt from “Shiloh” seem completely different from each other. John is a physician who only believes in what he can physically see, while Leroy is a man lost in his own life, looking for a purpose. John’s wife is very dependent on him, whereas Leroy’s wife Norma Jean has her own life. However, the two seem more alike than first appears. If we compare John and Leroy, we can see both stories demonstrate how husbands can drive their wives away by being too restrictive of them.

In the short story “Shiloh”, written by Bobbie Ann Mason, symbolism is widely used. The story has several different messages behind the symbols used throughout the story. The log cabin, the Civil War battle of Shiloh, the dust ruffle and a flock of birds are all similes used to foreshadow and help readers further understand. Although the symbols have different messages, they all tie together to produce the conclusion of the whole story.

Meanwhile, Norma Jean’s activities have her expanding and growing in broader ways that let her see the bigger picture. For a while, she is content with playing familiar music on the organ, but as she further educates herself, she does not want to play it anymore (309). She is enthralled with her college class and building muscle with her weight lifting class. She is constantly improving and strengthening her mind and body while Leroy is just observing, and content to stay the same, and when he does go out of his comfort zone, it is not in leaps and bounds like Norma Jean’s activities. All of her

In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.

Another hardship of the war was the strain it placed on married life. Men and women alike faced troubles with their significant others during wartimes because of the lack of intimacy, heavy turmoil, and a burdening depression overlaying the nation. Consequently, however, the expression of emotions previously overlooked before the outbreak of conflict between spouses was encouraged through martial separations caused by the war. Husbands and wives faced loneliness on a daily basis, which in effect led them to display compassion and caring towards each other as they witnessed the dreadfulness of war. This separation also caused a growth in feminine education and style, further forging the foundations for a new, individual American woman.

Norma Jean and Leroy Moffitt are in conflict over the courses of their lives. They are going in two different directions. Leroy is content with their life as it is, however, Norma Jean is not. On page 617 he describes how Norma Jean is acting unhappy with him stating that he knows she closes her eyes when they are in the bedroom, even with the lights out. Later in the story on page 619 he confides in Mabel Beasley, his mother in law, because he notices his wife is changing and he wants things to be the way they were before she started going to night classes and becoming healthier.

Isolation in her relationship with her husband, Leroy, causes Norma Jean to defy typical women's roles, as it helps her develop a sense of physical and mental power, eventually leading her to the desire for a separated life from her husband in which she holds dominance. After the death of Randy, their infant son, Norma Jean and Leroy’s relationship is stretched, as they are isolated from each other and their emotions, and Leroy provides no support for Norma Jean when he goes onto the road as a truck driver. Leroy leaving Norma all by herself leads to her growing independence and her advancements in her emotions towards the past tragedy. When Leroy is hurt from his truck accident and stays at home, his views on Norma Jean have changed as she is stronger than ever, and “Standing with her legs apart, [Norma Jean] reminds Leroy of Wonder Woman”(Mason 1). The representation of Norma Jean as Wonder Woman can display the growing physical power that the author has demonstrated in her. The character of Wonder Woman is strong and is able to challenge men who are supposed to be stronger than her, contributing roles the woman have and how the society views them. Furthermore, the accident that Leroy is involved in leads to his gradual defeat in his dominance over his marriage, whereas Norma Jean is able to gain power through the weakness in the masculine power in her marriage. However, the roles that women are expected to follow, are to obey the husband and not to display preeminence over them. These roles are established so that the feminine power is always smaller compared to the masculine power. Moreover, when Leroy needs a physical therapist in order to make himself stronger again, Norma Jean uses this as an advantage of making herself stronger. By establishing herself as a physically stronger individual, Norma Jean moves forward to be mentally stronger which would allow her to be the most powerful. Despite the roles that women are expected to follow, Norma Jean chooses to challenge them and be equally or more powerful than men. Through mental power, an individual can control one’s emotions and feelings towards other. Norma Jean chooses to bring herself outside her home as she finds a job and starts to take writing

“Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason is the story of the struggling marriage of a middle aged couple, Leroy and Norma Jean Moffitt. A series of events lead to the ultimate demise of the relationship, which seems to be out of control of the narrator, Leroy Moffitt. Why had his wife left him after over 25 years of marriage? In the end of the story Leroy self reflects, in an attempt to grasp an understanding, and doubts himself as a person. Various themes and symbols in the story lead the read to the answer to Leroy’s question. An answer that he also sees throughout the story, but chooses to ignore. The departure of Norma Jean Moffitt is no secret. In Bobbie Anna Masons “Shiloh” Norma Jean is compelled to leave her husband due to the transformation of

A constant action is that Leroy and Norma live different lives. This is seen early on in the story where Leroy’s actions consist of craft kits, smoking marijuana, and his big idea of building his wife a log cabin. However, he starts to feel worried about the love his wife has for him and his role as a husband. Considering his wife is the one that becomes interested in weight lifting and taking night classes to improve herself. Norma has thrown out ideas of types of job Leroy can do she said, “you can get a job as a guard at Union Carbide,…you could do a little carpenter work, if you want to build so bad”(par), but he just says “I’ll do something”(par) a remark like this can make anyone

    The women of "Indian Camp" experience a life much different from the woman in "Shiloh." Ernest Hemingway wrote "Indian Camp" giving the women a definite role in their families while Bobbi Ann Mason wrote "Shiloh" leaving the woman’s definite family role ambiguous. Because they are responsible for the birth of the babies, the Native American women of the preceding story are the nurturers as opposed to the men. The women accept their roles and partake in their duties without any protest. On the other hand, Norma Jean’s role is not as traditional compared to the other women’s since she and Leroy have no children, she basically lives alone, and she maintains a job. While the Native American