Bobbie Ann Mason's Shiloh is the first piece we've read this semester that I can honestly say that I've felt sympathic toward both the main male and female character. Leroy has reached a point in his life where a life-threatening injury has made him re-evaluate his life and marriage, starting with all the time he has spent away from home. I assumed that Leroy became completely absorbed in his work in order to escape from the grief of losing his child, but now that he had come back home he finds he has to deal with the consequences of running away. Eventually, he realizes that due to his absence, not only did he lose his son but he also loses his wife. On the other hand, Norma Jean has already established her own life apart from her husband and has experienced the freedom in being able to accomplish what ever she sets out to do. Norma Jean is content with being independent and simply feels that her husband becoming homebound is suffocating her routine.
The struggling relationship between Leroy and Norma Jean quickly becomes a story where traditional gender roles have switched. Leroy seems to lose some of his musculinity by taking on a traditional female role; he is "not sure what to do next. He makes things from craft kits" (1), while Norma Jean has seemingly combined her feminism with masculinity by strengthening her mind and body. Leroy becomes insecure as her husband as he witnesses how strong and smart Norma Jean has become. There is such tension between the couple because of their differences, but the one thing lingering in the background is Randy.
Once they travel to Shiloh and Norma Jean tells Leroy she wants to leave him, the subject of Randy seems to hang in the air. Norma Jean says, "I feel eighteen again. I can't face that all over again. No, it wasn't fine" (15). I interpretted that to be a direct correlation with the death of their son. I feel like Norma Jean is trying to tell him that his absence after Randy's death was not okay, that she needed him to stay with her at that time, not ten years later. It's the wrong time for Leroy to come home because his presence was needed so long ago and now it's too late to make up for it. Norma Jean just wants to move on with her own life.
This is truly a sad story. I think the lack of "bad guy" made this very hard to stomach. This story sounds very believable and the characters seem to be suffering from very real issues. I agree that Leroy's attention seems to be too late.
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