What's the Significance of Shiloh?
While reading Shiloh, I was a little surprised at how Norma Jean finally brought up leaving Leroy. It seemed like it was going to happen eventually, but something about going to Shiloh finally pushed her to do it. Norma Jean says, “Corinth is where Mama eloped to,” then, “they sit in silence and stare at the cemetery for the Union dead and, beyond, at a tall cluster of trees. Campers are parked nearby, bumper to bumper, and small children in bright clothing are cavorting and squealing. Norma Jean wads up the cake wrapper and squeezes it tightly in her hand. Without looking at Leroy, she says, ‘I want to leave you.’” Reading that passage, it feels like Norma Jean decided to leave Leroy right there in that moment, and I think being at Shiloh is what caused her revelation.
I think Leroy and Norma Jean had very different ideas of what was going to happen at Shiloh. Leroy wants to go to fulfill Mabel’s wish, but also to attempt to restore his dynamic with Norma Jean. In contrast, Norma Jean is only going because of the pressure from her mom and Leroy. In that way I think Leroy kind of represents the confederates during the battle of Shiloh, because he thought it was going to be a big win and a turning point in their relationship, but really he was “defeated.”
Shiloh seems like a touchy subject for Norma Jean because of the way Mabel talks about it. Mabel says, “There’s a log cabin at Shiloh, it was there during the battle. There’s bullet holes in it.” And Norma Jean responds, “When are you going to shut up about Shiloh, Mama?” Shiloh has been romanticized by Mabel as an amazing and romantic place because of her and her husband. Once Norma Jean finally gets there and sees that it’s not everything Mabel said it was, she has her revelation about leaving Leroy. Similarly, I think Leroy and Norma Jean thought that living together full time would be good for their marriage, and when Leroy was on the road he was free to romanticize it. But once it became a reality, they realized it wasn’t going to work out.
I also think it’s interesting that there’s a log cabin at Shiloh. Maybe it’s saying something about how old-fashioned and stuck in the past Leroy’s idea for the log cabin is. Overall I think there’s a lot to say about the Shiloh metaphor and it’s a really interesting setting for the end of Norma Jean and Leroy’s relationship.
Hi Kathryn, I like this blog because you connect many of the themes/ideas of the story to the physical place that Leroy and Norma Jean travel to! Shiloh is a strong piece of symbolism for their relationship, and especially since there's so much history connected to it both war-wise and Mabel-wise makes it all the more important. I like your log cabin idea-- in fact, the fact that people keep coming to see this old place of history despite the battle being long over is a perfect summary of Leroy and Norma Jean's relationship, since they've been "over" for a long while but never fully broke apart until then.
ReplyDeleteThe analyzing of Norma Jeans thoughts with the theme of the story really brings the story together in the end and I think it's really interesting how you think about what it all means. This is a nice perspective on the story and it actually changed the way I thought about it so thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Shiloh is the same "empty ideal" that the log cabin represents to Leroy. The significance of Shiloh is that it's just a ritual. As a battlefield, it has very little to do with marriage at all, and Mabel's idea of marriage doesn't really exist given that her husband died very soon after. Norma Jean strives to escape such empty ceremonies while Leroy dwells on them, and that's what drives the two apart.
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