In the short story “Shiloh”, written by Bobbie Ann Mason, the readers are faced to a complicated relationship in a couple. The main characters, Norma Jean and Leroy, are not just a normal couple. They lost their infant son and have gender roles completely switched. Since Leroy’s truck accident, he is stuck at home, while Norma is working out of the house, being the breadwinner. This non-stereotypical image of the couple can be an easy target to quick judgement, however, Shiloh is a good short story that shows us, trough events, symbols and irony that genders role define your approach to personal problems. Leroy and Norma Jean are a married couple. Leroy used to be a truck driver, but had a bad truck accident that has left one of his legs injured. Before his injury, Leroy was rarely at home, always on the road, which meant that Norma was alone often. In addition to working at a drugstore, she had various hobbies to keep her busy, such as bodybuilding, piano and writing classes (231). Now that Leroy has to stay home, he has to find something that keeps himself busy. Leroy starts by making crafts, …show more content…
“Now we can hide things under the bed, says Leroy, who gets along with his mother-in-law primarily by joking with her” (234). Likewise, the couple is trying to keep their problems and obstacles out of sight. They both know that a lot of things are not going well in their relationship, but instead of examining the problems and talking about them, they ignore major issues such as the death of their son, the big hole between them after years of Leroy’s traveling, and their contrasting hopes. At the end of Shiloh, Leroy looks at the sky, and its pale colors reminds him of the dust ruffle that her mother-in-law gave them (244). The correlation of the sky, an immense and infinite space, to the dust ruffle, a useless piece of fabric, tells the readers that Leroy understood the harmful power of