Conflicts With Norma Jean example essay topic

Shiloh There are several elements of literature that can be analyzed when discussing a good short or long story. The elements are plot, characterization, theme, setting, point of view, irony and symbolism. I read the short story Shiloh and have chosen to discuss the plot of this story. This is a great story expressing the way miscommunication in a marriage can tear the marriage apart. This is story is told in the first person by Leroy Moffitt. He is the main character who deals with conflicts within himself, his wife, and the environment around him.

Shiloh first begins discussing how Norma Jean Moffitt (one of the main characters) is working at transforming her body by excessively working out. Leroy Mallard, her husband, had been a truck driver 15 years of their marriage. Now he is no longer driving truck, has suffered a highway injury to his leg and is in a wheel chair at home. The first conflict in this story is between Leroy and his distance from his wife for such a long time. Mrs. Moffitt has been trying to cope with her husbands' absence by doing other activities such as: working out, going back to school, and visiting with her mother. Another conflict resides within Leroy himself.

He has not been there for his wife and he is trying to make it up to her in any way he can. This couple has been through the loss of an infant child in addition to Leroy's absence. This is another issue that is causing them to experience the conflicts they do. Mr. and Mrs. Moffitt do not speak of this lost child, which causes more conflict between their marriage together. Leroy, once being settled at home with nothing to do, began to work with his hands to construct or design objects. He wanted to build his wife a log cabin as he was making replicas out of toothpicks.

I think him wanting to build this house is to prove to himself and his wife that he can still be productive and good for something. The relationship Leroy has with Norma Jean's mother is quite different. Any time she comes around, he makes jokes instead of having real conversation with her. I think he makes the jokes to ease the tension and to not address real issues that are present. Leroy has also stated that all those years driving in the same neighborhood he did not take the time to notice how much it had changed. This to me represents what routine can do to a person.

Leroy was so used to driving the same way, the same time each week that he does not even look out the window at his surroundings. He would find himself getting in the car and driving around the neighborhood but not knowing exactly where he was because it had changed so much. The conflicts with Norma Jean are major throughout this story. Mrs. Moffett being virtually alone for 15 years has made her experience internal conflicts that are never spoke of.

She has made realizations long before Leroy even notices anything is terribly wrong. A cause of this is because neither of these two speaks of their lost child. It is just shut away for both of them to have deep thoughts and keep inside. Norma Jean has felt she has been controlled by everybody else her whole life except her.

This is what she comes to realize after her mother caught her smoking and then proceeded to scold her about it. She also realizes this after Leroy is back at home. She knows that Leroy still loves her but she is tired of not being in control of her life. The climax of this story would have to be when Norma Jean has made the actual realization that she was not in control of her life. Once she has made this understanding, she decides to do something about it. She does love her husband, but his absence has made her come to reality and wanting more.

The lack of communication between Mr. Moffitt and Mrs. Moffitt is never resolved in this story. They still did not speak of their lost child, did not understand why each other did what they did. Ex: Norma Jean working out and going back to school, and Leroy constructing different things with his hands. The way the story begins makes the conflicts unstable because it starts out with Norma Jean lifting weights and states where her husband is.

This sets off a flag because we, the reader, can begin to wonder why she is lifting weights, and why is the husband not there. Once the story goes into where Leroy is, it brings up the thoughts that maybe the relationship is not good at all (hence stating the conflicts). At the end, Norma Jean decides to leave Leroy and begin her own life. This makes the conflicts stable because she has realized what was bottled inside her for 15 years and how Leroy is hurt but also may realize what he put her through and what he went through himself. There are indeed conflicts that go unresolved: the reasons why neither of the two discussed their lost child, why they did not communicate they way a marriage should have communication, the reason the mother was controlling Norma Jean too.

These are all unresolved conflicts that were presented in the story. We may never now, but only can draw our own conclusions at to the resolution of the conflicts. In conclusion, the story Shiloh was a great story expressing how a marriage with an absent husband can be. There were many issues on both main characters parts existing in the story. Several conflicts were resolved by Norma Jean's decision, and there were also conflicts unresolved by her decisions. It is up to the reader for think why and how the story ended with unresolved conflicts the way it did.