In the short story "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason, it is right to infer that gender influences how people adjust to changes around them. The hitched couple, Leroy Moffitt's and Norma Jeans who are the main characters have gender roles that gradually change as they grasp changes inside their marriage and around the town in an unexpected way.
The two characters have a different approach to the aftermath of Leroy’s accident. Just like in an ideal traditional marriage set up, Norma would previously always stay at home while Leroy is working as a truck driver. As Leroy undergoes physical therapy from an accident he was involved in, Norma works out as well to build herself up as she says “I’d give anything if I could just get these muscles to where they’re real hard.” (1). She also appreciates the socio-economic changes in the town when she acknowledges that “they won’t let you build a log cabin in any of the new subdivisions.” This is contrary to Leroy who still wants to live in the past planning to build them a log cabin as he says “I’m aiming to build us a log house” (3). Norma works in a drugstore while studying as he says “first you have a topic sentence, and then you divide it up” (6). On the other hand, Leroy stays at home and indulges himself in drug use in when he asks, “Where do you get this stuff?” (6).
Norma is portrayed as a character that is able to embrace modernization when she says, “I didn’t hear her coming. I was standing here puffing away,” (5) However, she still remains to be a good wife, and obedient to her mother since she quits smoking. Mabel who as well prefers to hold on to the traditional way of life encourages them to go to Shiloh where she believes they can rekindle their love. Leroy still can’t accept that women can have better opinions than men as he opposes that “things you can do” (4) which makes him end up rejecting all the jobs Norma suggests to him. He always keeps on wanting to prove that he is the man like when he says, “I want to make her a beautiful home,” (7).
In Shiloh, Leroy thinks the reason Norma wants to leave is for some feminine reason when he asks that “is this one of those women’s lib things?” He becomes insensitive and does not notice when Norma leave. He then realizes that he has been too rigid to accept the changes in their marriage and around town. Norma uses Shiloh as her transitioning point from the traditional world to her modern world. She complains about how Mabel and Leroy have always set standards for her when she claims that “she won’t leave me alone- you won’t leave me alone,” (10). Eventually, she decides to do an exercise for her chest muscles as a way of accepting her new life.
Leroy and Norma gender roles keep changing throughout the story creating a gap between them that leads to their separation.
Work Cited
Mason, Bobbie A. Shiloh and Other Stories. S.I.: Random House Publishing Group, 2011.
