Cheyenne Bentley
Professor Sarah Kiewitz
Literature 2220-501
09 October 2015
Endless War: Bobbie Ann Masons Shiloh
There is a saying that goes that wounds heal, but scars will always remain. In Bobbie
Ann Masons Shiloh, there is a conflict between the two main characters that circulate around
the PTSD that they both have encountered throughout their marriage and the husbands way of
trying to solve the failing marriage by building his wife a log house. The married couple are
physically together but they are not mentally connected. They dont seem to see eye to eye
anymore. Leroy Moffitt and Norma Jean are struggling in their marriage. There is a lot of death
stressed in Shiloh like Leroy using marijuana, their sons death, the battle at Shiloh, Tennessee,
and even their marriage. Their marriage conflict is not a normal kind of conflict at all. It is
deeper than they both realize. The conflict that Leroy and Norma experience is connected to the
history that lies on the Civil War battleground of Shiloh, Tennessee and can be compared to a
heros quest that is shown through Westons belief of the Grail Quest.
A civil war is between citizens of the same country. Norma and Leroy would be
considered under this category just like the Union and Confederates soldiers that fought during
1861-1865. The Battle of Shiloh was considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War
along with being a major win for the Union. crashing thunder and lightning flashes that lit the
night, exposing the bloody battlefield (Lyftogt 75). The violence that rose from this battle
alone was so outstanding that it shocked both the Union and the South. The conflict that happens
between the main characters relates to this battle. Leroy wants to build his wife a log house
because he believes that it will make her happy. The battlefield only reminds him of the struggles
they faced throughout life from the time Norma got pregnant. The Civil War started out as two
sides that had different beliefs. They both wanted to express how they felt. Over the course of
time, the battles became worse and more struggle and death became a result. Everything
eventually started to die out. The reason why Leroy and Norma came to this exact memorial park
of the Civil War was because their own battle was so outstanding that it shocked both of them
until they understood that the battle, like the South, was lost.
Weston is an author that believed in the Grail Quest. Shiloh is often compared to relate
to this quest in many ways. There are different characters in the Grail Quest that resemble the
characters in Shiloh. The Fisher King is a character that suffers from some kind of wound.
Leroy is the Fisher King because he suffered from the semi-truck accident in Missouri. Norma
mentions in Shiloh that Leroys name means King in French. Your name means the king
(Mason 620). The grail quest is the usual quest that every hero goes on. Leroy is a grail hero
that is on the quest to restart his marriage. Every hero has someone that acts as a savior by
leading the hero along as a guide when things become too difficult for the hero to handle on their
own. Mabel Beasley is that savior. She made the dust ruffle that became a symbol throughout the
book and became Leroys advisor when he had no idea what to do because of the distance he had
with his wife. The dust ruffle that Mabel made for Norma, her daughter, symbolized their
attempts of trying to keep their troubles out of sight. Like dust, it collected more problems in
their marriage that they tried to ignore as time progressed. Mabel was the one that told him to
take Norma to Shiloh, Tennessee. He soon realizes that the real inner workings of a marriage,
like most of history, have escaped him (Mason 622). It is best to realize the smallest of the
details even when they dont seem that important at that very moment.
Shiloh, Tennessee is a lot alike to Leroys marriage: a cemetery. Once the couple reaches
Shiloh, Norma starts to point out all of the problems. She points out that their marriage is failing
and that she doesnt feel connected to him like she did before. Norma wants to leave Leroy and
start a new life of her own. The log house that Leroy wanted to build for her is also a stupid idea
in her opinion. It is not as significant as Leroy tried to make it to be. Everything up to that point
had been another death which creating a more significant distance. According to the grail myth
expressed by Weston, the hero of the quest will either fail or succeed. Shiloh does not give the
answer if Leroy had succeeded or not. This ending is often mirrored in nature...Mason uses
these elementsthe answers are not always clear-cut (Blythe and Sweet 226). Leroy chases
after Norma as she walks off. The path in the cemetery is described as being like a snake which
would symbolize Lucifer in the Garden of Eden. The Kings leg is still wounded like their
marriage. The path twists in a dangerous direction with the only opinions of to follow or to stay.
These two opinions are sins of themselves. Leroy wouldnt be able to win either way.
Most conflicts are solved by the end of the story. Mason did not include a resolution to
her story. Norma is seen at the end of Shiloh waving her arm at Leroy. It is unclear if she is
calling out to Leroy to follow or if she is telling him goodbye. Their battle had no resolution.
There was no happy ending for them. Leroys marriage died like the soldiers that fought there.
The quest that the main character followed did not pay out to him in the end. The gun shots fired
and the blood that stained the ground had left holes in their marriage that were too old to stitch
up as something brand new. The only option left is to end the suffering by leaving it in the past
and starting fresh somewhere else even though the scars will remain eternally like the blood and
tears that were shed by the thousands of wounded soldiers.
Works Cited
Blythe, Hal, and Charlie Sweet. "The Ambiguous Grail Quest In 'Shiloh.'." Studies In
Short Fiction 2 (1995): 223. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Lyftogt, Kenneth. Iowa's Forgotten General : Matthew Mark Trumbull And The Civil
War. Iowa
Mason, Bobbie Ann. "Shiloh." The Norton Introduction to Literature 11 (2013): 612-22.
Print.
