Characterization in the story Shiloh is very important. It tells you a little insight on who each character is and how they think. Shiloh has two main characters in it that have an effect on the story and its outcome, Leroy and Norma Jean. Leroy is a man that used to drive big rigs for a living. He was always on the road, until one day he got into a bad accident and hurt his leg. Now Leroy sits at home and always tells his wife Norma Jean that he is going to build her a log cabin. Leroy feels sorry for him and doesn't want to get another job. He is content in staying home and doing woman-like roles around the house. He cooks and cleans while Norma supports them with her job. Leroy is very stubborn in his ways and doesn't realize the changes that are going on

The issue that Shiloh raises is that people change. Norma Jean changes throughout the story and Leroy doesn't want to accept no even realize the changes that Norma is going through. Both Norma and Leroy roles in their gender change throughout the story. Leroy by staying home and doing what is normally a woman's job, while Norma Jean is out working and supporting them, like what a man normally does. Shiloh raises on key question in, is it ever too late to get your youth back? This question is answered at the end of the story when the couple finally breaks up and Norma Jean feels young and not tied down again.

Through-out the story you have a narrator that who really try's to keep things simple but explain events in detail. When Leroy or Norma Jean is not talking the narrator does a great job in keeping your attention on what is happening in the setting. The narrator does this by using detail of the setting and its surroundings. The narrator is honest and tells makes you really think that neither Leroy or Norma Jean is a bad person, that they are only different. The narrator uses foreshadowing when Norma Jean gets caught by her mother Mabel, smoking a cigarette. You get the feeling that Norma Jean is changing and that even though she is older she still feels young by keeping it a secret that she smokes. The narrator also uses foreshadowing when they explain what happen to Leroy and Norma Jean's child. It had died at a young age and the narrator goes on saying that most of the time this might break a couple up. Well by the end of the story they were no longer together.

All in all Shiloh is a story that gets to the point, but as the same time tells you it in detail. The writer of this story does a great job in relating the setting, theme, plot, language, and characterization to each other. It is over all a great story and teaches you that it is never too late to get regain or find your youth again.

From the first lines in the story you see the roles in the house are reversed by the language that the author Bobbie Ann Mason uses. Norma goes out and works and she likes to lift weights. Leroy, on the other hand, sits at home cooking, cleaning, and needlepoint. Norma is sick of Leroy not working and confronts him about it. He tells her that there is nothing he

Some common words found in the essay are:
Norma Jean, Jean Leroy, Norma Leroy, Ann Mason, Mason Norma, norma jean, Leroy Norma, Norma Jean's, Jean Leroy's, Marilyn Monroe, , log cabin, leroy norma, throughout story, story shiloh, couple finally, leroy norma jean, norma jean leroy, jean leroy, log cabin leroy, characterization story, leroy staying, writer tells, feeling norma jean, bobbie ann mason,
Approximate Word count = 1551
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)