Character sketch for Shiloh
Character sketch for ShilohCharacter sketch for Shiloh
Character Sketch
In Bobbie Ann Mason�s story �Shiloh� she presents the character of Norma Jean
as having a strong personality but an emptiness deep within. Norma Jean is presented as
a strong character on the outside in the opening of the story. �She lifts three-pound
dumbbells to warm-up, the progresses to a twenty-pound barbell.�(Mason p. 46).
However as the story progresses she exhibits the emptiness which she feels. �One day
Leroy arrives home from a drive and finds Norma Jean in tears.� (Mason p. 50). Norma
Jean feels an emptiness toward her deceased child, her husband, and also her mother.
Her emptiness toward her husband may be seen in the way she interacts with him. She
feels very uncomfortable when she is around him. Norma Jean is always trying to find
something for him to do. When he arrived back home Mason states the �she seems a
little disappointed.� (Mason p. 47). The emptiness she feels toward her mother is
presented in the feelings she has toward her. Her deceased son symbolizes her emptiness
because of his death.
In the beginning of the story Norma Jean tries to conceal the emptiness that she
has felt for so many years. Mason first presents her as a strong character by explaining
how she works out and would like to become stronger. She may become stronger
physically, but nothing can overcome the emptiness which she feels. Norma Jean tries to
help her husband get a job, and she gives him a variety of ideas for this. She does not
enjoy being around him because their relationship makes her feel uncomfortable. Mason
presents Norma Jean and Leroy as having many differences. The two do not know how
to discuss their problems, therefore Norma Jean conceals all of the emptiness she feels
inside her. Norma Jean feels an emptiness towards her husband because he has been
gone so long. She has learned how to live without him but, the emptiness settles in due
to this. Norma Jean does not know how to express her feeling of emptiness to her
husband. Due to this, Norma Jean lets her emptiness overcome the strength that she is...
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