Character Analysis: Shiloh

“Scout’s Honor” by Avi is a realistic fiction short story about 3 boys who are trying to make it to the next level in Boy Scouts. In the beginning, the 9 year old boys decide to leave New York and camp in New Jersey for the weekend without adult supervision. Later in the story the boys finally realize they were way over their heads. They were unprepared and too inexperienced to go camping so far from home. In the end, the boys make it back to New York. Before they split up to go to their own homes they admitted they weren’t as brave as each other and head home. Throughout the story, the boys struggle about what it means to be tough.

Randy Pausch. Who is he? What does he stand for? The day he gave the last lecture... His last lecture he only had months to live. He packed a lot of lessons into his lecture. The claims he gave that stood out were to be optimistic, to be determined, and to take risks.

For instance, the story begins with Leroy’s wife, Norma Jean, supporting Leroy during his physical therapy sessions while getting in shape herself (616). As well as the fact that Leroy wants to fulfill his promise and build Norma Jean her own house, even if she rejects to the house being a log cabin (617). However, as the story progresses it seems as though Leroy’s love for Norma Jean is not reciprocated. It is also evident that there is an emotional barrier which neither of them wish to cross because of the loss of their infant son (617). Leroy even admits that the loss of a child can cause a marriage to fall apart, but he is still blind to the fact that their marriage had already begun to deteriorate during his long absences. However, he still believes that they can start over and create a better marriage

Marriage is a difficult thing to maintain now-a-days, and it was not much different back in the 80s. Bobbie Ann Mason’s Shiloh tells the story of how, the main character, Leroy slowly realizes that him and his wife, Norma Jean, are drifting apart. The 80s was a time period of expanding poverty, rising social problems, and drastic economic changes. Leroy decided to stay fixated on the past, while Norma Jean accepted the fact that the world is changing and prepared herself for it. Things change over time, and the couple disagreed on a way to enter the new world together.

Leroy is misinformed. In fact, he is scared of what the future holds. To pass the time he

Another reason I feel that Norma Jean resents or has these bad feelings for Leroy is after the death they never really talked about having another baby. Now that he is back she might feel that the time is past to have more children. That could be another reason she has started talking classes, she is trying to move past what she has wanted for all this time. Now she knows with Leroy back and lack of him dealing with anything that, that boat has sailed and she needs to find something else that can fill that void. If they talked about it they might have decided that it was not right for them to have another child, but at least they both were thinking about the other ones feelings.

Imagine you are a lawyer tasked with an impossible case, and everybody in your community is against you, but still there is a shred of hope you cling to. What might that be you ask? That to which you cling are your morals. In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch had been given the Tom Robinson case, where a black man was convicted of raping a white woman. As a single father of two children, he continues to reinforce his values throughout the trial and during his daunting task of raising his children. In To Kill A Mockingbird what Harper Lee suggests about the nature of morals is that you should try to stand up for what you believe in even if people oppose or reject your ideals. Even when faced with an insurmountable opposition you should stand up for your morals because in the end if your don't follow your beliefs you are just contributing to the problem. We should try to create a voice for what we believe in and impress that upon the next generation so they can continue to exercise their beliefs to make the world a better place.

In the novel Shiloh, historian and Civil War expert Shelby Foote delivers a spare, unflinching account of the battle of Shiloh, which was fought over the course of two days in April 1862. By mirroring the troops' movements through the woods of Tennessee with the activity of each soldier's mind, Foote offers the reader a broad perspective of the battle and a detailed view of the issues behind it. The battle becomes tangible as Foote interweaves the observations of Union and Confederate officers, simple foot soldiers, brave men, and cowards and describes the roar of the muskets and the haze of the gun smoke. The author's vivid storytelling creates a rich chronicle of a pivotal battle in American history.

Another fault in Leroy and Norma Jean 's relationship is the way the characters try to live their relationship though the past. Leroy gives the impression that he thinks they should be together because they have shared so much-- especially the loss of their son. When he comes back from traveling on the road, he seems to try and pick up from where they had left off. Unfortunately, Norma Jean had in many ways moved on. For Christmas, Leroy is said to have bought Norma Jean an organ because she played it so well when she was in high school. Leroy gets Norma Jean to play oldies from the sixties, and she ironically states, "I didn 't like these old songs back then, but I have this crazy feeling I missed something" (69). In many ways Norma Jean was right. She missed more than the appreciation of this music, she missed finding the meaning of her life and discovering what she really wanted. Now it was almost like it was too late, like when Leroy concludes that, "He knows he is going to lose her... he is just waiting for time to pass" (74). To Norma Jean and Leroy it appeared that if Norma Jean could still play these songs, then they could still go back and relive those old times when they seemed happy together.

These characters grow as they suffer through marriage problems. When the woman leaves the man, which lets him learn his mistakes and to be grateful for the things they had. He writes, “Things to tell her. That I’m sorry. That I miss her. That all I want-all I ever wanted-is for her to be happy” (Dooley and Holzman 3). The man has learned and developed into a greater human being.

Meanwhile, Norma Jean’s activities have her expanding and growing in broader ways that let her see the bigger picture. For a while, she is content with playing familiar music on the organ, but as she further educates herself, she does not want to play it anymore (309). She is enthralled with her college class and building muscle with her weight lifting class. She is constantly improving and strengthening her mind and body while Leroy is just observing, and content to stay the same, and when he does go out of his comfort zone, it is not in leaps and bounds like Norma Jean’s activities. All of her

Natalie Sterling, a seventeen year old senior at Ross Academy had just won class president and beat her opponent Mike Domski. Mike was the kind of guy that Natalie and her best friend Autumn tried to stay away from. The girls at Ross Academy were known as demeaning and “boy crazy.” One day, during the pep rally a bunch of freshman dressed in trampy clothing and started to dance inappropriately. The leader’s name was Spencer a girl Natalie used to babysit for. The flirty freshman called themselves “Prostitutes” or Ross Academy prostitutes. Not only was Natalie embarrassed and angry by Spencers action but, she was disappointed. When the principal and Ms. Bee the student council head were talking to the girls punishments Natalie barged in. Natalie explained how she wanted to have a lock-in for all the girls in trouble and any others from school who wanted to come, about feminism and women's rights. Ms. Bee and Natalie agreed that it would be a good idea for

          The story of “Shiloh” is an example of what happens when a person is unwilling to adapt to his or her environment, ultimately resulting in a conflict and an ending. As Norma Jean adapts to her environment, Leroy is unwilling to adapt and is left behind resulting as the end of their marriage. The setting in the story of “Shiloh” supports the theme of the story by accentuating on what the characters do throughout the sequence of the story. An institution such as marriage

“Shiloh” is a short story written by Bobbie Ann Mason in 1982. The story is very detailed and includes many arguments of the era’s expectations that relate to the story. Many of us may question “Was Leroy and Norma Jean’s marriage actually secure love and did it seem like love in the 1980’s anymore and why did it all change? Did Norma Jean just reject Leroy’s creativity and love? The character’s marriage is what ties everything together but is also destroyed within time. In the story Norma Jean, wife of Leroy, starts to grow but leaves Leroy behind. Due to Norma Jean’s pregnancy they were married at a young age and stayed married with fading love. It was miraculous to Leroy that there marriage was still united since the death of their first and only child 15 years ago, since most marriages had a higher risk of getting divorce upon the death of a son or daughter. However, Leroy and Norma Jean didn’t divorce because they ignored and hid reality in the deepest parts of their hearts. Norma Jean’s leaving in the marriage, was predictable but surprising. Norma Jean expressed fatigue and annoyment in her marriage with Leroy however she then felt empowerment to fulfill her life as an independent woman by basically erasing Leroy out of the picture. If Norma Jean was able to leave everything she ever had their must of have been factors to influence her decision and certainly a reason because Norma Jean knew she was the only thing Leroy had left to count on.

Minny has a husband named Leroy, along with a family of five. Outside of her homelife, Minny was quite the strong lady, but when it came to arriving home to her husband, her character was flipped upside down. Leroy abused Minny. Around Leroy and his belittling acts, Minny would become rather weak and defenseless. She loved Leroy. She didn't want to do anything to put her at risk