Реферат: Second Battle Of Shiloh Essay Research Paper

friends who move on after high school graduation. Leroy would like for things to be the

way they were, but Norma Jean has chosen a different course in her life that doesn?t

involve Leroy. She works at the Rexall Drug Store, loves to play music, and is taking

classes in composition at Paducah Community College. Bobbie Ann Mason uses literary

devices in her story to tell of the impending divorce of Leroy and Norma Jean. The use of

symbolism and foreshadowing are both used to clue the reader into the eventual fate of the

Moffitt?s marriage:

Sitting in his Paducah, Kentucky home, Leroy stares towards the backyard where

his rig is parked. He says it looks ?like a gigantic bird that has flown home to roost?

(Mason 46). This quote symbolizes that the leader of the home has returned, but sadly,

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

builds models from kits, including log cabins, hardly a productive activity. Sitting on the

couch he realizes that ?in all the years he as on the road he never took time to examine

anything? (Mason 46). He?s speaking about the scenery on the road but I can deduct that

in addition to scenery, Leroy neglected to examine his marriage. At this point, Leroy?s

marriage is in a irreconcilable state. The only connection Leroy can forge with his wife is

when she starts talking about cosmetics (creams, toners, moisturizers). He also thinks

about petroleum products – axle grease and diesel fuel. Don?t get me wrong, Leroy feels

guilty about his long absences, but now that he?s home, he wishes that his wife would

celebrate his permanent homecoming more happily. This foreshadows her relative

disappointment with the marriage and its impending end. Leroy even observes that they

?sometimes feel awkward around each other? (Mason 47). This shouldn?t be the case for

a married couple of 16 years, again foreshadowing an imminent end to the marriage.

Norma Jean, in the meantime, learns to play the organ. At first she learns Christmas

songs, and then all the songs in the ?Sixties Songbook?. The only thing Leroy does in

smoke joints on the couch. He wasted one of his days buying marijuana from a kid,

further displaying is stationary and pathetic life. Norma Jean is tired of his lounging

around. One day, after watching Leroy sew a Star Trek pillow cover, she says, ?You

don?t know what to do with yourself?. This symbolizes Norma Jean?s direction in life and