Реферат: Second Battle Of Shiloh Essay Research Paper
seems to be a role reversal in this marriage, with Norma Jean occupying the masculine
role. Norma Jean has to tell Leroy to find work. She says, ?You have to find a job first?
(Mason 49), referring to Leroy?s desire to build her a log cabin. She even names off jobs
for Leroy: ?You could get a job as a guard at Union Carbide, where they?d let you set on
a stool…You could do a little carpenter work, if you want to build so bad? (Mason 49).
Leroy just says that he can?t do anything where he would have to stand up all day. In bed
that night Norma Jean closes her eyes and requests that the lights be turned out, just like
she wants the lights turned out in this marriage. Leroy still has a preoccupation with
building Norma Jean a log cabin, yet the notion of receiving a truckload of notched,
numbered logs scares him. Once again this symbolizes his fear of the future, just the
opposite of Norma Jean. Although Norma Jean is the ?king of the castle?, Leroy still
yearns for insistence that he is the man of the house. He asks Norma Jean, ?Am I still king
around here?? (Mason 53). When Norma Jean flexes her biceps she is showing Leroy that
she is the leader of the house. Leroy knows that something has to be done to save his
marriage. Mabel, Leroy?s mother-in-law, suggests they take a trip to Shiloh, a Civil War
battleground. This is ready-made symbolism. A battling couple takes a trip to a famous
battleground. Looking for a place to picnic, they sit down next to a cemetery for Union
Soldiers, which symbolizes the death of their life together as husband and wife. She tells
Leroy that she is leaving him and when she walks toward the bluff overlooking the
Tennessee River, Leroy tries to follow. His good leg, however is asleep, and his bad leg
still hurts him. This symbolizes that he will never catch her. She has her own life and he is
stuck in the same place.
In conclusion, I have personally experienced the loss of a friend after we both
embarked on different paths. Although we were the best of friends in high school, when
the time came on that long weekend to hang out, we didn?t even pick up the phone to see
what the other was doing. Although its natural to move in different directions, it still hurts
to no longer have that friend in your life any longer, just like it hurts Leroy not to have
Norma Jean
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