Theme
Throughout the mid-to-late 1900s, societal beliefs began to transition from a traditional view of a household to a view of more equality between women and men. “Formerly, the husband was the legal head of the household, responsible for its support and its links to the external society, while the wife was the mistress of the home, responsible for the day-to-day management of its internal affairs and the care and education of children” (Kay 2019). The transition from a traditional to an egalitarian perspective suggests the uncertainty of gender roles in society. Bobbie Ann Mason, the author of Shiloh, accurately portrays this transition in Shiloh by describing Norma Jean and Leroy’s exchange of roles in the household and the events that led to it. Ultimately, this collective tension in the marriage between Leroy and Norma was caused by the death of their son Randy, the sudden return of Leroy after fifteen years, and the changes that occurred over those fifteen years. As a result of this tension, the couple experienced an …show more content…
The author of Shiloh, Bobbie Ann Mason, was born in a rural region in Kentucky in 1940. Mason was born into the world at a time in which women did little in the community but work on the farm or care for their families. Therefore, she desired for something different for herself, an education and even a life outside the rural southern region. Mason often chose to write about the stereotypes concerning the people who lived in the South and many of these were that southerners were uneducated people who only worked on their farms. Mason enjoyed her rural life, but she always wanted more. She was able to leave the confining rural society and its stereotypes and receive an excellent education and career. Therefore, she often writes in her stories, especially Shiloh, how people are not confined to the beliefs of other people. She also includes in her stories the common occurrences in the society of her time and how it begins to
Throughout the mid-to-late 1900s, societal beliefs began to transition from a traditional view of a household to a view of more equality between women and men. “Formerly, the husband was the legal head of the household, responsible for its support and its links to the external society, while the wife was the mistress of the home, responsible for the day-to-day management of its internal affairs and the care and education of children” (Kay 2019). The transition from a traditional to an egalitarian perspective suggests the uncertainty of gender roles in society. Bobbie Ann Mason, the author of Shiloh, accurately portrays this transition in Shiloh by describing Norma Jean and Leroy’s exchange of roles in the household and the events that led to it. Ultimately, this collective tension in the marriage between Leroy and Norma was caused by the death of their son Randy, the sudden return of Leroy after fifteen years, and the changes that occurred over those fifteen years. As a result of this tension, the couple experienced an …show more content…
The author of Shiloh, Bobbie Ann Mason, was born in a rural region in Kentucky in 1940. Mason was born into the world at a time in which women did little in the community but work on the farm or care for their families. Therefore, she desired for something different for herself, an education and even a life outside the rural southern region. Mason often chose to write about the stereotypes concerning the people who lived in the South and many of these were that southerners were uneducated people who only worked on their farms. Mason enjoyed her rural life, but she always wanted more. She was able to leave the confining rural society and its stereotypes and receive an excellent education and career. Therefore, she often writes in her stories, especially Shiloh, how people are not confined to the beliefs of other people. She also includes in her stories the common occurrences in the society of her time and how it begins to