Nothing hurts more than the sudden realization that the person we love does not love us anymore. Love tops almost everyone's wish list, but unfortunately it does not last forever. Its enemies: lack of communication, routine, money, different points of view, etc.
"Shiloh", by Bobbie Ann Mason, is a short story about a couple who has a conflict: they see things in a different way. While one of them wants to succeed in life, the other does not care. The story takes place in western Kentucky and stresses changes and improvements occurred in rural towns. There are three characters in the story. Leroy Moffitt's, the husband, 34 years old, really loves his wife. He is a truck-driver. He has been absent most of the time since the beginning of the marriage. He injured his leg in a high-way accident and he will probably not be able to drive again. For this reason, he now stays at home. Norma Jean, his wife, is till pretty, works in the Rexall drugstore and has acquired an enormous amount of information about cosmetics. The couple had a child who died at the age of four months. The third character is Norma Jean's mother, Mabel, who works in a custom upholstery shop. She is a widow and interferes with the couple's relationships. She thinks that the death of the baby, in the drive-in, was caused by negligence.
Although Leroy and Norma Jean have a common background, she is the kind of person that likes to improve in life. Leroy's physical therapy prompts her to try building herself up, so she attends a body-building class. She is also very skillful. She master the electric organ that Leroy gave her for Christmas almost immediately, although she was bewildered by it at first. After having graduated from her six-week body building course, she is taking an adult education course in composition. In addition, Norma Jean has started to read books, and all this, of course, intimidates Leroy "I never was any good in English", he says ( ) "Driving a rig Nobody cared about my English".