First off I wish Mason would have made the ending clearer in the short story “Shiloh,” I think Norma Jean jumps off the bluff but not sure. I figure Shiloh was influential place for her and was not sure if she was going to use that has her reasoning for telling Leroy there that she wanted to end the relationship. I did not see her wanting to end the marriage throughout the story, I thought she was a wife who was scared to stick up to her husband until she had that argument with him and Mabel. Mabel was an influential character in the story because I also felt like Norma Jean would not stick up to her mother either which in the end she did.
I never understood why Leroy was always so nonchalant about smoking pot. He cared so much about impressing Norma Jean with the “log cabin” but he never once considered impressing her by not smoking because in the story, Mason adds that Norma Jean has quit smoking and I took the statement as if she was disgusted by it now. If I was Norma Jean I would be ready to leave as well, it seems like she had had enough of Leroy and Maple when she finally broke down to them. Norma Jean still had to work and do household chores even though Leroy had his accident and was home more often than her. She was the “breadwinner” in the family and maybe that finally got the best of her at the end. I still wish the ending was more informative of what happened.
