Shiloh

by

Bobbie Ann Mason

Randy was Norma Jean and Leroy’s infant son. 15 years before the start of the story, he died of sudden infant death syndrome at just four months old. Leroy pinpoints the moment of Randy’s death as the moment when he and Norma Jean became estranged, as they failed to grieve their son together and they conspicuously avoid mentioning him throughout the story. Nonetheless, Randy’s presence is deeply felt; Leroy repeatedly wonders whether he should bring Randy up to Norma Jean so that they can at last discuss his death—or whether doing so would open up old wounds neither of them want to face.

Randy Quotes in Shiloh

The Shiloh quotes below are all either spoken by Randy or refer to Randy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Grief, Love, and Estrangement  Theme Icon
).
Shiloh Quotes

Norma Jean is often startled to find Leroy at home, and he thinks she seems a little disappointed about it. Per­haps he reminds her too much of the early days of their marriage, before he went on the road. They had a child who died as an infant, years ago. They never speak about their memories of Randy, which have almost faded, but now that Leroy is home all the time, they sometimes feel awkward around each other, and Leroy wonders if one of them should mention the child. He has the feeling that they are waking up out of a dream together—that they must create a new marriage, start afresh.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Norma Jean Moffitt, Randy
Page Number: 5
Explanation and Analysis:

Leroy remembers Norma Jean standing catatonically beside him in the hospital and himself think­ing: Who is this strange girl? He had forgotten who she was.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Norma Jean Moffitt, Randy
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:

Now scientists are saying that crib death is caused by a virus. Nobody knows anything, Leroy thinks. The answers are always changing.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Randy
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:

General Grant, drunk and furious, shoved the Southerners back to Corinth, where Mabel and Jet Beasley were married years later, when Mabel was still thin and good-looking. The next day, Mabel and Jet visited the battleground, and then Norma Jean was born, and then she married Leroy and they had a baby, which they lost, and now Leroy and Norma Jean are here at the same battleground. Leroy knows he is leaving out a lot. He is leaving out the insides of history. History was always just names and dates to him. It occurs to him that building a house out of logs is similarly empty—too simple. And the real inner workings of a marriage, like most of history, have escaped him.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Norma Jean Moffitt, Mabel Beasley, Randy
Related Symbols: Shiloh , The Log Cabin
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Shiloh LitChart as a printable PDF.
Shiloh PDF

Randy Quotes in Shiloh

The Shiloh quotes below are all either spoken by Randy or refer to Randy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Grief, Love, and Estrangement  Theme Icon
).
Shiloh Quotes

Norma Jean is often startled to find Leroy at home, and he thinks she seems a little disappointed about it. Per­haps he reminds her too much of the early days of their marriage, before he went on the road. They had a child who died as an infant, years ago. They never speak about their memories of Randy, which have almost faded, but now that Leroy is home all the time, they sometimes feel awkward around each other, and Leroy wonders if one of them should mention the child. He has the feeling that they are waking up out of a dream together—that they must create a new marriage, start afresh.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Norma Jean Moffitt, Randy
Page Number: 5
Explanation and Analysis:

Leroy remembers Norma Jean standing catatonically beside him in the hospital and himself think­ing: Who is this strange girl? He had forgotten who she was.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Norma Jean Moffitt, Randy
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:

Now scientists are saying that crib death is caused by a virus. Nobody knows anything, Leroy thinks. The answers are always changing.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Randy
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:

General Grant, drunk and furious, shoved the Southerners back to Corinth, where Mabel and Jet Beasley were married years later, when Mabel was still thin and good-looking. The next day, Mabel and Jet visited the battleground, and then Norma Jean was born, and then she married Leroy and they had a baby, which they lost, and now Leroy and Norma Jean are here at the same battleground. Leroy knows he is leaving out a lot. He is leaving out the insides of history. History was always just names and dates to him. It occurs to him that building a house out of logs is similarly empty—too simple. And the real inner workings of a marriage, like most of history, have escaped him.

Related Characters: Leroy Moffitt, Norma Jean Moffitt, Mabel Beasley, Randy
Related Symbols: Shiloh , The Log Cabin
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis: