Analysis Of Shiloh By Bobbie Ann Mason

In Shiloh, written by Bobbie Ann Mason, Leroy noticed goldfinches flying outside his window. They dipped and fell then opened the wings to stabilize themselves.When birds learn how to fly for the first time, they experience a new sense of freedom. They leave their dirty nests behind a take to the skies to explore and roam free. This freedom is exactly what Norma Jean longs for. Sadly, she believes that she is trapped with no way out. Unfortunately, her mother caught her in the act of smoking and reacted badly. This made Norma feel as if she was 18 again. In addition, Norma Jean lashes out at Leroy when the two are having a conversation, exclaiming how no one would leave her alone.
With the stress of losing a child, having to nurse her husband

from a bad injury, and the added stress piled on by her mother, Norma Jean could have indeed taken her life at the end of the story. At the end, she waves her arms toward Leroy, as if to say farewell. Drowning from stress and gasping for freedom, Norma might have thought there was only one way out.

Cathedral:
Although my first impressions of the narrator were not good, they change as the story progressed.

In the beginning of the story, the author came across as extremely judgmental, yet as the story progresses, he learns from his mistakes and starts to enjoy the blind's man's company. In fact the blind man showed he the feeling of imagination: something the blind man needed a plethora of.
Despite the fact that the whole beginning of the story the narrator cried out for pity, I do not pity the narrator of the story Cathedral, by Raymond Carver. Anyone might not like the idea of someone moving in to live with them, especially a blind man, but the narrator's behavior made the reader think that he was judgmental the opening part of the story. It is important, as human beings, to never judge others because as the narrator found out, a person can never tell what another person will be like.
The narrator was extremely displeased when he learns from his wife that Robert was coming over, and from how he reacted, we as readers can tell that he was not happy. Robert- the blind man- surprised his host by acting not like any stereotypical blind man on a TV show. Robert had a beard, smoked, and acting normally. Robert responds curtly, to the narrators snide remarks and remained

friendly.

The Things They Carried:
In Tim O'Brien's, The Things They Carried, Mr. O'Brien omitted the usage of quotation marks from his story because the story did not need quotation marks. By not using quotation marks, the author did not splice the story with unneeded distractions. After all, we as readers know when someone is talking and when someone is not, so by not throwing the quotation marks, the author cleverly threw away unwanted distraction. The language used by the soldiers was a way for them to make the fighting, death and destruction, seem far away. Talking tough made the soldiers feel tough despite feeling terrified.