Symbolism in 'Story of an Hour' and 'Shiloh'
             Symbolism is widely used in both "Story of an Hour" and "Shiloh," and plays a key component in understanding the story. The stories are similar because they're both about a wife that is trapped in a marriage. Both of the wives in the stories wanted to be free and go on with their lives, but the endings are very different from one another.
             In "Shiloh," the author Bobbie Ann Mason, uses symbolism in many different ways. Leroy saw himself as the man of the house, and the author made that apparent with the symbolism shown in the story. Mason used foreshadowing and symbolism to clue the reader into the eventual fate of Leroy and Norma Jean's marriage. You can tell on many different occasions that Norma Jean is ready to move on with her life while Leroy is sitting around getting high and smoking joints, only talking about getting on with his life. I believe that the author is suggesting that marijuana is making Leroy very unmotivated to do anything with his life. Perhaps the death of their infant was a main reason in why they prolonged their marriage for so long. Norma Jean had enrolled in classes at a nearby community college. That is definitely a symbol of how she wants to move on with her life because she's sick of sitting around living the life that she had with Leroy. Four months ago Leroy was involved in a highway accident in which he was hurt and had to have steel pins in his hip. He returned home to rest and rehabilitate his leg . Leroy came home to his wife hoping she would be the same person he left many years before. When Leroy gets home he made the statement that he is the man of the house. He expected Norma Jean to love him in the same way she did when they were younger, but unfortunately for Leroy Norma Jean had begun to move on with her life. This symbolizes the beginning of the end of their
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