A Rose For Emily And Shiloh

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9-20-11 Compare and Contrast In both stories- Shiloh, written by Bobbie Ann Mason and A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner; the main characters go through major changes in their lives. In the story Shiloh, Norma Jean, the main character, is a typical housewife, she keeps the fire burning well in the house and always entertains Leroy, her husband, after he gets home from his long trucking trips. She is so used to doing this that she doesn’t realize that she is not happy. It is so second nature to her that when she enrolled in a night class at college she found herself writing essays about casseroles. After fifteen years on the road, Leroy seems like a stranger to Norma Jean, he likes to lay on the couch and smoke joints and listen to Norma Jean play the piano, this is his entertainment for being away so long. Norma Jeans doesn’t believe that Leroy or anybody for that matter understands her anymore. She started to improve her body physically and started eating healthy and enrolled in a night class. She clashes with her mother, Maybell, who still treats her like a child, and also doesn’t understand the changes going on in Norma Jean’s life. Maybell “caught” Norma Jean smoking which made Norma Jean realize that she was not a child anymore and she was a woman and she didn’t deserve to be treated like she did and realized that even before her mother caught her smoking that she was not happy. She then tells Leroy that she wants to leave him. She transformed from a stunted housewife to a fully independent woman. This change made Norma Jean stronger because she spoke her mind and accomplished her goal, which was to be independent. In the story A Rose For Emily, Emily, the main character struggles with her father’s death. She doesn’t want to accept change in her life; she wants everything to stay the same, almost like it is frozen in time. Members of the board
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