During a visit to Shiloh, a Civil War battlefield, a different sort of civil war simmering between a married couple finally boils over. But in the end, does anyone win?

"Shiloh" is a short story by Bobbie Ann Mason, an American woman writer (1940 - ) who grew up on a farm in Western Kentucky. Like most of her short stories and novels, "Shiloh" focuses on the everyday lives of ordinary, working people in Western Kentucky during a time of social, political, and economic change. Critics have put some colorful, semi-dismissive labels on her writing, calling it "Dirty Realist," "K Mart Realist," and "blue-collar minimalist hyper-realist" fiction (Source), as well as "grit lit" (Source). As creative as these literary critics might be with their catchy labels, we here at Shmoop generally consider Mason to be a minimalist because, like other authors who came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, she uses a stripped-down writing style, focusing on surface details and themes of loss and alienation.

Cheerful stuff, right?

Break out your bell-bottoms and dust off that disco ball, because this story is set in the late 1970s. It's not all Bee Gees and roller skates though—the story is actually pretty somber. In it, we are introduced to Leroy and Norma Jean Moffatt, a married couple who are having trouble adjusting to the changes in their relationship after Leroy has a truck-driving accident that leaves him unemployed and at home.

Leroy is having a hard time finding his place in the changing world of the "New South," where big corporations, shopping malls, and fast food restaurants are transforming the rural landscape he grew up in. While Leroy is stuck in the past, resisting change and fixating on building a log cabin for his wife, Norma Jean is flexing her muscles (in more ways than one) as she prepares to fly the coop and leave Leroy and the past for a more fulfilling future.

"Shiloh" first appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 1980. Mason's first book of short stories, Shiloh and Other Stories, won the 1983 Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first fiction. Talk about a bold start. Since then, Mason has had a long, successful career, winning and being nominated for many literary awards. Her first novel, In Country (1985) was made into a film, starring Bruce Willis, in 1989, and country singer Rick Trevino even wrote a hit song called "Bobbie Ann Mason" about his former high school classmate—you know you've made it big when you have a country music star crooning your name.

"Shiloh" is set in a very particular time and place—a small town in Western Kentucky in the late 1970s. Leroy and Norma Jean Moffatt are spending more time together now that Leroy and his truck have "flown home to roost" (1.6), but they "feel awkward around each other" (1.9) and seem to be living in different worlds, even though they are under the same roof.

You're probably thinking, "Wait a minute—What does any of this have to do with me?" Even if you do happen to live in Western Kentucky, the 1970s were waaaaay before your time…so why should you care?

Well, it might surprise you to learn that the things people were worrying about in the 1970s aren't all that different from today. Back in the days of disco, the US was facing a pretty significant recession, spiking energy costs, and rising unemployment. Sound familiar? Maybe your area has been hit hard by the recession or natural disasters in recent years, and you've seen friends, neighbors, and even your own family members losing jobs and homes.

If so, you've probably noticed that not everyone reacts the same way to change and stress. You might know people who are more like Norma Jean—not only do they face reality head-on, they might actually get energized by a crisis. Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for themselves, they're proactive, taking classes and learning new skills that will help them find their next job.

On the other hand, maybe you also know people like Leroy, who are reactive when faced with changeand try to avoid the new reality or escape it through substance abuse or wishful thinking.

The thing is, the proactive person isn't necessarily always a good person and the reactive person isn't necessarily a bad person. Some readers may find Norma Jean rigid and cold, and some will insist that Leroy has many good qualities.

One thing everyone is likely to agree on, though, is that these two are very different when it comes to coping with change and its accompanying stresses. After reading this story, take some time to reflect back on yourself. Are you more of a Norma Jean or more of a Leroy? What about your parents, siblings, friends? This story might give you some insight to better understand how you and those around you respond to stress, and if you ask us, that's some pretty important stuff to ponder.