Critics Hal Blythe ad Charlie sweet (“The ambiguous grail quest”) have compared leroy moffitt to the fisher king of the grail legend find out who fisher king was, read blythe and sweets article and explain how the comparison helps us understand leroy as a character.
In Bobbie Ann Mason’s story “Shiloh,” Leroy Moffitt was injured driving his eighteen wheeler truck and would not return to his job even if he could. Through the story he constructs many crafts and ultimately dreams of building a log cabin. Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet have made a comparison of Leroy Moffitt to the Fisher King myth, also known as the wounded king. Blythe and Sweets article will aid knowledge and perspective on Leroy Moffitt and his story. To me I think it is very…show more content… Knight provides some background information to help further understand the question. Before this assignment I was not even aware of a fisher king or wounded king. I knew about the holy grail and the story but i did not know much about the characters or the wasteland, so instead of simply looking into the fisher king i decided to take time and read an article dedicated towards the story and the wounded king to better understand the question, as well as many of the connections made by scholars such as Bentley, Blythe and Sweet. In the beginning of Knights blog she mentions “‘The land and the king are one.’ Or, more specifically, when the king is wounded, the land suffers and the people suffer.” I think that this perfectly connotes how Leroys wound ultimately led to the downfall of his and Norma Jean’s marriage. Leroy interfered with her life when she tried to improve by weightlifting and learning. Knight also goes into detail on the wound itself, in legend “Fisher King’s wound is in his thigh or genitals; hence wounded sexuality, creativity, and generativity are implied.” This gives more understanding to bentley’s observation of Leroy and Norma Jean’s sexual relationship. Bentley even went so far as to say that “By closing her eyes while she and Leroy have sex, Norma Jean physically blocks him out.” Which is true, and foreshadows that she will eventually block him out and leave him. I think that I will come across many more symbols and connections in the future to help understand Mason’s story better. Many people such as these scholars have critiqued and studied Bobbie Ann Mason’s short story “Shiloh” and have revealed plenty of helpful information, imperative to comprehension to a deeper side of
