Shiloh

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2001

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The Second Battle of Shiloh The switch to college life can definitely change people. In high school, one makes friends that will hopefully last a lifetime. Then comes senior year, and after all the college admissions letters have been received, one must face the realization that his/her best friends will not be by their side 24 hours a day / 7 days a week any longer. Still ecstatic by what this new life, college, holds for them, students enter into their chosen institute of higher learning. Do you remember that first break, or long weekend, that brings everyone back to the place where they grew up? Its a chance to look back and catch up on old times, even though you've only been separated for a month or two. Whether coming home from UGA, Tech, or even some out-of-state college, that drive home gives one time to reflect. Will my friends who I graduated with be the same friends who I know and love? Like I said, college alters people, and the first time you see old friends, you might realize that your best friends are not who they once were.

Although painful, this is a process that is natural. Friends change, and friends move on with their lives, regardless of your presence. On a larger scale, this is the dilemma brought to the readers attention by Bobbie Ann Mason, author of "Shiloh"�.

In Mason's "Shiloh"�, Leroy and Norma Jean Moffitt are a married couple living in Paducah, Kentucky. Leroy has spent the past 15 years driving a tractor-trailer across the country. Four months ago, Leroy was involved in a highway accident that required steel pins to be placed in his hip. He returned home to rest and rehabilitate his leg. He is confined to his house, something that...