63 pages • 2 hours read
Saving Shiloh
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Character Analysis
Marty Preston
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal cruelty, addiction, and physical abuse.
Marty is the protagonist of Saving Shiloh. Marty’s development throughout the text explores the growth from childhood innocence to adolescent moral awareness, as Marty’s relationship with Judd Travers shapes his moral development. Initially, Marty harbors resentment toward Judd for his previous treatment of Shiloh, whom Marty rescued from Judd’s abuse. Marty shares the larger community’s view that Judd is not to be trusted. After their Thanksgiving dinner, however, Marty sees evidence that Judd is trying to make amends: “Judd puts out his hand and strokes Shiloh on the head. He’s still awkward about it, but he’s learnin’” (18). Marty is surprised to see Judd treat Shiloh with kindness. He senses a hesitance in Judd’s movements, with the awkwardness indicating that Judd feels uncomfortable displaying tenderness toward anything, but Marty is pleased to see him trying anyway. This begins Marty’s journey toward forgiving Judd and trying to aide in his redemption.
Marty’s moral absolutism at the beginning of the text reflects his naïve perspective: When his father begins to question his insistence that he wants to be vegetarian, posing questions such as Marty’s continued interest in wearing leather, Marty realizes that ethical questions in the real world are often more complex than they first appear: “[L]ife is more complicated than I thought. One decision after another, and no matter which way you lean, there’s an argument against it” (21). This early realization shapes Marty’s approach to moral quandaries through the rest of the text as he grapples with his growing sympathy for Judd while the community further isolates him.
This growing moral awareness shapes Marty’s experiences throughout the rest of the text, and he begins looking at other aspects of life through the same nuanced lens, particularly as it relates to Judd. While others in town continue to question him, and Judd becomes a prime suspect in not only a series of burglaries but also a murder, Marty consistently comes to Judd’s defense while continuing to harbor doubts: “‘Maybe he’s tryin’ to change. You ever think of that?’ I ask her. But I don’t even know that myself” (55). Marty questions his own defense of Judd, wondering why he feels so strongly about Judd’s innocence and wanting Judd to turn his life around. Marty becomes aware that people are complex, especially Judd, who suffered abuse as a child:
Once you know what happened to someone as a little kid, it’s hard to think of him as one hundred percent evil. If Judd’s the way he is because of what his dad done to him, though, maybe his dad was that way on account of what his dad done, and maybe the grandpa was that way because his father…When’s it going to end (74).
This perspective illustrates Marty’s growing capacity to understand the context that makes someone who they are. He does not absolve Judd of blame for his actions, but he contextualizes them and realizes that Judd is not beyond redemption. Marty’s empathy for Judd offers a partial answer to his question about how the cycle of abuse ends: It ends when people receive help and the opportunity for redemption. Marty does this for Judd by helping him build the fence, giving his dogs an opportunity to run more freely and building a better relationship between human and animal.
Marty’s kindness toward Judd enables both characters to undergo positive change. By treating Judd with compassion, Marty gains, if not a friend, then someone that he can interact with without their former hostility: “What’ll it be like, I’m wondering, not to have to worry anymore about Judd Travers hurting my beagle? To visit him and not have to worry is he drunk? Pretty nice, I reckon” (127). Marty’s ability to look past Judd’s past mistakes, understand Judd’s history, and treat him with kindness and compassion illustrates his growth and improves not only Judd’s life but also his own.
Judd Travers
Judd is Marty’s neighbor and a complex character within the text. Judd struggles with alcohol addiction and the ramifications of a drunk-driving accident that took place in the second Shiloh novel. Judd owns hunting dogs but treats them poorly, prompting Marty to formulate a plan to help Judd build a fence, thus improving his dogs’ quality of life and Judd’s relationship with them. A community outcast, Judd experiences isolation from the community due to their lack of understanding and empathy about the abuse that Judd experienced as a child.
Judd’s development over the course of the text is one of redemption. Early in the text, Marty still feels wary of Judd, especially when he comes to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. However, the experience shows Marty that there is a redeeming quality in Judd and that he might be capable of change: “Judd puts out his hand and strokes Shiloh on the head. He’s still awkward about it, but he’s learnin’ […] It was really Shiloh who saved his life, and Judd knows that” (18). Judd, who once owned Shiloh, does not try to take him back from Marty. Instead, he gently, if awkwardly, pets Shiloh on the head, a silent “thank you” for saving his life after his drunk-driving accident. This early interaction is a turning point for Marty in his relationship with Judd, as he realizes that Judd does have an element of softness to him and perhaps just needs more understanding.
Thus begins the narrative arc in which Marty comes to better understand Judd while the rest of the town continues to shun him, falsely accusing him of nefarious acts such as killing the missing man from Bens Run and burglarizing the community. The more time that Marty spends with Judd, the more empathy he gains for him, understanding that Judd is a fundamentally misunderstood person, despite his flaws. Judd offers brief moments of vulnerability to Marty: “I sure know how it is to feel cornered. Know what it’s like to feel trapped” (51). Here, Judd alludes to his childhood growing up with a father who physically abused him, knowledge that Marty uses to better understand the cycle of abuse that Judd perpetuates against his dogs.
Judd comes across as a fundamentally distrustful person, wary of letting anyone get too close to him. Even when he agrees to let Marty help him build the fence, he is firm in stating, “Well, I don’t want no gate. Don’t want anybody sneakin’ in, lettin’ my dogs loose again” (64), a statement that indicates his paranoia. This quote also indicates, however, Judd’s capacity for forgiveness, as Marty is the one who let his dogs out the first time, taking Shiloh in the process. This quote encapsulates the duality of Judd: He does not trust others easily, but he has the ability to forgive, and he understands why Marty did what he did.
Judd’s true moment of redemption comes at the end of the text when he saves Shiloh from the raging creek. When Marty tells him that Shiloh has fallen in, Judd does not hesitate to spring into action, successfully calling Shiloh to him and rescuing him. When he reunites Shiloh with Marty, the two embrace: “Judd hugs me back. It’s a sort of jerky, awkward hug, like he hadn’t had much practice, but it’s a start” (124). This unsure hug carries with it the weight of all that Judd has done in the past and his lingering anxiety about trusting others, but it is a “start”: an indication that Judd’s life is heading in the right direction as he forges connections with others. There is further evidence to suggest this in the final chapters when Judd tells the newspaper about the rescue: “Well, I guess I was worried some but I was more scared of not saving Shiloh, on account of that dog once saved me” (126). Through saving Shiloh, Judd illustrates his capacity for selflessness and community care. The novel ends on a hopeful note for Judd’s future as he contemplates joining a nearby rescue squad, a full circle moment in which he seeks to join the ranks of those first responders who once saved him.
Dara Lynn Preston
Dara Lynn is Marty’s younger sister. Throughout the text, Marty and Dara Lynn have a fraught relationship and are often in conflict: “I asked Ma once if Dara Lynn had been born into our family by accident or on purpose […] Accident, I’m thinkin,’ looking at her now. Nobody’d have a daughter like that on purpose” (23). Marty struggles with Dara Lynn’s immaturity and penchant for antagonism, as Marty is on a path of moral self-development. Their relationship’s progression proves to be a test of Marty’s compassion and maturity as he learns that, despite his friction with Dara Lynn, he does love his sister.
For much of the text, Dara Lynn is somewhat flat: a character that serves to develop the protagonist, Marty, rather than undergoing much development herself. Dara Lynn’s antagonism toward Marty develops his empathy and understanding toward others. On Christmas, Marty and Dara Lynn complete a puzzle together without fighting, and Marty stops to consider the underlying causes of Dara Lynn’s attitude toward him: “Why can’t we get along like this all the time? I wonder does it have anything to do with Shiloh being my dog, when all the while what Dara Lynn really wanted was a kitten?” (41). This inspires Marty to secretly get Dara Lynn a kitten for her birthday, a gift that illustrates Marty’s true feelings about his sister.
Their relationship reaches a low point when, at their grandmother’s funeral, Dara Lynn nearly falls into the grave. Marty watches this happen and cannot help but think, “[W]hat if she really did fall in, a whole pile of dirt on top of her, and then the coffin goes in and Dara Lynn’s buried alive. It’s such an awful though I can feel the sweat trickle down my back” (80). This thought is disturbing to Marty, and while, in part, it illustrates the resentment that he carries toward Dara Lynn, the sweat trickling down Marty’s back at the thought indicates that he would not actually want anything to happen to Dara Lynn.
The scene at the gravesite foreshadows Dara Lynn’s near drowning in the creek at the end of the text, an important scene in which Marty’s true feelings for Dara Lynn, despite their strained relationship, become clear to him when she is almost taken from them: “All I can think of havin’ to tell Ma that Dara Lynn drowned. Of having to remember every last awful thing I ever said to her” (119). The quote illustrates the love that rests at the core of Marty and Dara Lynn’s relationship: The thought that she might die causes Marty to regret all of the mean things he has said to her. Dara Lynn survives, illustrating to Marty the depths of his love for his sister and giving him the chance to repair their relationship.
This repair does not happen all at once, but, as in Marty’s burgeoning friendship with Judd, there is evidence to suggest that things will improve with Dara Lynn as well. When Marty tells Dara Lynn about the pet kitten, “Dara Lynn leaps off her chair and […] hugs [Marty] hard. [He] hug back—a little jerky and awkward, but it’s a start” (126). Their awkward hug, an almost exact mirror of the “jerky and awkward” hug he shares with Judd after Shiloh’s rescue, illustrates that all is not forgiven between the siblings but that there is a foundation of love between them that is unshakeable, a “start” on which they can continue to grow their relationship.
Shiloh
Shiloh is Marty’s dog, and although he is an animal, Shiloh is an important character and central to many of the series’ events. Shiloh is an important link between Marty and Judd because Marty rescued Shiloh from Judd’s abuse in an earlier installment in the Shiloh series. Marty carries guilt about saving only Shiloh, leaving three dogs still with Judd. This guilt inspires him to build the fence: “Once I do something for all Judd’s dogs, I can stop feelin’ so guilty about saving only the one” (57).
Shiloh both does and does not change throughout the text. In some ways, Shiloh is meant to be a steady character—an unambiguous and unchanging source of joy in Marty’s life: “Thing about dogs, they can get enjoyment out of the most common ordinary object you could ever imagine” (43-44). Shiloh reminds both Marty and readers of the pure joy available in life, as Shiloh is a constant source of love and devotion for Marty.
The biggest change that Shiloh goes through in the text is in the way he relates to Judd. At first, Shiloh remains fearful and distrustful of his former owner. When Judd arrives at Marty’s house for Thanksgiving, Marty notes that the dog is “shaking already, but [Marty] hold[s] him tight so he’ll know he belongs to [him] […] Shiloh licks [Judd’s] hand. It’s a feeble sort of lick, but Judd likes it” (18). This quote illustrates Shiloh’s continued fear of Judd, but his trust in Marty gives him the security he needs to interact with Judd.
Marty helps Shiloh feel safe and secure, but Shiloh remains wary of Judd, refusing to follow Marty to Judd’s trailer:
Shiloh starts dancin’ around when I put on my jacket and cap […] but I know that as soon as I turn right at the end of the lane, he’ll start to whine and go back. Surprises me, though. This time he goes halfway across the bridge before he stops (23).
Shiloh instinctually understands where Marty is going. This time, he is willing to follow him further than usual, but he remains reluctant to go all the way to his former home. Shiloh’s initial wariness of Judd mirrors the distrust with which the other members of the community view him.
While Shiloh is one of Marty’s closest connections in his life, Marty experiences a moment of resentment toward his beloved dog after Judd initially refuses Marty’s offer of the fence. Marty, struggling to process the guilt of not having saved all of Judd’s dogs when he took Shiloh, lashes out at Shiloh: “‘It’s all because of you’ […] If it weren’t for Shiloh, Judd Travers would just be somebody to stay away from when we could, say your howdys to when you couldn’t. But because I got Shiloh, I am smack in the middle of all Judd’s problems” (62). Despite having to be involved with Judd, Marty quickly recovers, knowing that he would go through all this again to have Shiloh in his life.
Judd’s rescue of Shiloh from the creek is a major event in the narrative, helping to repair Judd’s relationships with Marty, the community, and Shiloh. In one of the final lines of the text, Marty reflects on the possibility of Judd and Shiloh one day forming a bond: “I’m thinking that someday, maybe, when I cross that bridge and head down this road to Judd’s trailer, Shiloh might come along, sure that he’s mine forever and nothing’s going to change that” (127). Shiloh is as important as any of the human characters, teaching both Marty and Judd about trust, redemption, and love.
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