Shiloh

In the first three chapters, Naylor introduces the novel’s first-person narrator, Marty Preston, and the novel’s antagonist, Judd Travers. She also establishes the novel’s distinctive setting and builds the foundation for several important themes. Additionally, the novel’s dedication illuminates the true-life story behind Naylor’s inspiration for Shiloh.

Eleven-year-old Marty has a unique narrative voice. Notably, he speaks in the present tense. This technique allows the reader to feel a close emotional connection to Marty and provides a sense of immediacy; that the feelings and events Marty experiences are taking place in real time. The reader feels involved in Marty’s life. Using the present tense lets Naylor build tension in the novel, creating a sense of urgency.

The first-person perspective also allows readers to share Marty’s inner thoughts and feelings. We learn that even though Marty lives in an area where hunting wild game is vital for survival and animal abuse is a sad fact of life, Marty himself is sensitive to death and cruelty. Having Marty tell the story gives readers an inside look at his growing ethical dilemmas. For example, he knowingly breaks a family rule, giving an egg to Shiloh, even though his family struggles to put food on the table. Marty decides that alleviating the dog’s suffering takes moral precedence over his family’s rule. Marty will continue to wrestle with the conflict between following his conscience and lying to his family; two of the novel’s central themes.

The characters in Shiloh speak in an Appalachian dialect, which brings them to life and works to establish the setting. A dialect is a unique form of a language that is specific to a single region or group of people. In Shiloh, the characters use grammar and vocabulary specific to the West Virginia region where they live: Marty, for instance, uses double-negatives and informal words like “ain’t” in his speech. Even Marty’s use of figurative language is grounded in his personal experiences and the immediate world around him. The use of dialect helps immerse readers in the characters’ distinctive rural lifestyle and creates a picture of where and how Marty and his family live. Like most of the people in Friendly, the Prestons are poor and practical, living in a small four-room house with only enough food to get by. Money is scarce and college is not in Marty’s future. Marty knows that times are hard in Friendly, but at the same time, he loves where he lives.

Marty also understands the unwritten social norms of his community: to stay out of other people’s business. People in Friendly display a mix of kindness and indifference. Even though poor, people leave small gifts of appreciation for Marty’s dad in their mailboxes. At the same time, people also often callously abandon dogs in the hills. Judd Travers is an example of the flip side of minding one’s business. Looking the other way allows Judd to continue abusing his animals. Non-intervention is a form of silence, a motif that informs the novel’s theme of secrets. In these opening chapters, readers also quickly learn that Marty’s negative assessment of Judd is valid: Judd is not a nice person.

Cultural expectations of respecting others’ privacy and property conflict with Marty’s conscience and sense of personal responsibility, muddling the boundaries between right and wrong. Naylor utilizes these ambiguities to explore themes of morality, standing up to injustice, and the power of love.

Naylor herself was deeply affected by a personal encounter with an abused dog in West Virginia. Her experience inspired her to write Shiloh. In 1988, when Naylor and her husband were visiting friends in the real-life town of Friendly, WV, a young, stray female dog followed them on a walk. Naylor could tell from the dog’s behavior that it had been abused. The dog waited outside in the rain, watching the house. When Naylor returned home, she could not stop thinking about the dog. Her friends, the Maddens, ultimately adopted the little brown and white dog, and named her Clover. The dog went on to become the “happiest dog in West Virginia.” (Phyllis Naylor.com, https://phyllisnaylor.com/shiloh-the-real-dog/, accessed 11/9/20, and Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: The Story Behind the Book, end matter). Naylor dedicates Shiloh to “Frank and Trudy Madden and a dog named Clover” (i). Clover, the inspiration for Shiloh, died in 2000.