Shiloh Season

“I’m running my hand over Shiloh’s head real slow, and I can tell by his eyes how he likes it. If Shiloh was a cat, he’d purr.”

Marty’s fondness for petting Shiloh reveals the boy’s compassion and adoration for his dog, as well as his commitment to The Ethical Treatment of Animals. By comparing Shiloh to a cat, Naylor also creates the impression that Shiloh is gentle, quiet, and deeply loving. The scene reflects a moment of serenity and safety, establishing the fact that Shiloh’s life with Marty is infinitely better than the life he managed to escape.

“There’s times I wish we could just keep Shiloh in the house while I’m at school. But Ma says when you love someone, you don’t keep him locked up, not a dog like Shiloh who likes to run; when you love, you got to take chances.”

The themes of love and freedom are apparent in Ma’s advice. The contrast between Shiloh, who is free to run and play, and Judd’s dogs, who languish on chains, is also an important distinction between treating animals with love and being abusive. Ma’s guidance also illustrates her wisdom and guidance as one of Marty’s chief mentors.

“You treat a dog right, and he’s your friend for life.”

With this seemingly simple statement, Marty’s direct assertion holds a much deeper insight on Compassion and the Road to Redemption, for the entire novel becomes a case study on the best ways to treat animals “right” in every situation. Through Marty’s fervent protection of his dog, Naylor emphasizes the fact that people should always treat animals ethically and love them in order to earn their trust and respect.

“‘You takin’ good care of my dog?’ he says.

Those are the very next words out of his mouth, and what I don’t like are the words, ‘my dog.’”

Though Shiloh has lived with Marty for over a month, his official ownership is still a source of conflict that bothers Marty. The passage also reflects Naylor’s succinct yet effective writing style, for Judd’s terse words display his selfish, stern character, escalating the novel’s primary conflict in one brief line of dialogue.

“I come home from school and [Shiloh] gets all excited—does his wiggle dance, front end going left and his rear end going right.”

Marty’s casual reference to Shiloh’s “wiggle dance” displays the deep bond between boy and dog even as the description emphasizes just how important Shiloh is in his daily life. Additionally, Shiloh’s body language reveals his deep trust and love for Marty, further highlighting The Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“How can you think you’re doing the right thing, and it’s maybe not right at all?”

When Marty becomes anxious over the thought of losing his sister Becky, he questions his life choices up to this point. As Marty agonizes over the thought that he obtained Shiloh through immoral means, his philosophical question takes on a tinge of strident desperation, revealing the depths of his distress.

“Guess a dog’s nose tells him a whole lot we don’t know anything about.”

Marty’s thoughts about animals reveal his awareness of canine biology and his deep interest in the veterinary field. His frequent thoughts about Shiloh and other dogs are also indicative of his commitment to forging meaningful bonds with his animal friends and striving to understand them.

“‘Becky, don’t talk with your mouth full,’ says Ma. ‘Here. I want you to eat a little spinach with your meat.’

Becky stares down at her spinach. ‘It looks like poop,’ she says.

This exchange leavens the novel’s serious tone with a moment of humor that fits the middle-grade audience well. Becky’s reaction is designed to amuse anyone who has ever faced a pile of spinach with reluctance and disgust, and the momentary quip leverages the childish hilarity of bathroom humor to provide a realistic example of a six-year-old’s dislike of vegetables.

“Truth, [Miss Talbot] says, is what you see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears. Gossip you get secondhand. Gossip may or may not be true, because it’s coming to you from another person. It could even be half true, with parts left out now and then, and little extras tacked on to give it flavor.

I think about that a while, and then I figure there’s another difference: truth’s more important, but gossip’s more interesting.”

As Marty contemplates the difference between truth and gossip, his growing awareness of the issues shows that he likes to analyze new concepts and understand them deeply. Marty asks many questions throughout the novel and draws his own conclusions from hard experience.

“But the other part of me says that sometimes things can happen that are sad and funny both.”

As Marty’s grandma engages in a range of antics in the nursing home, the stories of her escapades provide some comic relief amidst the gravity of the novel’s primary conflict. Additionally, the incident contains several layers of emotions, and Marty’s reflections on the paradoxical combination of sadness and humor create a tone of realism. Also, Marty’s emotional intelligence shows his growing maturity and contemplative personality.

“I crawl back over the log again, looking for the place the bullet hit, and I find it—a small hole as round and clean as a gun barrel.

I let out my breath and pull Shiloh onto my lap. I can feel my knees shaking. Judd must have been coming over the bridge when he saw me and Shiloh racing down the road. He probably pulled over, got out, and followed us with his rifle.

[…] I don’t know whether he was trying to kill one of us, but his aim was way off the mark, so maybe he was only trying to scare me—either that or he’s drunk.”

By employing blow-by-blow descriptions of this tense moment, the author stresses the inherent danger of the scene, illustrating that the stakes have become very real, for instead of blustering and threatening, Judd is now actively shooting at Marty and Shiloh, endangering their lives. Marty’s fear and panic are palpable, and the author creates a visceral impression of his fear as his knees shake and Marty pulls Shiloh close to comfort both the dog and himself.

“I realize when I go home that afternoon that Doc never did tell me what I should have done about that doe. And I see that no matter how old you get, you’ll always meet up with problems and they won’t have easy answers.”

As Marty realizes that adults find it equally difficult to accurately determine the “right” thing to do in tricky situations, the boy experiences considerable character growth and learns to observe the world from a far more nuanced perspective.

“[P]retty soon they’re trying to put Becky’s socks on his paws and then they got a pair of Dara Lynn’s underpants on him and a “Wild and Wonderful West Virginia” T-shirt. They’re screeching and giggling and looking around for a cap and some sunglasses. I figure any dog who puts up with all that should get a medal of honor.”

This passage provides a chaotic and detail-rich glimpse into Shiloh’s daily life amongst Marty’s siblings. The description also proves that Shiloh is very gentle and patient with children, for he is easygoing enough to tolerate being dressed up. His temperament stands in sharp contrast to the barely controlled hostility and fear of Judd’s remaining three dogs.

“If Jesus is getting one prayer from your lips and another from your heart, which one is he going to pay attention to?”

In this moment, Marty’s thoughts highlight the intricate issues of truth, morality, and faith. His queries also show his empathy, because he hopes that Jesus will not listen to his unkind thoughts when he briefly wished that Judd might be dead. Thus, even in the midst of his strong dislike for Judd and his logical reasons for feeling as he does, it is clear that the issue of morality again is deeply important to Marty.

“If Judd lives, it’s because of Shiloh.”

Although Marty has effectively saved Shiloh from a miserable life, Shiloh himself takes on the role of hero and savior in the story, for his actions safeguard Becky and later save Judd’s life. Shiloh is therefore an effective example of empathy because he saves a man who hurt him badly in the past.

“‘Help him get well,’ I’m saying, because I think I should. Because you’re supposed to pray for somebody who’s been hurt.

Then I find myself thinking, Just don’t let his leg get well enough to ever go hunting again.

Can you ask God to heal things, but only so much?”

Marty has complex, mixed emotions that accurately portray the vagaries of human nature. His profound questions about God’s actions and reactions to less-than-ethical prayers illustrate the fact that Marty is faithful but morally flawed. This aspect of his character becomes clear when he hopes that Judd is never fully healed. However, his reaction is a natural response to Judd’s antagonism.

“‘Wooooow!’ says David Howard, and the way he says it, dragging it out, sounds like air coming slow out of a bag.”

This whimsical simile is a unique way to describe the enthusiastic emphasis that David puts on the word. Figurative language is used often throughout the novel to describe many different craft elements, including dialogue, and Naylor makes it a point to imbue her narrative with realistic and near-cinematic elements. In this case, David’s exclamation is exaggerated for dramatic effect, heightening the eager emotions of the scene.

“I do something I didn’t plan on, but somehow it seems right: I put down two names: Marty and Shiloh.”

As Marty writes to Judd, he feels that putting both his and Shiloh’s name on the card is the right thing to do and will make Judd happy. This instinctual action is done without any of Marty’s classic overthinking, making it a distinctive moment in which he follows his heart and works on showing Judd Compassion and the Road to Redemption.

“‘You’d think that a man who missed out on kindness would want to be kind to his dogs,’ I say.

‘You have to learn kindness, Marty, same as you learn to tie your shoes,’ Doc says.”

The qualities of kindness, compassion, and empathy are clear in Doc’s response. In this scene, Marty’s curiosity leads him to learn and grow by realizing that humans aren’t innately good or bad. By absorbing the wisdom of mentors like Doc, he can learn to understand Judd and others like him.

“November sun is shining down on Middle Island Creek, and you’d never think that inside that trailer is a man as wretched and mean and sad as a man can get.”

The author creates a strong contrast between the picturesque sunset and Judd’s cruel character. This juxtaposition creates irony between the beautiful setting and Judd’s closed-minded view of life, for the author emphasizes the fact that his limited perspective and past traumas prevent him from enjoying the beauty of the world around him.

“[O]f the other three dogs of Judd’s—the way he’d chained them up, so fearful something or somebody was going to come along and start a fight they couldn’t win. All snarlin’ and snapping, trying to keep themselves from being hurt.

And now that we got Judd all shut up in his trailer, I’m thinking how slowly, a little bit at a time, we got to teach him kindness. He was taking the food we left for him. That was a start.”

This passage creates an implicit connection between Judd’s dogs, who are imprisoned with literal chains, and Judd himself, who chooses to imprison himself in the confines of his isolated trailer. The comparison also invokes the narrative’s earlier assertion that mean humans are no different than mean animals; both require patience and kindness in order to recover. By showing Judd the same kindness that he would show a vicious dog, Marty is able to rehabilitate and redeem his neighbor and coax him to take the first steps toward a more inclusive, open worldview.

“One day I decide that all these notes I’ve been writing about Shiloh are just so much noise—just writing around and around what it is I really want to say to Judd.”

In this passage, Marty experiences a shift in his character because he fully embraces honesty. With this colorful description about “noise,” he chooses to be more direct and tell Judd that Shiloh saved his life, and this shift into full, forthright honesty causes Judd to realize that he owes Shiloh much better treatment than he has shown to the dog in the past.

“I want in the worst way to let [Shiloh] know that this time is different.”

Marty’s desire to communicate with Shiloh highlights the theme of the human-animal connection. Though he has formed a strong bond with Shiloh, he laments his inability to make the dog understand that no harm will come to him even though they have crossed the dreaded bridge and are once again approaching Judd’s trailer. This disparity creates a conflict and increases empathy for Shiloh while showing Marty’s caring spirit.