Shiloh

Fiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 1991

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Chains

Chains symbolize cruelty and dominance. Judd keeps his dogs chained and starved. The result is Judd’s dogs are mean, hungry, and they fight amongst themselves. Marty hates the thought of Shiloh “all chained up at Judd’s, a prisoner” (22) and vows never to chain the beagle.

In contrast, the pen Marty builds for Shiloh is spacious, even though Marty wishes he did not have to pen Shiloh, either. Marty works diligently to keep it clean and includes a shelter from the weather. Marty provides food and water in Shiloh’s pen, and takes the dog out as often as he dares to play with him. The difference between Marty’s pen and the chains that Judd—and others in the community—use to tie up their dogs signifies the difference between cruelty and compassion. Marty equates dogs with people, revealing again the value he places on all life. When Judd acknowledges that his dogs do not like being chained, Marty replies, “Guess nobody would” (129). Judd, as a child, was symbolically chained, forced to endure his pa’s abuse.

Food

Food is a significant, multi-layered symbol in Shiloh. Food is a basic, physiological need of human and animal life. Food sustains life. Marty knows that to keep Shiloh, and for the dog to thrive, he must provide food. Marty’s quest to supply food for Shiloh is the source of many of his lies.

Food also represents work and time. Marty’s parents work hard to provide the little food they have. Marty is aware that his family has no leftovers after meals, that any “extra bite of pork chop or boiled potato or spoonful of peas gets made into soup” (29). Dad hunts to provide meat, and Ma spends a lot of time in the kitchen cooking meals. Food takes work to acquire and time to prepare.

Food costs money. In the poor and rural area of Friendly, money is in short supply. Naylor uses food to point out the economic differences between the Howard family and the Prestons: Mrs. Howard, who has a professional job, has extra food to give to Marty whereas Ma has just enough to feed her family. The Prestons have experienced food insecurity. Although Marty is sensitive to the killing of wild animals, he nevertheless understands how, when times are hard, “a father with three kids could shoot a deer” (112). Marty’s need to acquire food for Shiloh is one of the driving forces behind his desperation to earn money. The reason the family does not have a dog is because they cannot afford the extra money needed to feed it. Marty knows that “every bit of food saved is money saved...food wasted is money wasted” (48). Although Marty initially worries about taking food from his family by holding back a part of his meals, he reasons that it would have been food he ate, and therefore does not negatively affect anyone else, showing his sensitivity to family’s poverty. Food is vital: an expensive product of hard work and time investment.

Finally, food expresses love, kindness, and generosity. Marty is willing to go hungry—giving part of his food to Shiloh—out of his love for the dog. The community shows their quiet generosity when Mr. Wallace spreads the word that the Prestons have fallen on “hard times,” and begins leaving food in mailboxes for Marty’s dad. Ma shows her love for Marty and acceptance of Shiloh by baking a real cake, “not no Betty Crocker” (137).

Dad reveals the final, deeper meaning of food when he comments, “But there’s food for the body and food for the spirit. And Shiloh sure enough feeds our spirit” (125). Shiloh brings love and joy to the family, fulfilling a higher order of needs. Shiloh is food for the soul.

Guns & Ammo and Shooting Times

The two magazines that Judd subscribes to, Guns & Ammo and Shooting Times, represent Judd’s enjoyment of hunting. The only good memories Judd has of his father are when the man took Judd hunting once or twice. Hunting is Judd’s only passion. To Marty, the periodicals clearly reflect Judd’s aggressive, abusive personality. Marty wonders why Judd does not subscribe to a magazine about dogs that would “teach him how to be kind” (23). Marty is sensitive and hates seeing animals injured and killed. Judd is rough and cruel to his animals and takes pleasure in hunting. The magazines highlight a vast difference between Marty and Judd.

The Old Collar

Marty is surprised when Judd unexpectedly gives him a used, but good old collar for Shiloh. The collar symbolizes the change in Marty and Judd’s relationship.

Won over by Marty’s determination and courage, Judd releases his anger and shows a grudging respect for Marty. Marty, who hates Judd through most of the book, comes to feel empathy for the rough man, and realizes nothing is as black and white as he originally thought. Marty marvels that, “somehow we learned to get along” (137). The gift of the collar suggests that Marty’s influence may work towards softening Judd’s treatment of his own dogs.

Silence

Silence is a powerful motif in Shiloh, informing the theme of secrets. Silence signifies abuse and a form of self-preservation. Marty lives in a community where people “tend to keep quiet out of someone else’s business” (62). The community bands together against “snitching” to outsiders or the law. This kind of silence helps foster a culture non-intervention, even in the face of dark secrets like abuse and poaching. Marty, like other kids, was raised to “learn to listen, keep your mouth shut” and not talk back to adults (62). Children, like animals, have little voice in their lives or control over what happens to them. Marty comments that their rural county hardly has enough money to investigate someone abusing a kid, let alone a dog. Silence is the opposite of communication and can breed suppression and secrets.

Shiloh is an unusually silent dog. He does not whine or bark, but acts, “Like he had the bark beat out of him when he was a pup and it just never come back” (34). Judd’s abuse silenced Shiloh’s voice. Marty believes that Shiloh is now silent out of self-preservation: Shiloh knows that making noise would get him returned him to his abuser. The only way Marty can keep Shiloh secret is by being quiet. Even when Shiloh is hurt, he stays silent, and Marty cries, “without making a sound. Just like Shiloh” (81), showing both his empathetic connection and sense of helplessness.

Shiloh responds to Marty’s love and starts to come out of his silent shell. Marty finds his own voice. He speaks up for Shiloh, challenging insular norms, and he confronts Judd over the deer. Marty breaks the culture of silence. Telling the truth frees Marty, opens communication, and dispels secrets and silence.