This passage reveals a major piece of Leroy and Norma Jean’s shared past: the loss of their child 15 years ago. He promised her 15 years ago that he would build them a house, but keeping that promise now is meaningless-the promise is a relic of the past when they could still see a future together, which is as outdated as a log cabin itself. Norma Jean perhaps knows this, and when she says that the log cabin would be out-of-place in town (presumably because it’s too antiquated for the new suburban developments), she’s also hinting at the fact that Leroy’s idea of their marriage is antiquated and out-of-place, too. But as long as Leroy fixates on building the log cabin and refuses to talk with Norma Jean about his feelings and their past, they have no hope of reconciling. Of course, what’s wrong with his marriage (and what makes his current house feel not very homey) has nothing to do with the house itself-it’s an issue of emotional intimacy. Leroy knows that his house doesn’t feel like a home, but he foolishly believes that he can fix this by building a new house. This illustrates how estranged he and Norma Jean really are. Even when he wants to prove that he’s still capable of providing for them and bringing them closer together, she has no patience for his feelings. Norma Jean’s skeptical and dismissive reaction to Leroy’s log cabin idea illustrates that she no longer takes her husband seriously.
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