Saving Shiloh

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal cruelty and death, physical abuse, and death.

The fence that Marty helps Judd build is a symbol of the relationship between Marty and Judd. While a fence in literature often symbolizes the barriers between people, in Saving Shiloh, the fence is a collaborative project between Marty and Judd—a mending of the conflict between them and a symbol of a fresh start.

At first, Marty’s desire to build the fence is born out of his concern about Judd’s dogs: He wants to prevent Judd from chaining his dogs, which leads them to become aggressive and in turn makes Judd hostile toward them. Marty also views the fence project as a way to absolve some of his own guilt for taking Shiloh but not the other dogs: “Once I do something for all Judd’s dogs, I can stop feelin’ so guilty about saving only the one” (57). The fence does not begin as a way for Marty to build a new connection or fresh start with Judd, but rather as a way to help the dogs and assuage his own guilt.

Marty is incensed when Judd at first refuses the offer of the fence, in part due to the somewhat self-serving nature of his motivations: “All I am trying in this world to do is make life a little easier for Judd Travers’s dogs and what do I get? Trouble up one side and down the other” (62).