Absolution (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- First Published: 1926
- Type of Plot: Realism
- Time of Work: The early twentieth century
- Setting: A small town in the Dakotas
- Principal Characters: Rudolph Miller, Carl Miller, Father Adolphus Schwartz
- Genres: Realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Adolescence, Sin or Original sin, Reality, Imagination, Small-town life, Catholics or Catholic Church, Priests
- Locales: North Dakota, South Dakota
The Story
“Absolution” begins with Rudolph Miller's visit to Father Schwartz's room to reveal to the priest a terrible sin that Rudolph has committed and that is retold along with the events following it in a flashback. One Saturday afternoon Rudolph's father, a devout Catholic, orders him to go to confession. In the confessional, Rudolph recites to Father Schwartz a list of minor sins, reflecting his romantic, imaginative nature as when he says that he believed he was too good to be the real son of his parents. He also tells the priest that he never lies, which is itself a...
[The entire page is 1399 words long]
