Absolution by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald | Published: June 1924

Absolution Synopsis

"Absolution" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was first published in The American Mercury in June 1924, and later, it was also published in All the Sad Young Men in 1926. This short story was allegedly intended to portray Gatsby's early life, but Fitzgerald cut it because he preferred to keep the mystery intact. This short story consists of 5 parts.

Rudolph Miller is a young boy who struggles with understanding himself. He often fantasizes about an alter ego called Blatchford Sarnemington. Being a Catholic, Rudolph goes to a confession with Father Schwartz after he thinks about sinful thoughts.

Excerpt from Absolution Online Book

There was once a priest with cold, watery eyes, who, in the still of the night, wept cold tears. He wept because the afternoons were warm and long, and he was unable to attain a complete mystical union with our Lord. Sometimes, near four o'clock, there was a rustle of Swede girls along the path by his window, and in their shrill laughter he found a terrible dissonance that made him pray aloud for the twilight to come.

About F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in St Paul, Minnesota. He attended Princeton University for three years without graduating and eventually moved to New York City. Fitzgerald is an iconic American writer. He rose to literary fame with the success of his first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920). Soon after its publication, he married Zelda Sayre and became a popular figure among the circles of Jazz Age writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Dorothy Parker. Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925) is considered one of the greatest American novels ever written. His works are renowned for their vivid and accurate portrayal of Jazz Age culture. Find out more about F. Scott Fitzgerald at sevenov.com.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Books on PageVio

Novels: This Side of Paradise | The Beautiful and Damned | The Great Gatsby | Tender Is the Night

Short Story Collections: Flappers and Philosophers | Tales of the Jazz Age | All the Sad Young Men | Taps at Reveille | The Pat Hobby Stories | Collected Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Plays: The Vegetable; or, From President to Postman

Here's a full list of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books.