Stefano 1

Mekaila Stefano
English 11
Palmieri
01 May 2014
Absolution
The Oxford dictionary defines absolution as a formal release from guilt, obligation, or
punishment. Absolution, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about two very
seemingly different people with an unexpected shared interest and two very different
interpretations of absolution. One sees the object of absolution as one which must be reached
through devotion to and forgiveness by God, but the other comes to hypothesize that absolution
can be reached through simply accepting and forgiving oneself. Nobody can argue that
definitions are personal and that one persons definition of a word such as absolution cant be
deemed absolutely right while anothers is deemed wrong. Even so, is it possible that these
definitions can be judged by the consequences that they bring upon their possessors? Rudolph is
a young boy who has become obsessed with the idea of wealth, social status, and grandeur.
When Rudolph goes to church in an attempt to rid himself of the guilt that this materialistic
longing has been causing him, he speaks with Father Shwartz and confesses his sins. What
Rudolph comes to realize over the course of his confessions is that the tight-laced Father
Shwartz, who at first appears as a symbol of self-actualization and selfless devotion to God, has
been living with the very same longings that Rudolph is experiencing. Reminded of the lust for
splendor that he has attempted to repress through a devotion to Christ, Father Shwartz suffers
such a powerful relapse of emotional yearning and desire that he succumbs to a heart attack and
dies right in front of Rudolph. In his terror at having observed Father Shwartz empty life and
subsequent death, he is able to realize the impending fatality in repressing his lifes wantings,
Stefano 2

and chooses to pursue his own form of absolution. Father Shwartz and Rudolph Miller of F.
Scott Fitzgeralds short story Absolution both parallel one another and provide a noticeable
contrast for the consequences of each others actions regarding the pursuit of grandeur.
Fitzgeralds deliberate juxtaposition of these characters allows the reader to better understand
and sympathize with Rudolphs plight and seems to infer that personal forgiveness is more
important than a believed forgiveness by God.
Rudolph, an 11-year-old Dakota boy living in a strictly religious household, is led by his
intimidating father, a parishioner himself, to seek confession with his church at the apparent
threat of violence. Clearly, Rudolph has been led to believe that he has been living in a manner
which would not be approved of by God, whether that be because of selfishness, lies, or just
because of his lifes yearnings. Rudolphs struggle is between this imposed importance of
acceptance by God, and the innate desires which the reality of life has presented him with.
Rudolph Miller is set to navigate the cultural straits between a stultifying traditionalism
(embodied in the story by church and family) and a new world of carnivals and movies (Beard
68). Rudolphs environment seems to be pulling him in the direction of his desires whereas that
lingering traditionalism is telling him that he was born to lead a predetermined life of religious
servitude and, to him, meaningless devotion. As Beard states, Rudolphs world is progressing
into one where the resounding forms of entertainment, such as carnivals and movies, entice him
and many others to pursue lives populated by glitz and glam and the sort of high social status that
permits such lavish expenses. When Rudolph lies by telling Father Shwartz that he never lies,
he briefly tasted the pride of the situation before realizing that in heroically denying he had
told lies he had committed the terrible sin of lying in confession (Tate 13). The frustration that
attempting to devote all of ones life and actions to a representative code of righteousness and
Stefano 3

goodness, like the Christian religion, inflicts upon Rudolph is clear. The notion of somebody not
telling lies immediately evokes respect from ones peers, and Rudolph isnt strange to yearn for
the pride that such respect would allow him to feel. Its natural to seek that kind of reaction, and
yet Rudolphs pride is quickly diminished by realizing that by briefly feeling such a surge of
positive emotion he has actually committed something like a crime against God. Its
understandable, in this respect, that Rudolphs feelings are conflicted when what makes him
happy just so happens to render him decidedly bad and a sinner in the eyes of God and, perhaps
more undesirably, in the eyes of his devout family. You mean you thought you were too good to
be the son of your parents? the priest asks. Yes, Father (Fitzgerald 275). Rudolph regards his
parents as the opposite of what he strives to be, and even expresses that he already considers
himself to be better than them. Such a humble Midwestern family with an emphasis upon
religion and traditional ways represents an entity which the progressive world of entertainment
has not affected. Rudolph is growing up in a time defined by this surge in prominence of
entertainment, especially for the younger generation, but his parents remain untouched, not
keeping up with the times. The rest of the world seems to be moving on from its previous
fixations upon religion and other traditional values, and Rudolph wants to keep up with it.
Father Shwartz feels the same desires and longing that Rudolph comes to him seeking to
dispel from his mind. Father Shwartz is meant to lead Rudolph to an absolution through God, but
is literally so overcome with the giddy remembrance of his perhaps long-lived interest in
grandeur that he cannot quell his own unholy sins, let alone Rudolphs. Clearly the Priest has
suffered a struggle between religion and his grandiose dreams as such dreams dont just appear,
but are cultivated early and last a lifetime. He had attempted to do away with these thoughts by
becoming devout and, quite unfortunately, it doesnt seem to have worked as was made evident
Stefano 4

by his dramatic death. 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 (Fitzgerald 272). Fitzgerald strategically
places this seemingly meaningful stanza at the very start of Absolution, possibly to foreshadow
Father Shwartz conflict, confessions, and eventual descent into madness. It can be read to depict
Father Shwartz failed attempts at filling the void of unsought desires with a devotion to the
Christian religion. The idea of frivolously soaking in such a warm and long afternoon surely
must have been the sort of temptation that Father Shwartz had grappled with often since
dedicating himself to the restrictive life of a priest. Father Schwartz cleared his throat so that he
could make his voice soft and say some quiet, kind thing. In this moment he should forget his
own agony, and try to act like God. He repeated to himself a devotional phrase, hoping that in
return God would help him to act correctly. "Tell me what you've done," said his new soft
voice. (Fitzgerald 273) It is evident that Father Shwartz priestly mannerisms dont really come
as naturally as they appear to. Selflessness can seem engrained into the attitudes of such
prominent religious representatives, and yet his struggle is subtly displayed in that he has to
mentally remind himself to act Godly, and even ask God for the strength to be noble. One has to
wonder if the priest needed such spiritual reassuring in every single instance wherein he had to
hear a confession of sins. When a lot of people get together in the best places, things go
glimmering, Father Shwartz excitedly marvels at the sheer idea of a party (Fitzgerald272).
Father Shwartz expresses his yearnings as he dreamily states that, essentially, lavish social
gatherings and parties are the subject of his hearts desire. Did you ever go to a party? Did you
ever see an amusement park? he begs, just to hear of the experiences he longs to have lived
(Fitzgerald 272). Now Rudolph begins to see that Father Shwartz has a bit of an unsuitably
Stefano 5

personal connection to his admissions when the priest cannot restrain himself from questioning
him about his life. The priest, perhaps, believes Rudolph to be possessing of a more exciting life
than his own. Whether his perception is shaped by Rudolphs typical embellishments, or simply
by Rudolphs young age, the priest is clearly hoping for at least a spark of vicarious excitement.
By simply reminding the Priest of his own compulsions, Rudolph brings Father Shwartz
repressed emotions back to the surface in such a powerful manner that the man succumbs to a
heart attack. So, then, Father Shwartz desires never really went away as a result of his devotion
and worship, but rather grew stronger. Father Shwartz absolution, then, is not really much of an
absolution. Instead, we see how his personal definition of absolution has failed him. His efforts
to achieve absolution through Christianity never satiated his inner longings, and instead led to his
downfall. Rudolph awakens in the Priest all of the innate urges which he has clearly repressed
for his entire life (Jensen). While Rudolph may have awakened these urges in the priest, his
turmoil was ultimately a product of his life-long attempts to quell the emotional and spiritual
dissonance. After all, there would be no powerful stifled emotions for the boy to evoke if Father
Shwartz had never stifled them in the first place. Rudolph has been speaking to Father Shwartz,
who has grown up with dreams much like Rudolphs, but clearly never followed them. He
eventually breaks down and Rudolph sees the torment of ignoring these grand aspirations, noted
one reviewer of the short story (LaHurd). The priest is often seen as either a troubled soul or a
cowardly old man. There is something to be pitied of a man who simply took the less successful
of two paths: to embrace his desires or to bottle them up in the name of an intrusive religion.
Undebatable, however, is that Father Shwartz particular solution and attempt at reaching a
release from guilt was not entirely kind to him. Father Shwartz likely lived an uncomfortable and
unsatisfying life of internal conflict, and died in a similarly emotional manner. Just about all that
Stefano 6

Father Shwartz absolution, or lack thereof, does is help young Rudolph to take a different and
slightly more promising path at his own crossroads. The heat and sweat of life makes itself
evident to Rudolph just after the Priest has a heart attack and dies. From a distance we dont have
to be forced to face the realness. And for Rudolph, the Priest has watered his fantasy life and
confirmed his inner convictions, another reviewer hypothesizes (Jensen). While this says
nothing for the priests definition of absolution, at least his life may not have been in vain.
Rudolphs absolution comes in the form of giving into his own desires and not just
putting religion on the back burner, but apparently putting the days of religious faith and
conviction behind him. He has witnessed the startlingly devout Father Shwartz fall victim to
stifled emotions and seen an example of absolution through God bringing nothing but unyielding
repression and painful consequences. Rudolphs absolution is a confirmation of his
compulsions: that there was something ineffably gorgeous somewhere that has nothing to do
with God (Haglund 2). Rudolphs yearnings are a reflection of what he enjoys in life, what
gives him pleasure, and what he can consider gorgeous. What allows him to cut ties with
religion is this realization that what he enjoys in life has no connection with God. Surely such a
god couldnt be worthy of Rudolphs undying and ever-precious devotion if it separated him
from what fulfilled him and brought him happiness. One of the ways that Rudolph optimistically
filled the gap between who he wanted to be, and who he was, was in the creation of an alter ego.
It wasnt too intense of an act; Rudolph was no Norman Bates. It was mostly a name change and
an applied air of extravagance, but it allowed him to play the role that he dreamed to live.
Rudolph escapes the guilt of lying in confession by giving into his alter ego, essentially
choosing his pride over his religious convictions and compulsions (Fitzgerald 272). Even in the
confessional, Rudolph couldnt help but feel that the great and completely made up Blatchford
Stefano 7

Sarnemington was a personality more befitting than his own. It was a coping mechanism for his
conflicting thoughts. The idea that pretending to be someone else could actually allow Rudolph
to feel less guilty for his conflicting convictions makes him emulating that alter ego appear a
somewhat understandable option. Rudolphs form of absolution is clearly a product of
discovering and giving into his seemingly narcissistic desires. These desires did not mesh well
with the religious devotion expected of him by his family and by traditional societies in general.
He has previously made light of his ambitions, shames, and fears, but now he realizes that those
things are his true self, and everything else has been a false front presented to the world of
convention (Tate 14). What Rudolph comes to decide is that rather than needing to suppress his
desires to appease his imposed religious responsibilities, he should be leaving that religious life
behind to appease his desires. Without question there is a believable change in Rudolph. He has
granted himself absolution and released himself from the consequences of his sins (Petry 211).
It would seem by the apparent relief that his absolution brings him, then, that Rudolph has made
the right decision, however self-absorbed it may have seemed. Rudolph is absolved of
convention rather than of sins, where Father Shwartz unsuccessfully sought solace, and finds
peace in this (Tate 14). There is a simple, though still debatable, lesson to draw from
Fitzgeralds inclusion of this equally comparable and contrastable pair of characters. They each
represent two ways of doing something: in this case, achieving absolution. One of them, a priest,
chooses a way which brings him mental turmoil and, apparently, death. The other, a young boy,
secedes from that conventional path and instead gives into himself. Although the boys future is
uncertain, it certainly seems more promising than that of the (former) priest at the conclusion of
Absolution.
Stefano 8

In some ways Father Shwartz and Rudolph Miller parallel each other. Despite being
decades apart in age, one having lived out the bulk of his life and the other with nothing but his
future ahead of him, they each share respective deep yearnings to be a part of the progressive
social norms forming in parts of America. A world of shining lights, expensive delights, and high
social status entices them each at their very cores, and yet the two seem destined to follow very
different paths. In each case religion eventually fails to give Rudolph and Father Shwartz the
solace that they need to live a happy life. Unfortunately, this realization occurs too late for the
priest. His life and, subsequently, his dreams come to an end, and for Rudolph the pursuit of
these dreams seems poised to begin. So, apparently, self-absolution seems an abstract concept
that just might be the only solution for the conflicted life of a dreamer.










Stefano 9

WORKS CITED
Beard, Philips. Fitgeralds Absolution: Revisions of Romanticism & Nostalgia as Things Go
Glimmering. 1
st
ed. Vol. 9. N.p. : F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, 2011. Print. The F. Scott Fitzgerald
Review.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. All The Sad Young Men. New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1926. Print.
Hagemann, E.R. Should Scott Fitzgerald Be Absolved For The Sins of Absolution? Journal of Modern
Literature 12.1 (1985): 169. Academic Search Premier. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.
Haglund, David. The Forgotten Childhood of Jay Gatsby. Slate Magazine. The Slate Group, 07 May
2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.
Jensen, Laurie. Absolution All The Sad Young Men, 1926. Fitzgeralds Musings. N.p., 25 Dec. 2011.
Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
LaHurd, Ryan. Absolution: Gatsbys Forgotten Front Door. JSTOR. College Literature, n.d. Web. 31
Mar. 2014.
Petry, Alice H. Fitzgeralds Craft of Short Fiction: The Collected Stories 1920-1935. N.p.: University
Alabama Press, 1991. Print.
Tate, Mary Jo, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. Critical Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Literary Reference to
his Life And Work. N.p.: Facts On File, 2007. Print.