What is the theme in Redemption by John Gardner?

Certainly the most important theme in this story is that of art and its role in understanding life's experiences. Kent Thompson in his review in Books In Canada writes that virtually "every story in the collection is equally concerned with the various relationships between life and art." Gardner often claimed that art "made my life, and it made my life when I was a kid, when I was incapable of finding any other sustenance, any other thing to lean on, any other comfort during times of great unhappiness."Art, for Gardner, had great redemptive powers. Indeed, only after writing the story did Gardner stop having flashback memories of his brother's death. Likewise, the story ends with the hope that Jack has found redemption through his music.