John Gardner's story, "Redemption," was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in May, 1977. Gardner later included the story in his collection of short stories, The Art of Living, published by Knopf in 1981.
"Redemption" chronicles the story of a young man named Jack Hawthorne who accidentally kills his seven-year-old brother in a farming accident. The accident takes place in the first paragraph, and the rest of the story reveals how Jack and the members of his family deal with the loss.
The central event in the story is autobiographical. As a young man, Gardner accidentally killed his younger brother; the circumstances of that tragic event are nearly identical to those described in the story. Gardner's recurring themes are present in this piece of short fiction: the relationship between art and experience, the consequences of death for survivors, the redemption from guilt, and the struggle between the forces of order and disorder.
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