In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Absolution” (which is the discarded first chapter of The Great Gatsby), and William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” each author’s unique narrative ‘voice’ is present in every corner of every page. Their voices are unmistakable. Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby can be seen as a young boy, in the frightening presence of a priest who is on the brink of losing his faith, and Faulkner’s young 10-year old Sarty Snopes experiences a crisis for the ages in this coming-of-age piece that introduces the Snopes family, later to be memorialized in Faulkner’s Snopes trilogy: The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion.
Copyright laws prevent me from posting these stories here, but you can read them here:
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Absolution”
William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”