Short Fiction · Character

Rudolph Miller

A boy who invents a grander self to survive his father's rage, then carries that invention into a lonely adulthood.

supporting

Also known as Rudolph

As a supporting figure in Short Fiction, Rudolph Miller is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

A young boy grappling with his faith and his father's expectations, preparing for confession.

In the storyAbsolutionOpen this moment free

Rudolph Miller lives under the shadow of Carl Miller, a failed man whose fury erupts when his son spills a glass of water on the morning of his first communion. The beating that follows, and Rudolph's hysterical laughter through it, marks the moment he learns to split himself in two. Years later, registering at a Tennessee hotel as George O'Kelly of Cuzco, Peru, he is still chasing a girl named Jonquil with the same desperate invention, and the story asks whether the fantasy was escape or the only self he ever really had.

See Rudolph Miller in Absolution Book page

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Character Web

8 connections

A slice of how Rudolph Miller sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Psychological
Other

Character groups

Varied fates and transformations
Social climbers and romantics
Southern social drama
Love and obsession

+3 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

Val reaches his emotional and psychological peak in this passage as he confronts the painful gap between his r…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

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Relationships

Father Schwartz
psychological · negative
Father Schwartz is a priest who becomes psychologically obsessed with the young Rudolph,… How this plays out →
Father Schwartz
psychological · negative
Father Schwartz is a priest who becomes psychologically obsessed with the young Rudolph,… How this plays out →
Father Schwartz
psychological · negative
Father Schwartz is a priest who becomes psychologically obsessed with the young Rudolph,… How this plays out →

Father Schwartz
Father Schwartz is a priest who becomes psychologically obsessed with the young Rudolph, projecting his own spiritual crisis onto the boy.
Father Schwartz
Father Schwartz is a priest who becomes psychologically obsessed with the young Rudolph, projecting his own spiritual crisis onto the boy.
Father Schwartz
Father Schwartz is a priest who becomes psychologically obsessed with the young Rudolph, projecting his own spiritual crisis onto the boy.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Rudolph Miller in head and shoulders

In the story

Rudolph Miller appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Absolution
A young boy grappling with his faith and his father's expectations, preparing for confession.
I
An intense little boy of eleven, son of a parishioner, who comes to Father Schwartz in a state of abject fear to confess a terrible sin.
II: “On Saturday, Three Days Ago.”
The penitent struggling with confession and his invented alter ego Blatchford Sarnemington.
III
Caught drinking water before communion, he lies to his father and is beaten for his defiance.
IV
Rudolph experiences a crisis of conscience, confessing only a minor sin while feeling a deep sense of isolation and guilt as he receives communion in mortal sin.
V: “Sagitta Volante in Dei”
A beautiful little boy confessing his sin to Father Schwartz; he becomes frightened by the priest's strange talk and eventually runs away in panic.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Rudolph Miller unlock in the free preview.

See Rudolph Miller in head and shoulders

See Rudolph Miller in Absolution