Soldier's Award

William Faulkner (1897–1962) is a famous American writer, novelist, poet, and Nobel Prize winner in literature (1949). "Soldier's Award" is his first published novel (1926). Wounded pilot Donald Mêgon returns home to rural America from the European theater of war. His face is disfigured, he is gradually losing his sight, and he speaks almost nothing. It is clear to everyone around that the young hero will have a hard time getting to his hometown in Georgia without assistance. And a company is found for him: former soldier Joe Gilligan and young widow Mrs. Powers offer to help. And here is the lieutenant at home. Mêgon's father, a priest who believed his son was dead, is overjoyed, but over time, this joy fades into confusion about how his boy has returned. The fiancée faints in horror upon meeting him for the first time. What next? No one can understand what Donald Mêgon is thinking in the darkness that is gathering around him, what he feels, what he hopes for, and how he can be helped — if at all. Is he really still alive?..