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The Confessions Of Nat Turner William Stoyron Summary

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“The Confessions of Nat Turner” was written by William Styron in 1967. It recounts the events that lead up to Nat Turner’s failed slave rebellion in 1831. The book technically is not considered non-fiction. Since Nat Turner was a slave, a good amount of his life went undocumented. Because of this, William Styron has to fill in some of the holes in Nat’s confession. This has generated a lot of controversy, because some critics believe Styron’s vision of Nat Turner’s revolt is inaccurate. A collection of essays titled “William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond” was published the following year. Regardless of your opinion on the veracity of the novel’s content, the book was able to start a meaningful debate in a time where civil rights …show more content…

In it, Nat explains that he has been sent by God to start a war against all white people. Nat’s divinity is a central theme in the book. Since he was a young boy, Nat has been reading the Bible. He knew the scripture well. The way he interpreted the Bible was very different. The book describes Nat having visions of black and white angels fighting. He understands these as God’s message to him, asking him to kill all white people. After Nat is captured, he unable to pray anymore. He tries, but he is unable to even form the words. This is because Nat is faced with a dilemma. He feels as though his connection to God has been severed. He doesn’t know if he will be forgiven for his sins, or if he will spend the rest of eternity in hell. He is unable to solve, because if he does, he will be admitting he was acting on his own free will, and not following God’s …show more content…

While the book got good reviews at first, people quickly began to question the authenticity of the material. One criticism was the portrayal of Samuel Turner. People thought Samuel Turner was too kind for a slave owner. He was described as saintly, even though he was probably not as kind as Styron believed he was. Margaret Whitehead was also despised because of her supposed love of black people, despite her being a slave owner. Another criticism of the book is the issue of class. The wealthy slave owners were shown as kind and generous, while the poor slave owners were shown as cruel and stupid. This lead to the previously mentioned “William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond” being published in 1968. The collection contained a variety of opinions. James Baldwin praised the book for finally beginning to write about the history of slavery. Eugene D. Genovese defended Styron’s right to imagine certain things about Nat Turner. Others, like Loyle Hairston and Charles V. Hamilton condemned the novel for changing the truth and the use of stereotypes of black and white people. The essays helped keep the book relevant for many years afterwards, and they started a debate about Nat Turner’s revolt in 1831. The Novel is now becoming relevant yet again. One of the big movie releases of the fall is “The Birth of a Nation”,

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