Upon reading “The Fires of Jubilee”, by Stephen B. Oates about Nat Turner’s slave rebellion during the 1830’s I was earnestly impressed by his writing style of the book. Oates was able to turn what happened two centuries ago into a realistic, and detailed book that was able to bring us into the world of Nat Turner. Should it be his writing style of going into the thoughts of every major figure that was involved in the rebellion, or creating the atmosphere of the pre-Civil War times, I was finding myself reading about what seems to be an primary perspective of Nat’s rebellion. Consequent to reaching the climax of the book, I couldn’t believe that a person who does not have any relation to the Turner family whatsoever wrote the book. When Oates …show more content…
It also mentions how Nat throughout his lifetime had “visions” of what he was supposed to achieve and how he will slay the white slave masters with their own laborers. Then, on August 21,1831 he took action and massacred approximately fifty-five whites. Oates in “The Fires of Jubilee” stays true to these facts and even elaborates on them. For example, Oates describes how Turner would preach dissatisfaction throughout his audience so that he could fan the flames of rebellion throughout the slaves. Oates also goes into the backgrounds of Turner’s most trusted men who was Henry,Hark, Nelson and Sam that participated with him in the rebellion according to PBS in “Nat Turner’s Rebellion”. He briefly goes through their origins, who they belonged to and their part in the rebellion which further helps us enter the world of the Old South in the 1800s. Oates’ detail on each major character involved in the rebellion shows us how each of them felt and explained the thinking process of the figures during the era where slavery thrived.(A&E Television