history and criticism

This is a stunningly intense and powerful novel. The novel is written as the final confession of Nat Turner following his brutally violent slave revolt of 1831. The account is fictionalized though relies heavily on historical facts for its basis.

The novel is painfully tragic as Styron masterfully portrays Turner's existence within the deep south during slavery. Styron's novel is filled with many tragic ironies that mirror the strange logic of slavery and oppression. Turner is initially uplifted by the power of religion, but eventually uses the Bible and bizarre visions to justify his brutal revolt. Throughout the novel, Styron is even-keeled, never passing judgment on Turner, ultimately allowing the reader to come to his/her own conclusions. The novel is vivid and necessarily graphic in places as Styron depicts the harsh slave world where violence leads to more violence.

This is an important novel to read, for it gives important insight into how history shaped American race relations. Styron caught a lot of flak for writing this book (he is Caucasian), but ultimately, I believe his detractors are closed minded. His portrayal is simply stunning, and you needn't be white or black to understand Nat Turner's plight, but merely be a human.

Written in 1968, Styron's "Confessions" delves deep into the psychology behind Nat Turner's 1831 slave revolt. Almost unbearable in its graphic violence and Biblically-dimensioned heartbreak, the novel (for it *is* fictional) has Turner telling the whole story in painfully honest detail. Styron neither defends Turner nor paints him as crazy; he is less interested in pointing out right or wrong than in trying to understand the broad ironies of the system of slavery and its effects on the people who ran it and were subject to it. Styron's Nat Turner is a man who is both educated and destroyed by his masters; he is both uplifted and misled by the Bible. His hatred is not fueled by the hatred of whites, but by the pity of whites. And when he kills, he is only able to commit one physical murder, though he takes responsibility for 60. The book is often painful to read, especially for one who might think that race relations today have little to do with 19th-century slavery. But in its wealth of detail and its ability to enter into the mind of a complex and criminal mind, it is unique, and should be required reading for every self-termed patriotic American.

I don't know why this William Styron is trying to lie on my great great grandfather. Needless to say I am a decendant of Nat Turner and it bothers me that this author is trying to lie to make this book more interesting. I cannot say for certainty that my grandfather was not gay or that he didn't like white women and neither can this author but I can say that Nat Turner was married and had children and I am a decendant of that union! As far as EVERYONE knows he was NOT gay and he certainly loved his African American Wife. William Styron had no reason to portray him as such other than to make this book more appealing and that detracts from Nat Turner because it was a falsity. Other than that idiotic portrayl the book was good.