.gif)
The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967)
Encyclopedia
The Confessions of Nat Turner is a 1967 Pulitzer Prize
-winning novel by U.S.
writer William Styron
. Presented as a first-person narrative by historical figure Nat Turner
, the novel concerns the slave revolt in Virginia
in 1831. It is based on The Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia, a first-hand account of Turner's confessions published by a local lawyer, Thomas Ruffin Gray, in 1831.
Styron's ambitious novel attempts to imagine the character of Nat Turner; it does not purport to describe accurately or authoritatively the events as they occurred. Some historians consider Gray's account of Turner's "confessions" to be told with prejudice, and recently one writer has alleged that Gray's account is itself a fabrication.
Styron takes liberties with the historical Nat Turner, whose life is otherwise undocumented. The "Confessions" is largely sympathetic to Turner, if not to his thoughts.
and James Baldwin
, the novel was strongly criticised by some black Americans
for its treatment of Turner as a brooding and sexually disturbed figure. Others did not like a white author writing about a black historical figure. Ten black authors wrote essays criticizing the work, collected in William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond (1968). Historian Eugene D. Genovese
defended Styron's right to imagine Turner as a fictional character.
Turner and one of his supporters are shown fantasizing about sexually assaulting
white women. Critics took issue with Styron using the "myth of the black rapist", as portraying black men as prone to sexual violence against white women. Suspected sexual assault was a longstanding racist
stereotype
used as rhetorical justification for lynching
black men.
Some critics argued that the book explored male sexuality and its manifestations, its development, and how it could often weave with notions of vulnerability, rage, love and power. The protagonist witnesses two acts of rape with pain and disdain. First, as a child, he sees a white overseer raping his mother while their owner, who would not have allowed it, was away. Second, at the start of the revolt, a deranged black man in an act of rage raped and killed a white woman. The protagonist had expressly ordered his followers not to rape women during the rebellion.
Despite protests against the novel, Styron's work won critical acclaim and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
in 1968. Perhaps its greatest accomplishment is its portrayal of the ways in which slavery corrupted and twisted ideals such as Christianity
and innocence.
Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
Bill Clinton
has cited the novel as one of his favorite books.
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
-winning novel by U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer William Styron
William Styron
William Clark Styron, Jr. was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, which included...
. Presented as a first-person narrative by historical figure Nat Turner
Nat Turner
Nathaniel "Nat" Turner was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 60 white deaths and at least 100 black deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States. He gathered...
, the novel concerns the slave revolt in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1831. It is based on The Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia, a first-hand account of Turner's confessions published by a local lawyer, Thomas Ruffin Gray, in 1831.
Plot introduction
The novel is based on an extant document, the "confession" of Turner to the white lawyer Thomas Gray. In the historical confessions, Turner claims to have been divinely inspired, charged with a mission from God to lead a slave uprising and destroy the white race.Styron's ambitious novel attempts to imagine the character of Nat Turner; it does not purport to describe accurately or authoritatively the events as they occurred. Some historians consider Gray's account of Turner's "confessions" to be told with prejudice, and recently one writer has alleged that Gray's account is itself a fabrication.
Styron takes liberties with the historical Nat Turner, whose life is otherwise undocumented. The "Confessions" is largely sympathetic to Turner, if not to his thoughts.
Literary significance & criticism
Despite defenses by notable African-American authors Ralph EllisonRalph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Ellison is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953...
and James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
, the novel was strongly criticised by some black Americans
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
for its treatment of Turner as a brooding and sexually disturbed figure. Others did not like a white author writing about a black historical figure. Ten black authors wrote essays criticizing the work, collected in William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond (1968). Historian Eugene D. Genovese
Eugene D. Genovese
Eugene Dominic Genovese is an American historian of the American South and American slavery. He has been noted for bringing a Marxist perspective to the study of power, class and relations between planters and slaves in the South. His work Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made won the...
defended Styron's right to imagine Turner as a fictional character.
Turner and one of his supporters are shown fantasizing about sexually assaulting
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
white women. Critics took issue with Styron using the "myth of the black rapist", as portraying black men as prone to sexual violence against white women. Suspected sexual assault was a longstanding racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
used as rhetorical justification for lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
black men.
Some critics argued that the book explored male sexuality and its manifestations, its development, and how it could often weave with notions of vulnerability, rage, love and power. The protagonist witnesses two acts of rape with pain and disdain. First, as a child, he sees a white overseer raping his mother while their owner, who would not have allowed it, was away. Second, at the start of the revolt, a deranged black man in an act of rage raped and killed a white woman. The protagonist had expressly ordered his followers not to rape women during the rebellion.
Despite protests against the novel, Styron's work won critical acclaim and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
in 1968. Perhaps its greatest accomplishment is its portrayal of the ways in which slavery corrupted and twisted ideals such as Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and innocence.
Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
has cited the novel as one of his favorite books.
Criticism
- Clarke, John Henrik, ed. William Styron’s Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond. Boston: Beacon P, 1968.
- Genovese, Eugene D. "The Nat Turner Case", review of William Styron's Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond, ed. John Henrik Clarke, The New York Review of Books, 12 Sept. 1968, Vol. 11, No.4
- Mellard, James M. “This Unquiet Dust: The Problem of History in Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner”, Mississippi Quarterly 36.4 (Fall 1983): 525-43.
- Ryan, Tim A. “From Tara to Turner: Slavery and Slave Psychologies in American Fiction and History, 1945-1968”, Calls and Responses: The American Novel of Slavery since Gone with the Wind. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008: 63-113.