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WILLIAM STYRON'S DILEMMA

NAT TURNER IN THE ROGUES' GALLERY
Some thoughts in William Styron novel,
The Confession of Nat Turner*

LOYLA HARISTON

THE GREAT Frederick Douglass-a personal witness to the "peculiar" institution's grand aggregation of human horrors"-said of the struggle against slavery: "It is the righteousness of the cause-the humanity of the cause-which constitutes its potency." Apparently, William Styron is of a different persuasion. In fact, according to his bleak, sermonizing narrative of the Nat Turner revolt, his sympathy seems to be with the slaveholders. For instead of describing the system of slavery as what Dr. Du Bois called, "the sum of all villainies," he had looked into the anguished soul of a poor, wretched slave-victim to find his monster.

Why then does a slave revolt? The answer to that question would seem simple enough-unless of course the slave in question happened to have been black and his revolt was against American slavery. Then-lo and behold-the question takes on such extraordinary complexities it succeeds in making the rebellion a worse crime than slavery. The pampered "monster," Nat Turner's turning on his "benevolent" masters was but an act of vengeful ingratitude!

After all the moralizing, this seems to be the most salient point of the book. That it took the author more than four-hundred pages to make this remarkable statement is in itself remarkable. But unfortunately he does little to enlighten us on either the nobility of the human spirit of the exhausting cruelty of American slavery.

In this first-person narrative, which has Nat Turner relating the story of his life in impeccable Victorian-styled prose, the reader is asked to believe that this sensitive, intelligent, deeply religious slave-awaiting death for leading a daring revolt-was driven solely by the fanaticism of a religious "calling." Despite some moving scenes

*Published by Random House. 428 pages. $6.95.
Loyle Hairston frequently contributes fiction and book reviews to FREEDOMWAYS. He is a member of the Harlem Writers Guild.

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