Styron, William

Throughout his life, author William Styron struggled with feelings of depression and isolation. He wrote novels such as The Confessions of Nat Turner, A Tidewater Morning, and Sophie's choice whose characters coped with similar feelings and situations. Whether the novels were a sort of self therapy or simply an effort by Styron to write what he knew best, it is undeniable that many characters in Styron's novels battle with isolation and its effects. His characters make varying attempts to end their seclusion and sadness; however, their efforts prove to be futile. Isolation plagues the characters in William Styron's novels despite their efforts to connect with others; this isolation is so devastating in that it eventually proves to be fatal.

In The Confessions of Nat Turner an extraordinary slave, Nathaniel Turner, was isolated from two entire societies because of his intelligence and his privileges. As a young boy, Nat's master Samuel Turner was determined to show the world that even a slave could learn to read, write, and speak. The first step of this experiment, and also the beginning of Nat's isolation, allowed Nat be a more privileged house slave instead of a field slave. While living in the master's house and avoiding grueling field labor would seem like a positive experience, "Nat's accomplishments and position on the plantation [had] separated him from his fellow blacks, yet he [could not] enter the world of whites either" (Butterworth 13). Nat himself recognized this isolation:

My own condition is more unusually solitary, since the Turner children with whom I might ordinarily be expected to play are a good deal older than I, and either help run the plantation or are off at school; at the same time, I feel myself set apart from other Negro children...(The Confessions of Nat Turner 140)

As a child, the effect of this separation changed Nat’s views of the world drastically and eventually led to his famous rebellion.

Nathaniel Turner turned against both black society and white society due to his childhood isolation. Without a place to fit in, Nat became a loner and began to hate and look down on the societies to which he did not belong. Nat notes that it was a “small wonder then that from the snug, secure dominion of my ignorance and self-satisfaction I began more and more to regard the Negroes of the mill and field as creatures beneath contempt” (The Confessions of Nat Turner 169). This quote shows how warped Nat's thinking had become. He did not pity those who were below him in life, but was repulsed by them. His megalomania pushed him away from his fellow blacks and made him turn to white society who was non-receptive. With no desire to join black society and no chance of joining white society, Nat looked for revenge. He planned to kill all the white people in his town with a band of other slaves to fulfill his need for bloody retribution. Nat’s contempt for his own race and need to kill can be traced back to his isolation as a child which “[caused] a number of psychological problems for him” (Butterworth 13). These psychological problems set him up for a life of solitude and irrational actions.

Nat was torn between the two races and desperately attempted to connect with one to end his isolation. Nat reached out to the black community to end his segregation when he found that the white community would never be accept him. Through the teaching of his master, Samuel Turner, Nat became more educated than even some white people in the town; however, he was still not accepted into white society. The common belief among whites was that “a darky is an animal with the brain of a human child and his only value is the work you can get out of him through intimidation, cajolery, and threat” (The Confessions of Nat Turner 162). Desperate to end his isolation and seek revenge upon a hateful society, Nat turned to his fellow blacks to aid him in a massacre of the white townspeople. He managed to form a rag tag army of murderous slaves to make up his rebellion. Despite this effort to connect, Nat’s plan backfired as he was painfully reminded by a court set on executing him for his rebellion that he “not only had a fantastic amount of niggers who did not join up with [him] but there was a whole countless number of other niggers who were [his] active enemies” (The Confessions of Nat Turner 376). Once again, Nat failed to find a place in society where he belonged and where the torment of isolation would not devastate his life. Sadly, Nat’s rebellion and efforts to connect brought an end to his life.

The many phases of isolation in Nat’s life affected his life in such a way that he was driven to take actions which resulted in his execution. From the beginning, “Nat [was] a favored slave child, set apart by literacy and talent” (Shore 92). Again he