The Confessions of Nat Turner tells the story of an actual slave uprising organized by a slave named Nat Turner in the year 1831. The author spent countless hours poring through historical documents to provide a framework for this fictional novel, in which William Styron attempts to imagine what kind of man Nat Turner really was. The book opens with Nat already captured and awaiting trial after the execution of his long-planned uprising. Nat spends his final days reviewing his life and the choices he has made.
In the early part of the book, Nat tells us about his younger years growing up on the Turner plantation. As a slave, Nat was given the last name of the family who owned his parents. His mother, Lou-Ann, was a house slave, which gave Nat a more privileged childhood.....
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