Styron, William
Essay Preview: Styron, William
Report this essay
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 Sophies 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 Styrons 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 Styrons 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, Nats 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 Nats isolation, allowed Nat be a more privileged house slave instead of a field slave. While living in the masters house and avoiding grueling field labor would seem like a positive experience, “Nats 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 Nats 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 Nats 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. Nats 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, Nats 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, Nats rebellion and efforts to connect brought an end to his life.
The many phases of isolation in Nats 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 could not connect with either white children or black children due to these talents and he learned to live life as a loner. This type of life took a toll on him as his thoughts drifted towards destruction and revenge. He planned a slave rebellion to fulfill his need for bloody retribution. His attempts to connect had failed so many times that Nat turned to revenge in the from of a revolution. In the end, all of Nats efforts resulted in failure. Although his rebellion killed a few white people, it was not the massacre which he had hoped to achieve. He allay his anger at the whites for causing his isolation , but instead isolated himself even more and turned fellow slaves against him. Lastly, Nat brought a premature end to his life, which conclusively ended his chances of being less isolated.
Nathaniel Turners life was dictated by isolation, however he is not the only character in a William Styron who was forced to battle the effects of isolation. Paul Whitehurst of A Tidewater Morning was also forced to battle the effects of isolation. Unlike Nat, Paul was not isolated because of his race or unusual intelligence, but because of a sickness in the family. During a time when there was little known about cancer and its treatments, Pauls mother was experiencing excruciating pain from its effects. The sickness of Pauls mother isolated him from his family and the rest of the world. None of Pauls friends had experience with this type of illness and his parents did their best to keep him from the reality of what was happening. Paul was so isolated that “whenever [he] stole past [his mothers] room, [he was] forbidden to go in…” (A Tidewater Morning 100). Although he wanted to comfort his mother and be with her during her last weeks, he was forced to spend time alone in his room where he “felt as alone as if [he] were in a dungeon” (A Tidewater Morning 92). Not only