The Confessions of Nat Turner

Nat is an enslaved man living in Virginia before the Civil War. Many refer to Nat as a “Reverend,” although his preaching is inextricably linked to building up a team that will help him accomplish “the bloody mission that was set out before”(48)him. Nat is, at his core, deeply religious, and across the last few weeks of his life, especially in the final days, he is racked by the “separation which [has] nothing to do with faith or desire” that sets him apart from God “beyond hope” (12).

Much of Nat’s connection to God comes from the time that he spends in nature. Even though literacy, and reading the Bible, are elemental means by which Nat develops his radical consciousness, his time spent in nature solidifies and intensifies his emotional bond to the words that he reads. Nat has an active imagination, as the robust visions beginning Parts 1 and 4 suggest, but his mind’s eye also produces in-depth descriptions of the world around him. Nat is deeply observant.

Affection, desire, and love are both excitements and problems for Nat. As much as he often sees himself above other black people, Nat’s connection to Hark throughout the story pulls him out of the selfish glory of his mission and back into the reasons for “exterminating all the white people in Southampton County” (48).