The Confessions Of Nat Turner Analysis

The Confessions of Nat Turner reveals techniques Whites used to enslave Africans. Whites learned that the best way to keep the African slaves under control was to destroy them mentally. This concept is not easily detected in The confessions of Nat Turner alone, but it is made clear reading Nat’s confessions along with Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner graphic novel. The novel captures the origin of Nat Turner’s rebellion by providing images of Africans before they were taken from Africa in comparison to the lives they were forced to live during their enslavement. Although the vast majority of African slave’s minds were weakened by their slave masters, Nat Turner was a rare exception. From an early age Nat Turner believed he was called by God to lead …show more content…
His eagerness to learn contradicted the notion that Blacks were unintelligent and depended on their master’s pity for survival. In (figure 2) of the graphic novel young turner is illustrated reading the Bible then turns the book upside down to pretend he is unintelligent when he hears Whites approaching. This indicates that Whites were not intimidated by slaves when they believed they were incapable of learning or progressing. Whites believed that if slaves had no wisdom or knowledge of self they would not revolt. In the interview by Thomas Gray it is clear that Turner is intelligent from his diction and his attitude. “Whenever an opportunity occurred of looking at a book, when the school children were getting their lesson, I would find many things that the fertility of my own …show more content…
If slaves were guaranteed to form communities through family they would have been more rebellious to their masters because they had a sense of community. In the graphic novel in (figure 3) the reader sees young Turner telling his dad to run when the Whites came after him. Turner and his mom were left in tears because his father was gone. This installed fear into slaves because this reassured slaves that they had no community and it was impossible to unite because they were constantly being striped apart from each other. Whites also used violence to instill fear into slaves. Violence inflicted on slaves taught them to fear their masters and also reassure them that their bodies were not their own this is illustrated in (figure 4) when slaves were mutilated when they disobeyed Whites. The concept of Whites having ownership over Black bodies is demonstrated in The confessions of Nat Turner. After Nat Turner was executed it was stated that Whites consumed his body. “Apparently unaware of the bizarre mixture of horror and irony in their actions, Southampton whites consumed the body and the blood of the black rebel who linked himself to Christ” (Greenberg 20). Regardless if this statement is literal of figurative, it symbolizes that Whites owned physical Black bodies in life and