In creating a dramatic account of Nat Turner, Kyle Baker could have started from any point in the story.  That he chose to begin with a portrayal of communal life in Africa, with the rape of a civilization by marauders, then the shaving, branding, neck irons and claustrophobia of a chained voyage across the Atlantic provides the depth and indelible dimension of a saga.  His graphics move us along with dramatic power and credibility.  At the same time, some vital information is missing from this vivid interpretation of a historic incident.  What really motivated Nat Turner?  This week’s reading stimulates the question: what dam burst in his active mind? 

Kenneth Greenberg notes how the psyche of a slave could be demolished, particularly (and ironically) in the case of a more ambiguously close and paternalistic relationship between a slave and master.  I wish we knew what really happened to Nat.  What traumas did he suffer?  What conflicts seared his piercing intelligence?  The record leaves critical gaps.  Either Turner withheld a full accounting from Thomas Gray, hewing to his own beatific vision just prior to death, or Gray excised any particulars that might have shone a contemptible light on the white masters and an inhumane system in our nation.

I began to wonder.  How old Nat was when his father ran away?  Why did Nat himself run away and then decide to return?  What kind of work did he perform, and what did he witness?  Was he or a family member abused?  Beyond his religiosity, what motives prompted him to lead other slaves to put their own lives on the line in an act that was doomed to futility?

It seems that Nat himself did not do a lot of the killing.  The sword he carried was a blunt and ineffective instrument.  Nat seemed to have strong survival skills.  At what point did something snap?    

Baker’s account raises breathtaking awareness.  However, the historical record with which he had to work leaves many questions unanswered.  I will never forget the expressions on the eye-popping faces of the black and white characters, and the scope of human cruelty and suffering that Baker depicts with fluidity.  I concluded that his book is a work of art, even though it is incomplete and flawed as a story and history.