WILLIAM STYRON b. JUNE 11TH 1925

"No light; but rather darkness visible
Served only to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all, but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed." john milton

stryon was a southern boy who gave us two of the best novels of the post-wwII generation, the confessions of nat turner & sophie's choice. both novels sought out & found "regions of sorrow, doleful shades," each in different times, places & races. his great & damning book of american prophesy, the confessions of nat turner, was written during the height of the civil rights turmoil that wracked & nearly ruined america from coast to coast. the judgment handed down on american ideals in that book was clear & the burden of delivering it must have been personally crushing. in his book on the holocaust & its repercussions, sophie's choice, his portrayal of lunacy(nathan landau)& madness(sophie's choice & what led to it) made another modern darkness visible. styron took on the big issues, the great original american sin(slavery)& what the responsibilities of living on after the revelation of the camps HAD to be. there aren't any easy answers to these issues & both books make clear the sacrifice & burden any attempts at answering entail but they also make clear the necessity of the attempts. styron knew that all prophesy contains within its damnation a solution, a way out of the wilderness: what force set us in motion? upon what ground have we based our journey? what nourishment has sustained us along the way?

styron discovered just how easy it is to forget our purpose or direction in the world & the sickness unto death that occurs when that happens. his last book was a memoir of the sickness that nearly devoured him, depression. in that book, darkness visible, he writes:

"The madness of depression is the antithesis of violence. It is a storm indeed, but a storm of murk. Soon evident are the slowed-down responses, near paralysis, psychic energy throttled back close to zero. Ultimately, the body is affected and feels sapped, drained."

after raging for so long & so eloquently in his damning prophesies to america, styron was consumed by the "antithesis" of that rage. he overcame it &, in writing about it, again directed us all back to the fundamental questions of motivation & revelation. a true prophet until the very end.