Perversion the Social Relation

i68Michael P. Biblerwithin his position as a slave. Though the men would be outlaws in asense, homosexuality would give them the chance to build a new communityby acting both as their point of commonality and as their bufferagainst the oppression of the slave institution. However, if Nat were toaccept that alternative, this scene would seriously interrupt his narrativeby pointing him away from religion and rebellion and leading him insteadtoward complacency and private satisfaction. The experience certainlydoesn't show Nat how he should rebel. But while it does give Natthe glimpse of freedom that will eventually lead him to adopt a deeplyoutlaw position as an insurrectionist, it also interrupts the narrative bythreatening to close it down entirely.Nevertheless, Nat does not allow his experience of temporary sexualemancipation to give him an easy out from the daily miseries of slavery.In fact, the truly radical potential of his experience of homo-ness lies inthe larger sense of community that it inspires in him. This sense of communityis most evident in the scene immediately following his sexualencounter when he leads Willis into the river and baptizes them both.Needless to say, this movement from homosexual liaison to righteousbaptism has been the subject of much heated controversy, and most criticshave dealt with it by disregarding the baptism as a testament to Nat'sconfusion, guilt, and sin. 10 But these readings are too easy when explainingNat's turn to God at this moment because there are other dynamicsat work in the language of the scene that suggest an expansion, ratherthan a repudiation, of the homo-ness he has just experienced sexually.Although he does ask that the " 'Lord ... witness these two sinners whohave sinned and have been unclean in Thy sight and stand in need tobe baptized' " (205), the method and the description of his baptism arequite sexual, as well, repeating his physical encounter with Willis in asublimated, spiritual way. In this manner, Nat does not use baptism toerase or nullify the sexual act he just committed, but to change that actinto something larger and more suitable to his sense of a divine purpose.As the two men enter the water, Nat waits eagerly for a revelation fromGod, and the language of his description becomes increasingly erotic, asthough building not toward a revelation but to an orgasm:In the warmth of the spring air I suddenly felt the presence of theLord very close, compassionate, all-redeeming, all-understanding.... He seemed about to reveal Himself, as fresh and invisible as