He projects all the pressure which his mother had placed upon higher education onto the white faces around him. In the university, Laymon struggles with two things: over-eating and silence. He views himself as a representative of his childhood community, whether or not others do as well. Instead of rejecting his heritage, Laymon embraces it on a path to activism. Laymon takes an aggressive political stance in his writing because he views his purpose in life to be as advocate for the black community in the South, despite how much his mother hated belonging to that socio-ethnic group. Although she was intelligent and accomplished, she didn't use these achievements to combat the system which had attempted to eagerly to prevent them. Her Ph.D, however, became a symbol not of excellence to Laymon but of delusion.

She gave him the impression when he was young that proper grammar and good grades could somehow spare him a fate which she herself feared. He begins to reclaim his life by embracing physical health, becoming more powerful in his own esteem and ability.Īs Laymon writes, he paints a picture of how he feels betrayed by his mother. In response to the recognition of his childhood abuse - not just by his mother but by many in his community - Laymon rebels by centralizing his ethnic heritage in his identity. Additionally, she could not prepare her son for the cold snobbery and outright hatred which he experienced in college from his white peers. Although she hoped a good education would spare her son the violent reality of life as a black man in the American south, she interposed her will onto Laymon through the self-same violence of which she desired to spare him. His relationship to her is the unifying thread in this otherwise lengthy and disparate account. Kiese Laymon addresses Heavy: An American Memoir to his mother.

Written by people who wish to remain anonymous We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Heavy kiese