Memoir: Final Piece

For my final, I would like to explore the meaning and purpose of memoir as applied to Kiese Laymon’s, Heavy. The first three weeks of class were dedicated to reading other people’s opinions about why memoirs are important pieces of literature. From these articles, I found quotes that resonated the most with me and related them to Heavy.

“Memoir seeks a permanent home for feeling and image, a habituation where they can live together” (Hampl 29).

• Unlike conversations, Heavy is written down. It is a way to force his mother to reflect on the past. Additionally, it is a way for Laymon to continuously be able to look back on these memories. Heavy permanently reminds Laymon and his mother of the family’s struggles.
  • “This summer, it took one final conversation with Grandmama for me to understand that no one in our family- and very few folk in this nation- has any desire to reckon with the weight of where we’ve been, which means no one in our family- and very few folk in our nation- wants to be free” (Laymon 6).

“Memoir must be written because each of us must possess a created version of the past” (Hampl 32).

• I was important for Laymon to write Heavy because he wanted his mother to see his perspective. He wanted her to understand the weight that he has been carrying.
  • “I didn’t try to hurt you,” you told me the last time we spoke. “I don’t remember hurting you as much as you remember being hurt, Kie. I’m not saying it didn’t happen. I’m just saying I don’t remember everything the way you do” (Laymon 5-6).

Like Morrison’s idea of Frederick Douglass’ memoir, “[Laymon’s] narrative is as close to factual as he can make it, which leaves no room for subjective speculation” (Morrison 194).

• Laymon is trying to tell his mother his truths. He wanted her to understand that this was, and is, like to be a black man raised by her. Laymon wanted to make it clear that this was what they endured from his perspective.
  • “I wanted to write a lie. You wanted to read a lie. I wrote this to you instead because I am your child, and you are mine. You are also my mother and I am your son. Please do not be mad at me, Mama. I am just trying to put you where I bend. I am just trying to put us where we bend” (Laymon 241).

In Paul John Eakin’s What Are We Reading When We Read Autobiography?, he quotes The Liars Club by William Maxwell. Maxwell states “in talking about the past we lie with every breath we draw” (27).

• Laymon was sick of all the lies that they told themselves and that they told each other. At the end of the book, Laymon and his mother have a conversation about lying in the casino. This is where they admit to all the lies that they told and begin to try and better themselves and their relationship with each other. Laymon wrote Heavy because he didn’t want to lie anymore, and he knew that it’d be easier to tell his mother the truth if he wrote it down compared to speaking the truth to her.
  • “We were excellent at hiding and misdirecting acting swearing up and down we were naked when we were fully clothed” (Laymon 4-5).
  • “We never told the truth, Kie,” you said. “No one in our family has ever told the truth” (Laymon 223).