After reading the first 62 pages of the memoir “Heavy” many things have stood out to me. For example, the whole memoir is being spoken to Kiese’s mother who he expresses as “you”. Being that Kiese writes about his trauma and pain in this book it can be foreshadowed that he never confide himself with his mother. Therefore, he is writing this story to her. I found it very interesting that in the beginning Kiese said that “I wanted to write a lie (page 1). He did not want to say what he truly wanted to say however, he does. Kiese’s relationship with his mother is a complicated one to interpret. In some points of the the reading it can easily be shown the love she has for him however, that love seems to vanish during some points. On page 4 Kiese even says “I realized that day we didn’t simply love each other, but I was your child”. While his mother’s love might not come from affection and kindness, she shows her care and love of her son in preparing him for the harsh realities of life the best way she knew. This being education and making sure Kiese has a laboratory to work with words.

Kiese’s relationship with his grandmother is very different than the one he has with his mother. She is much more caring and does not beat Kiese. He is able to speak and ask his grandma many questions which shows his comfortability to confide in her. Throughout all the trauma and pain he experiences as a child it can be said that his grandmother is his rock and helps him feel better.