Fanon #4

In this section of Fanon the narration shifts, once more, to a new perspective. This time, to the author John Wideman's mother who talks much about the bonds between families. After witnessing the murder of a young boy right outside her window, Wideman's mother relates the heartwrenching sight of, the next day, seeing the boy's family mourn at the site of his death. She remembers passionatly, "the three of them walked up just like I said and stood still a minute then they start moving, hugging one another...they danced a kind of grief jig, the little girl watching, the two grownups moving jumpy like it hurt them to move and hurt too much not to move" (128). The memory of this broken family and their overwhelming grief at losing a beloved son and brother is clear from this passage, as is its strong impression on this woman. The idea of losing a close family member is unimaginable to most of us and Wideman's mother's experience in seeing something like this happen to even a set of complete stangers is still powerful. Wideman's mother also talks about another kind of family bond, but one that creates, rather then destroys. She tells the story of Wideman's (The author, not his mother) birth. While reminising, she recalls how she knew "she must feed and cradle and comfort him in her arms, her legs belong to him, his puny limbs and blind fingers are hers, preciously, forever hers" (132). The tender love of a mother to her newborn son is something that she expresses as being something that is something unfathomable until one has become a mother and has inexplicable power, forging a connection that lasts until death.