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The headaches that the protagonist experiences in Citizen represent how painful and taxing it is to face racism on a daily basis. Recognizing that showing anger often leads to adverse effects (an unfortunate fact made evident by the mistreatment Serena Williams receives after her “outburst” at the 2009 tennis US Open), the protagonist tries to get through life without expressing her rage, but this constant state of holding everything back gives her headaches. The headaches, therefore, are physical manifestations of her emotional suffering—the suffering that comes from living in a world that is relentlessly hostile to people of color. In order to deal with this pain, the protagonist tries to go numb, and she slowly starts to get used to her headaches. This is not to say, however, that the headaches go away. Rather, she becomes accustomed to a persistent ache, one that is always there and that has the kind of staying power that perfectly illustrates how impossible it can feel to try to escape bigotry.
Headaches Quotes in Citizen: An American Lyric
The Citizen: An American Lyric quotes below all refer to the symbol of Headaches. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
Feel good. Feel better. Move forward. Let it go. Come on. Come on. Come on. In due time the ball is going back and forth over the net. Now the sound can be turned back down. Your fingers cover your eyes, press them deep into their sockets—too much commotion, too much for a head remembering to ache. Move on. Let it go. Come on.
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Headaches Symbol Timeline in Citizen: An American Lyric
The timeline below shows where the symbol Headaches appears in Citizen: An American Lyric. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Driving in the car one day with a colleague at the university where she teaches, the protagonist listens as he complains that his dean is forcing him to hire a...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...For that reason, the protagonist’s various painful memories—which go unnoticed by the outside world—give her headaches. Over time, she stops sighing, but the headaches persist. However, they turn into a certain...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...the nature of existence and selfhood. She contemplates what it’s like to have a constant “ache,” one that is seemingly impossible to banish. This feeling exists alongside and in combination with...
(full context)
...This, she thinks, is because she is getting older and is getting used to the “ache” she constantly feels. That morning, she is driving with her partner when they hear a...
(full context)
