Hillbilly Elegy Literary Analysis

“You can take a boy out of Kentucky, but you can’t take Kentucky out of a boy,” J.D. Vance writes while quoting Mamaw, his grandmother, and the woman who, in the midst of the adversities of his childhood raised him. With this quote the author explains that the hardship of his upbringing and the cultures of Kentucky, no matter what, will always be part of him. In the book “Hillbilly Elegy,” J.D.Vance, whom is both the author and the main character, narrates about his own experience growing up in the culture crisis of the social, regional, and class decline that affects many white Americans living in the Appalachian Mountains. The elegy of Hillbillies - world used to describe rednecks, the people who inhabit these places- takes place in Middletown Ohio, and Jackson, Kentucky, two cities that according to the author portray the
Mamaw and Papaw’s aggressive ways, strongly affected their children, one of them being J.D.’s mother, who grew up as a violent, histeric, addict, “that had more boyfriends than the family could ever keep up with.” Vance's mother grew increasingly addicted to drugs. Her unpredictable and violent behavior resulted in Mamaw stepping in as Vance's primary caregiver. With her and Papaw’s guidance and support, he was able to improve his performance in school and enlist in the Marine Corps. J.D. Vance served in Iraq before going to college at Ohio State. He later attended Yale Law School, where he met his wife, Usha, and earned a law degree. He was offered a high-paying job and settled down to a comfortable upper-middle-class life. The only reason Vance successfully broke out from the vicious cycle that people who grew up in the same circumstances as he did, was because his grandparents, probably longing for a due over, stepped up and helped him find his way. Mamaw was especially encouraging. She was tough, crude, and filled with