Summary Of Hillbilly Elegy
Book Review:
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis follows the life of first time author, J.D. Vance and his experiences growing up in the Hillbilly culture of Jackson, Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio. As Vance takes you through the journey of his childhood in the Rust Belt of America and the lives of the Appalachian hillbillies in his family tree, the book also discusses a common theme: “How much of our lives, good and bad, should we credit to our personal decisions, and how much is just the inheritance of our culture, our families, and our parents who have failed their children?” (Vance, 2017, pg. 231).
About the Author J.D. Vance accomplished something extraordinary and nearly impossible: he grew up terribly poor in a town with few job opportunities to become a Yale Law School graduate and #1 New York Times Best Selling author. Vance begins the book with an introductory chapter explaining his purpose for writing Hillbilly Elegy: “ I want people to know what it feels like to nearly give up on yourself and why you might do it. I want …show more content…
people to understand what happens in the lives of the poor and the psychological impact that spiritual and material poverty has on their children. I want people to understand the American Dream as my family and I encountered it. I want people to understand something I’ve learned recently: that for those of us lucky enough to live the American Dream, the demons of the life we left behind continues to chase us” (Vance, 2017, pg. 2). I believe the book was therapeutic for J.D. Vance to write and most likely brought him closer to his family members that helped him relive the moments. Vance also discusses how important it is for people from all over to understand the individuals who are sometimes forgotten about in American society.
The Book Itself The cover of the book is a picture of a rundown wooden house with a red roof on a gravel road. The sky is dark and cloudy with a hint of sunlight over the grass-filled hill, which metaphorically describes the people of the poor Rust Belt town with a light on the opposite side of the hill. The title Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis hangs in the sky. According to Merriam-Webster, the term hillbilly is a person who is often disparaging and offensive and is from the backwoods area, whereas the term elegy means a poem or song that expresses sorrow. Vance himself takes pride in the term ‘hillbilly’,often stating how he and his family fit the term accurately. Hillbilly Elegy is a perfect title representation of the book because it meticulously describes what the entirety of the novel is: a sad story about the people from the backwoods. What is extremely fascinating is that J.D. Vance agrees with terms, but provides the audience a deeper understanding and a new point of view about these hillbillies. With an introduction chapter, 15 chapters, and a conclusion chapter, Vance tells his tale and the stories of those around him, all the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Summary As the book begins, the reader finds himself/herself meeting a wildly entertaining group of people from Vance’s family tree. As Vance introduces each family member, he analyzes each figure, discussing not only positive recollections, but also elaborates on the unfortunate memories. Vance speaks highly of his Mamaw and Papaw, who were the most consistent parents in his life, and discusses their upbringing in Jackson, Kentucky with the backwoods Blanton brothers and Mamaw’s feisty sisters. As Vance grows up, he speaks about his tumultuous relationship with his mother, who battled drug addiction, alcoholism, mental instability, and who often physically abused him and his sister. As an adult looking back on his childhood, Vance examines their relationship and tries to make sense out of why she did the things that she did, sometimes blaming her own childhood trauma and more consistently blaming herself for her own mistakes.
Rotating between a variety of households with 15 different “stepdads”, Vance ultimately was raised by his sister and his grandparents Through every story, Vance explains how his life was just like the ones around him: chaotic, poor, and terribly sad. As he reaches adulthood and not feeling ready to go to college, Vance joined the Marines, where he learned about hard work, adulthood, and was a cathartic experience for him. Vance eventually attends Ohio State University followed by Yale Law School. While at Yale, he meets his future wife, Usha, who challenges him to break the cycle of the abuse and isolation that had occurred for many hillbilly generations. The majority of people who grew up in Middletown, Ohio repeated the cycle of their family tree and Vance tries, fails, and tries again to break the chains. “I’ve learned that the very traits that enabled my survival during childhood inhibit my success as an adult” (Vance, 2017, pg. 246).
In addition to his own stories, Vance discusses the rise of drugs in lower white class neighborhoods and the decline of the jobs that once put food on the table. He speaks about the cognitive dissonance many hillbillies have who blast religion, but go home and abuse their wives and children. “If family is all-important, then why are alcoholism and domestic abuse so common?” (Vance, 2017, pg. 57). Hot topics are addressed, such as race, financial insecurity, drugs, and the education system. Vance questions why his strong and feisty Mamaw, like many of women, would stay in a marriage to his abusive, alcoholic Papaw and why his mother would ask him to give her his urine to pass a drug test. Even despite the rough hand he was dealt, Vance gives a compassionate review of the white lower class, often citing that these are “my family and friends.” As the book concludes, Vance admits that he doesn’t know how to make things better, stating “Public policy can help, but there is no government that can fix these problems for us” (Vance, 2017, pg. 255).
Personal Evaluation As I read Hillbilly Elegy, majority of it seemed all too familiar to my own family, especially my in-laws. I appreciated J.D. Vance’s honesty and the direct quotes from his family members, rather than changing the wording to sound more “appropriate.” The hillbillies, much like the Okies of my in-laws, have many similarities and it was nice to have a chuckle every time Mamaw cursed at the neighbor for talking poorly about her grandchild, something my Granny would also do. Although there were comedic moments here and there, I experienced multiple moments of heartache and sadness. Dealing with parental drug abuse and abandonment is something my husband dealt with as a child and is something that also was carried into our marriage. I spent many nights reading direct quotes from Hillbilly Elegy to my husband and more times than not he would respond with, “Yep. That’s exactly how my family is” or “That happened to me too.” J.D. Vance wrote this book to not only expose the difficulties that the hillbillies have in the areas they are raised, but to also humanize these individuals and analyze how the hillbillies are a product of their culture and area.
Vance speaks about the term “cognitive dissonance,” which may be misconstrued as hypocrisy.
“We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: Obama shut down the coal mines, or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance-- the broken connection between the world we see and the values we preach” (Vance, 2017, pg. ***). Why is it that Vance’s Mamaw complained about her daughter’s drug abuse, but would help pay for her rehab? Why was it that my mother in-law abandoned my husband at a young age, but speaks about him all over social media so that the Facebook world knows that she loves him? There’s this cognitive dissonance that people possess and Vance knew that it definitely needed to be addressed and
understood.
After Hillbilly Elegy was released, many claimed that it was explaining how President Trump was elected. You see, Barack Obama was an educated black man wearing a suit with a nice, educated family, something that people from Middletown, Ohio did not see or understand.Vance believes Trump reached the white lower class during his campaign trail, discussing overseas businesses and loss of jobs to illegals, which made the poor whites feel listened to. It gave the white lower class something or someone to blame and President Trump saw this and relished in it. What is interesting enough is that Vance never uses Trump’s name in the entire book, only using subtext to get his point across.
Vance writes, “I don’t know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better. We hillbillies need to wake the hell up.”
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis follows the life of first time author, J.D. Vance and his experiences growing up in the Hillbilly culture of Jackson, Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio. As Vance takes you through the journey of his childhood in the Rust Belt of America and the lives of the Appalachian hillbillies in his family tree, the book also discusses a common theme: “How much of our lives, good and bad, should we credit to our personal decisions, and how much is just the inheritance of our culture, our families, and our parents who have failed their children?” (Vance, 2017, pg. 231).
About the Author J.D. Vance accomplished something extraordinary and nearly impossible: he grew up terribly poor in a town with few job opportunities to become a Yale Law School graduate and #1 New York Times Best Selling author. Vance begins the book with an introductory chapter explaining his purpose for writing Hillbilly Elegy: “ I want people to know what it feels like to nearly give up on yourself and why you might do it. I want …show more content…
people to understand what happens in the lives of the poor and the psychological impact that spiritual and material poverty has on their children. I want people to understand the American Dream as my family and I encountered it. I want people to understand something I’ve learned recently: that for those of us lucky enough to live the American Dream, the demons of the life we left behind continues to chase us” (Vance, 2017, pg. 2). I believe the book was therapeutic for J.D. Vance to write and most likely brought him closer to his family members that helped him relive the moments. Vance also discusses how important it is for people from all over to understand the individuals who are sometimes forgotten about in American society.
The Book Itself The cover of the book is a picture of a rundown wooden house with a red roof on a gravel road. The sky is dark and cloudy with a hint of sunlight over the grass-filled hill, which metaphorically describes the people of the poor Rust Belt town with a light on the opposite side of the hill. The title Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis hangs in the sky. According to Merriam-Webster, the term hillbilly is a person who is often disparaging and offensive and is from the backwoods area, whereas the term elegy means a poem or song that expresses sorrow. Vance himself takes pride in the term ‘hillbilly’,often stating how he and his family fit the term accurately. Hillbilly Elegy is a perfect title representation of the book because it meticulously describes what the entirety of the novel is: a sad story about the people from the backwoods. What is extremely fascinating is that J.D. Vance agrees with terms, but provides the audience a deeper understanding and a new point of view about these hillbillies. With an introduction chapter, 15 chapters, and a conclusion chapter, Vance tells his tale and the stories of those around him, all the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Summary As the book begins, the reader finds himself/herself meeting a wildly entertaining group of people from Vance’s family tree. As Vance introduces each family member, he analyzes each figure, discussing not only positive recollections, but also elaborates on the unfortunate memories. Vance speaks highly of his Mamaw and Papaw, who were the most consistent parents in his life, and discusses their upbringing in Jackson, Kentucky with the backwoods Blanton brothers and Mamaw’s feisty sisters. As Vance grows up, he speaks about his tumultuous relationship with his mother, who battled drug addiction, alcoholism, mental instability, and who often physically abused him and his sister. As an adult looking back on his childhood, Vance examines their relationship and tries to make sense out of why she did the things that she did, sometimes blaming her own childhood trauma and more consistently blaming herself for her own mistakes.
Rotating between a variety of households with 15 different “stepdads”, Vance ultimately was raised by his sister and his grandparents Through every story, Vance explains how his life was just like the ones around him: chaotic, poor, and terribly sad. As he reaches adulthood and not feeling ready to go to college, Vance joined the Marines, where he learned about hard work, adulthood, and was a cathartic experience for him. Vance eventually attends Ohio State University followed by Yale Law School. While at Yale, he meets his future wife, Usha, who challenges him to break the cycle of the abuse and isolation that had occurred for many hillbilly generations. The majority of people who grew up in Middletown, Ohio repeated the cycle of their family tree and Vance tries, fails, and tries again to break the chains. “I’ve learned that the very traits that enabled my survival during childhood inhibit my success as an adult” (Vance, 2017, pg. 246).
In addition to his own stories, Vance discusses the rise of drugs in lower white class neighborhoods and the decline of the jobs that once put food on the table. He speaks about the cognitive dissonance many hillbillies have who blast religion, but go home and abuse their wives and children. “If family is all-important, then why are alcoholism and domestic abuse so common?” (Vance, 2017, pg. 57). Hot topics are addressed, such as race, financial insecurity, drugs, and the education system. Vance questions why his strong and feisty Mamaw, like many of women, would stay in a marriage to his abusive, alcoholic Papaw and why his mother would ask him to give her his urine to pass a drug test. Even despite the rough hand he was dealt, Vance gives a compassionate review of the white lower class, often citing that these are “my family and friends.” As the book concludes, Vance admits that he doesn’t know how to make things better, stating “Public policy can help, but there is no government that can fix these problems for us” (Vance, 2017, pg. 255).
Personal Evaluation As I read Hillbilly Elegy, majority of it seemed all too familiar to my own family, especially my in-laws. I appreciated J.D. Vance’s honesty and the direct quotes from his family members, rather than changing the wording to sound more “appropriate.” The hillbillies, much like the Okies of my in-laws, have many similarities and it was nice to have a chuckle every time Mamaw cursed at the neighbor for talking poorly about her grandchild, something my Granny would also do. Although there were comedic moments here and there, I experienced multiple moments of heartache and sadness. Dealing with parental drug abuse and abandonment is something my husband dealt with as a child and is something that also was carried into our marriage. I spent many nights reading direct quotes from Hillbilly Elegy to my husband and more times than not he would respond with, “Yep. That’s exactly how my family is” or “That happened to me too.” J.D. Vance wrote this book to not only expose the difficulties that the hillbillies have in the areas they are raised, but to also humanize these individuals and analyze how the hillbillies are a product of their culture and area.
Vance speaks about the term “cognitive dissonance,” which may be misconstrued as hypocrisy.
“We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: Obama shut down the coal mines, or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance-- the broken connection between the world we see and the values we preach” (Vance, 2017, pg. ***). Why is it that Vance’s Mamaw complained about her daughter’s drug abuse, but would help pay for her rehab? Why was it that my mother in-law abandoned my husband at a young age, but speaks about him all over social media so that the Facebook world knows that she loves him? There’s this cognitive dissonance that people possess and Vance knew that it definitely needed to be addressed and
understood.
After Hillbilly Elegy was released, many claimed that it was explaining how President Trump was elected. You see, Barack Obama was an educated black man wearing a suit with a nice, educated family, something that people from Middletown, Ohio did not see or understand.Vance believes Trump reached the white lower class during his campaign trail, discussing overseas businesses and loss of jobs to illegals, which made the poor whites feel listened to. It gave the white lower class something or someone to blame and President Trump saw this and relished in it. What is interesting enough is that Vance never uses Trump’s name in the entire book, only using subtext to get his point across.
Vance writes, “I don’t know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better. We hillbillies need to wake the hell up.”