The idea of “hillbilly culture” as presented in Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance is a complex concept that can be interpreted in many different ways. This is a culture that is familiar to millions of Americans that call the Rust Belt home. Many people from Appalachia take pride in their intrinsic “hillbilly culture” while others want to distance themselves as much as possible from the term “hillbilly” and many times from the region that coincides with this nickname. From Vance’s reflection about growing up in Middletown, Ohio, one can see that the term “hillbilly culture” refers to many of the best and the worst characteristics of life in a small, blue collar town. These towns created a type of social …show more content…
Vance describes a bond between family members that is nearly unbreakable. These values are instilled in children from a young age. In Vance’s case, his grandparents taught him the most about family loyalty. “Mamaw”, as he called her, scorned him on multiple accounts for actions that reflected a lack of loyalty to his family. From as young as Vance could remember, if someone made a rude remark about one of his family members that offense was punishable by physical action. “Mamaw”, and many other people that prescribe to the idea of “hillbilly culture” saw no greater sin than disloyalty, especially disloyalty to one’s own people. “There is nothing lower than the poor stealing from the poor”, she said as she cursed members of her community that did not observe the “honor code” which she had been raised to exhibit. Additionally, many of the positive attributes of “hillbilly culture” seem to stem from the religious background within most Appalachian communities. Particularly within the older generation during Vance’s childhood, people used their background in Christianity to help them model their children into upstanding citizens. Although life was, at times, very difficult for his Vance’s grandparents, they were able to struggle much more successfully than the generations that followed them. Unfortunately, Vance lived to witness the ideals that the “hillbilly” way of life was founded on beginning to erode around
The book “Forged by Fire” by Sharon M. Draper is a book with many themes and lessons we all can learn. One of the themes that this essay will talk about will be about loyalty. For one thing, loyalty is a strong feeling because it’s something that comes from inside of a person to have faith in someone. Also the fact that we’re all loyal to someone, someone who’s special in our lives and plays a major role in our lives that drags us to support them no matter what. In this book, Gerald gets abused by his drunk, ferocious father whom he absolutely abominates.
The author, Silas House, takes offense to the put down of his hometown. The article maintains an angry tone as he describes all of the good of his homeland and all the things reporters that “ don’t know what they’re talking about” say. I agree with Silas, that the region of eastern Kentucky does not get enough credit for the good things is possesses, like “passing fair ordinance laws to protect all people from discrimination”. Silas talks about how people have worked so hard in this community, about those who try their best to defeat the stereotypes of outside people. I know many people who have worked hard and long to make something of themselves in this area.
In “the Patented Gate and the Mean Hamburger,” Robert Penn Warren’s two main characters, Mr. Jeff York and his wife, portray the stereotype of a Midwestern, MidAmerican, less than affluent farmer and his wife during the 1930’s. However, both Mr. and Mrs. York have characteristics that deviate from their main stereotypes. Standing on the corner, York has a gaunt, cadaverous visage. He has a tired look on his face that, in one way or another, parallels to his washed out, tired, blue jean overalls. One could easily come to understand that he has worked hard his whole life, and despite his appearance, his pale, blue-grey eyes reveal life and love for his wife and children.
The notion of sending a little boy to a chaotic environment is horrific, and a true mother would have had a relative stay with their precious children like in Night Road. “She was bleeding from her nose and mouth” (189) Jennings’s mother wanted to fix the antenna, so that Jennings could enjoy an evening of relief, but even though she knew she was milquetoast, she pulled such a stunt to gain recognition. She craved for power like George, her oldest son who was an alcoholic. As a result, maimed herself in such a dilapidated state that Jennings had to go to home for months. In a way, Jennings is the reflection of his mother's faults, his mother’s
The "culture of honor" that takes place throughout the Appalachian Mountains is when someone has to be aggressive and respected in order to protect what is their property. If they are looked upon as weak and fragile, they aren 't able to make a living because people would just run over them. For example, "the survival of a farmer depends on the cooperation of others in the community. But a herdsman is off by himself.. He 's under constant threat of ruin through the loss of his animals..
The laws and expectations of society lead people to use agriculture and the abundant food to their advantage in order to keep face. In a cycle of agricultural wealth and the elite that grew from it lead to an American version of aristocracy and societal rules to separate these wealthy gentlemen and ladies as a higher class and a higher breed of people based on propriety, using the ritualistic practices of etiquette and cordiality at dinners, balls and other social gatherings. This social life revolving around crops and food gives light to an amiable and eminent hospitality that has lasted over hundreds of years to now be coined as “southern
If you were were alive or born between the times of 1931 through 1950 everything was “Contaminated” the air you breathed, the words you heard, the newspapers, no matter what it was during that time period you could not call America civilized. (supported statement 3) The Scottsboro trials opened a window on a time and place where the social norm weighed so heavily that the principles of law buckled and showed the injustice of America 's court system and America itself. (Conclusion)
These men worked hard herding, branding, and tending to cattle from sun up until sun down. However, over the years the image of the cowboy has been blurred by media. Often times when someone thinks of cowboys they think of a vicious gunslinger who is always looking for a fight. In reality, many cowboys could not even afford a gun. Regardless, throughout Kelton’s novel, The Day the Cowboys Quit, he was able to effectively portray the correct speech patterns, distinguishing characteristics, and lifestyle of the Texas
However, the outcome of Vance’s life was different as he was graduated from Yale Law School, able to get a well-paying job and currently living the American Dream with his wife Usha. The purpose of the author in this memoir was to understand the reader of how social mobility feels and more importantly, what happens to the lives of the white working-class Americans, in particular the psychological impact that spiritual and material poverty has on their children. J.D Vance provides an explanation for the loss of the American dream to poor white Americans living in a toxic culture in this Ohio steel town.
In Chapter 12 of Readings for Sociology, Garth Massey included and piece titled “The Code of the Streets,” written by Elijah Anderson. Anderson describes both a subculture and a counterculture found in inner-city neighborhoods in America. Anderson discusses “decent families,” and “street families,” he differentiates the two in in doing so he describes the so called “Code of the Streets.” This code is an exemplifies, norms, deviance, socialization, and the ideas of subcultures and countercultures.
Family is one of the most important parts of life growing up. A strong family is what growing children need to be successful and have a bright future. Growing up in a family that is weak, does not have strong family ties and is violent leads to problems for the children and the parents, which is seen in Hillbilly Elegy and Evicted. Violence in families can affect children greatly, it can lead to second generations of poor communication between spouses and can be overall unhealthy for those living in that environment. J.D. Vance is immensely affected by his mother 's violent outbursts and multiple relationships.
The informal language, creative word choice, and diction used by all of the characters in this story are true to the Southern Gothic genre short story style (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Southern imagery extends beyond the characters to the setting and language. As we read about dirt roads, southern plantations, “red clay banks”, and crops in the field, we are
A family contains young minds that are at first taught the building of personality or character and controlling the emotions of him or herself, while also being taught how to set goals for life (Ritter) But as new generations came of age, the family became a weakened and fractured unit as husbands and wives gave way to the human nature of adultery in a widespread manor. Here in America, the family has been under constant assault and broken marriages and broken households are now a normal thing to see. Few fathers show the guidance and teaching to their children that is needed often requiring the mother to take on both roles. As children grow up being more spoiled and pampered to, they are never learning to accept and recover from setbacks.
Humans live in a world where moral values are very clearly set determining what is good and what is bad. We know what scares us and how racism should be treated. Nevertheless, this was not the case back in Alabama during the 1950s. In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee narrates the lives of the people of Maycomb, Alabama, focusing on the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and the case of a said to be rape. In this emotion filled narrative, readers learn how life was back then not only in general, but for the separate social statuses that there was.
Through this struggle, the little boy demonstrates his fear yet forgiveness towards his dad and allows us to understand his predicaments. Roethke’s strong diction encompasses images of both fear and unconditional love that portray the complexities of violence both physically and emotionally for the intricacies in his relationship with his