The Theme Of Portrayal In Vance'sHillbilly Elegy

The multidimensional expression “hillbilly” carries different cultural significances throughout the book Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. First, Vance utilizes the term “hillbilly” to refer to the working class white Americans of Scots-Irish descent who have no college degree (3). Second, Vance uses the term hillbilly to refer to a group of people from a specific geographic area, namely the area of the Appalachian Mountains. According to Vance, the area stretches from Alabama to Georgia in the South to Ohio to parts of New York in the north (4). Third, hillbilly indicates the way of life, behavior, or identity of the people of Greater Appalachia.

As stated in the thesis, Timothy O’Brien also writes his short story, “How to tell a True War Story,” in the first person narrative, although the style in which he narrates is quite different than from the style in “A & P.’’ O’Brien, who was an actual soldier in the Vietnam War takes on more of an autobiographical approach to telling his “true war story.”

Another example of social inequality in Evicted was not in the housing market, but when Desmond witnessed a police officer harassing Arleen’s eldest son, Ger-Ger. Desmond describes the experience by saying, “I watched a police officer pull his patrol car up to Ger-Ger, Arleen’s eldest son, and say, ‘Man you’re fucked up!’...When I came out of the apartment for a closer look, the officer looked at me and drove away. He might have acted differently had I not been a white man with a notepad.” (P. 322). Desmond was not only witnessing inequality in the housing market, but also within the police department. When I read this, I could not believe that the police would rather harass a young black man than keep the streets of Milwaukee clean. Desmond witnessed this inequality firsthand, and I think he saw how unfairly these families were treated. In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance described a lack of social acceptance from the people in Middletown towards the people from Appalachia. Vance described the way that hillbillies handled many problems as “Hillbilly Justice.” This form of problem solving within their community was highly frowned upon by the suburbanites of Middletown. The culture of Appalachia was highly irregular, but that is not a reason to look down upon or discriminate against a group of people. J.D even described that when he was in Middletown, he

Imagine a South Central fourteen-year-old who is a multiple offender that faked a kidnapping then shot at the police officers trying to stop him. Now imagine a young boy growing up in a violent area always fearful of his life and going through traumatic experiences such as getting shot, seeing his brother killed, and being abused. This same young man, unknowingly, shot at undercover cops. In this instance, a general audience would be more likely to sympathize with the young boy that went through the many hardships. Bryan Stevenson tells this story of Antonio Nuñez with descriptive language in order to justify his argument of Nuñez by appealing strongly to the audience's emotions. Because of sympathy that humans naturally feel, the young boy

In both Jacobs’s Incidents (1845) and Douglass’s Narrative (1861), white editors wrote a short piece that initiates the accounts and serves to authenticate and authorize their stories; in The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict (2016), a white editor, Caleb Smith, writes a similar opening that authenticates and authorizes Reed’s story. Although over 150 years separates the publication of these stories, the general structure ostensibly remains unchanged.

Before the narrator was deployed his mother told him that no matter what happened, he that must always look after his brother. Then she proceeded to tell him a story about his father and his father’s brother. She said that one Saturday night his father and his father’s brother were coming home and they were both a little drunk. They were headed down a hill and beneath them was a road that turned off from the highway. So, his father’s brother, being kind of frisky, decided to run down this hill. Then his father heard a car motor not too far away, and that same moment, his brother stepped from behind the tree and started to cross the road. So, his father started to run down the hill and when he looked at the car he noticed that it was full of drunken white men looking to have a good time. When the men saw his father’s brother they let out great whoops and hollers and aimed the car at his father’s brother, running him over. So, as a result of hearing that story the narrator promised to his mother that he would always look after his brother and the narrator kept his promise, but in the end he just pushed his brother further and further

Hundreds of bodies littered the ground. Sounds of explosions and endless gunfire filled the air. Soldiers, with their uniforms splashed in crimson, fought viciously and ruthlessly. Their main objective, which was to win the battle, took a backseat to their newfound desperation to stay alive. After all, war is not a game, especially one such as the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and left its survivors haunted by a multitude of atrocious events. Terry Erickson’s father and George Robinson, who were two fictional characters from the short stories “Stop the Sun” and “Dear America”, respectively, were veterans of the Vietnam War. The differences and similarities between Terry’s father and George Robinson are striking, and they merit rigorous scrutiny.

The memoir Hillbilly Elegy, written by J.D. Vance, is the remarkable story of a young man’s challenges of growing up in poverty. The book focuses on the difficulties that come along with living in Appalachia, and the family issues that go on as well. Living in poverty introduced Vance to a world filled with toxicity and violence. This unhealthy environment caused Vance to develop a conflict within himself, making him struggle with his self-identity. In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance uses Conflict to empathize the toxicity that surrounded his family.

Jumping back into the past, Gregory Orr tells the incident when he and a group of five hundred of men, women, teenagers, and old folks assemble in Jackson, Mississippi. In Jackson for a peaceful demonstration, Gregory Orr and the rest of the group were arrested and taken away “to the county fairgrounds” (128, 1). Where they was beaten by officers of the law, Orr stated, “I emerged into the outdoors and the bright sunlight and saw them-two lines of about fifteen highway patrolmen on either side. I was ordered to walk, not run, between them. Again I was beaten with nightsticks, but this time more thoroughly, as I was the only target” (129, 2). Once freed from his captors, Gregory Orr gets in his car to head back north, but on his way back he was pulled over by flashing lights. Thinking it was the police; Gregory Orr pulled over and was approached by two white men. One of the white men said, “Get out, you son of a bitch, or I’ll blow your head off” (133, 3). The two white men takes Gregory Orr’s wallet and tell him to follow them, Scared for his life, Gregory Orr did exactly what the two men told him to do. After following the two men, Gregory Orr is back in jail in Hayneville. “Already depressed and disoriented by the ten days in jail in Jackson, I was even more frightened in Hayneville,” (136, 1) stated by Gregory Orr.

The book “Hillbilly Elegy”, written by J.D. Vance displays the theme of persistence, resilience, and grit. Vance writes this book from a first-person viewpoint, describing his life growing up in a low-class family. The title comes from Vance’s family growing up in a “hillbilly” lifestyle. The story starts with J.D. growing up in the Appalachian Valley, beginning his life in Jackson, Kentucky. Jackson, Kentucky is a very rural area where the culture of family’s focus is on loyalty, love for the country, and self-pride. We later learn that Vance moves in with his grandparents for a sense of stability and security.

To look how such group of people populates the poverty line, there is a need to clarify their creed. A set of beliefs which guide their behavior which often times derive from their tradition. In many hillbilly families, poverty seems legendary and quite normal in many cases. Although many see this as an issue in their lives and try to escape from it, some become successful and other don’t, but the majority remain adamant to new changes, or a shift of cultural norm. To the beginning of Vance memoir, and observer notes that “Their family

In the memoir Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, Vance is portrayed as achieving the American Dream. This comes from Vance being determined and by working very hard so he can make something out of his life. So, in the memoir Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, it is shown that Vance's argument about developing success is that hard work leads to success.

One of these being William Chambliss’s handling of the “Saints and the Roughnecks” where the ‘Saints’ are a collection of 8 white upper- middle- class boys on the pre-collage trail in high school, who participate in astonishing large amounts of truancy, a countless acts of drinking and driving, minor stealing and vandalism, and a lot of cheating in school all while maintaining the perfect image. On the other hand, the ‘Roughnecks’ were a group of six lower-class boys who engage in studious amounts of fighting (typically between themselves or alongside other lower-class boys) and shoplifting, who are frequently detained, and whose appearance in the public is horrendous. In Chambliss 's view, the Saint’s behavior partook at least as much prospect of impending community harm as the behavior of the Roughnecks. (Chambliss, 1973)

The short story that will be discussed, evaluated, and analyzed in this paper is a very emotionally and morally challenging short story to read. Michael Meyer, author of the college text The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, states that the author of How to Tell a True War Story, Tim O’Brien, “was drafted into the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart” (472). His experiences from the Vietnam War have stayed with him, and he writes about them in this short story. The purpose of this literary analysis is to critically analyze this short story by explaining O’Brien’s writing techniques, by discussing his intended message and how it is displayed, by providing my own reaction,

Angrosino (1994) provides a narrative of the life of Vonnie Lee, whose story is described as a “personalized ethnography” using an “anecdotal style of narrative” (p.17). Vonnie describes himself as “poor white trash”, the son of an alcoholic, who had been sexually abused during his youth, and who had been in and out of psychiatric wards for observation. Angrosino (1994) observes that Vonnie was able to tell rich stories regarding his trips on the bus, but that these stories rarely included detail of others, but were filled with details of bus stops, street scenes, and observations from the route itself. The author explained that Vonnie, “truly believed that the point of the story was the bus ride, not the destination” (p.18).