Analysis Of Hillbilly Elegy By J. D. Vance

This paper will focus on critiquing the book Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. I will point out the positives and negatives about the book, in relation to the material learned from the class. The Hillbilly Elegy book is a memoir of a family and a culture in a crisis situation, dealing with the problem of living in a poverty-stricken Appalachian region. Vance uses his own family as the case study for his story about the hillbilly, country culture. The author J.D. Vance did a great job with this book providing a personal experience in the life of Appalachian poverty. He shows that it’s not only inner-city areas that suffer from poverty and that poverty is not only a racial problem. Everyone, all races are susceptible to poverty and living in …show more content…
(Vance) I don’t agree with necessarily agree with his reasoning and promotion of the question. I believe that the people of rural areas aren’t necessarily responsible for their situation, although are not helping their own cause. They are not helping themselves by staying in the same dying job market, they need to branch out learning skills towards a new profession. These rural areas like Appalachia were founded on industries that forged material item. Jobs that people depended on in this area were jobs like people a farmer, sharecropper, steel factory worker, coal miners and etc. Throughout the entirety of the 1900s, these jobs were the backbone of, the United States market and lives of the people in this region. (Vance) Now in the new millennial century, the world is changing, new forms of technology are coming out, the importance of products production cost has shaped and transformed the world today. This region has depended on these jobs for a long time, are being shipped overseas where it’s cheaper to operate as a company, also some jobs are not there anymore. Jobs like coal miners have largely decreased, because of the push for more efficient resources and a safe alternative to these natural resources. I believe that the people and the families in this rural Appalachian area depended heavily on these jobs and they do not …show more content…
Poverty is more of a Social class problem and a problem of mobility, families getting too comfortable in the situations that they are in. My first-hand beliefs since I have lived in the Appalachian region is that the majority of these families have too many negative factors impacting them. Things like alcohol and drug use, and their lower earning familiar jobs, they stay put and don’t push themselves. I’ve seen first-hand kids funnel into the same lives as their parents and not push themselves for a different, better life than their parents had and provided for