J. D's Family In Hillbilly Elegy

In the second reading of Hillbilly Elegy, we learn more about J.D’s family, his biological father, and the history behind his faith. As the book continues to go on, one of the strongest themes is how close J.D’s family is. I find myself extremely captivated by the stories he tells about his childhood. One story that he told that highlighted this theme was how you never let anyone disrespect your mother. I really appreciated how he defended his mother on the playground. I agree with J.D that you should never let someone disrespect your mother. At the beginning of the reading one thing that made me sad was that J.D felt replaced by his biological father's new kids with another woman. I really felt bad for J.D when I read this, I don’t think any child should have to feel this way. I also loved the fact that Mamaw taught J.D how to punch. Mamaw is always looking out for, not only her grandkids, but her entire family. I love how protective she is, however it does go too far on occasion. …show more content…
He loves his mother, but not everything was smooth in his relationship with her. I think the fact that she always had a new boyfriend in the house was hard on J.D. I also think that seeing the abuse his mother took and gave to her numerous boyfriends impacted him at a young age. I also think that his mother “attempted suicide” was not actually an attempt to take her own life, but an attempt to take the attention off of her poor behavior. Another troubling story about J.D’s mother was she threatened to kill J.D while driving. I was shocked to read how poorly his mother handled this situation and it even lead to her being arrested. I think this story showed that his mother is somewhat mentally ill, and needs some professional