Hillbilly Elegy Literary Analysis

The common read book, Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance, is a memoir of his struggling life growing up as a child. J.D. goes through a lot obstacles growing up and his experiences made him the man he is today. Growing up in Middletown, Ohio wasn’t easy, it took a lot of courage to get through each day. As a child, J.D. was faced with the struggles of the Appalachian Americans and America’s work class. Middletown was a poor city in Ohio and not many people make it to college. J.D. Vance was a special kid though and he knew it too. He was raised most of his life by his grandparents or also known as “Mamaw and Papaw.” His mother had drug addictions and was always dating and even marrying other men. J.D. didn’t like staying with his mother because he felt alone and isolated with nobody to talk to. The theme of the novel is “persistence, resilience and grit” and J.D. represents all three of those characteristics. After reading his memoir, I begin to realize that I can relate to J.D. …show more content…
Grit can be described as having a lot of courage or bravery. Growing up I was always shy and scared to speak my true feelings to others. I was always afraid of people not liking me and not being accepted by others. Whenever someone would harass or make fun of me, I would get upset and simply walk away from the situation. I couldn't stand when others would laugh and make fun of me. I used to come home from school and my Mom would ask, “how was school honey?” I would tell her the usual response, “It was good.” I was afraid to tell my mom that people are making fun of me. I held in my anger from the bullies at Middle School but eventually had enough. My mom noticed how upset I was at the dinner table and I told her