“Hillbilly Elegy a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” by James David Vance is an incredible book that talks about the author’s life. Reading this book gave me a deeper glimpse into a Middle-American family’s life beyond what I see in movies and other media outlets. He also describes how it is possible to achieve the American dream even if you don’t have the resources.
James lived in a dysfunctional family with mother, sister, grandfather and grandmother in Ohio, USA. They are descendants of immigrants coming from Ireland and Scotland. Many of their relatives settled in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Midwest. Most of them are Presbyterians and arrived in the USA around 1782 and 1912. (13)
These families mostly belong to the working class and many of them don’t have higher education. The society saw them as a left-behind subculture calling them ‘white trash’ or ‘rednecks’. The origin of the latter is interesting, they were considered as manually laborer, who works in the sun, so their necks burned.
The subprime mortgage crisis arose around 2008, which hit these fewer wealthy families badly. Many people, including white working-class families, lost their jobs. This caused a breakdown in a lot of families, resulting a huge stress in everyone’s life. They had to reorganize their lives, like working for companies who pay salaries below the minimum wage.
This also happened with James’ family, who had to move for into smaller house. Times like people usually think the problems are only temporary, but according to my experiences this kind of situation can hit certain people harder and last longer. I and my family had very comfortable life before this crisis. I still lived in my country of origin and my father was forced to retire in the face of the event. (39)
My siblings and I had to leave private schools, cancel extracurricular courses and a lot of other things. I remember we also had a lot of stress and my parents separated like James’ father left his wife alone. The life of a working-class family can be destroyed if you don’t have the most important thing, a job. One thing my family did is starting to be more active politically and be involved with non-governmental organizations.
My family wanted to understand how the crisis affected so many people and how we can help ourselves and them. Through this connection we discovered that it was possible to take several free courses, study in public school’s full time, take preparatory courses for SAT completely free of charge and help other families, spreading this information for them.
Work is an agent of socialization, which amplifies integration to numerous groups and ideologies. In the case of James, I believe his family was half conservative and half liberal, his grandfather was democrat. 1/3 of white working class are conservative and criticize Obama for several reasons, like he looks like Muslim or he is not American. All this information is a lie, but they choose to believe that is true. James’ family had help from the community and the church that helped with the necessary things like clothes, food etc. Government agencies also helped families without resources, especially the ones that had underage children. (109)
For James, his grandparents are ones responsible for keeping certain values and morals in his life. He dedicated the book for them. His grandmother always helped him in several ways, but mainly, she taught him about the reality of life and how not to be shaken by it. She used to say, Jesus and the USA were her gods and James should be grateful to be born in a country like this. I think grandparents have a fundamental role in the one’s life. They are an example how a life can be built, whether it’s a negative or positive one. (85)
The belief that the United States is a country of opportunity is not the opinion of James’ grandmother only. Many immigrants coming to the USA believes this country would give them better opportunities. Like a good job, a house, better education for their children and having a secure environment to start a family. In my opinion the country is certainly a country of opportunities, but to realize these opportunities, we need work hard and take care of our health and emotional needs.
While the USA can be a great country to live in, it is also a country with many problems like social inequality or the changing role of the country over time. However, if we speak about the countryside other problems seems to be more emerging like alcoholism and drugs. Domestic violence became a part of James life. The lack of money and alcoholism are often the main cause of domestic violence.
James was often a victim of his mother’s abuse moreover his life was at risk many times. In many cases neighbors had to call the police. Once his mother was arrested because the abuse. Usually children are not exposed to problems of adults, but when they are, they automatically begin to understand how difficult their lives will be in the future. They do not expect or dream of a different future, because the reality around them does not show a prospect of breaking out. James grew up seeing his mother being suicidal, alcoholic and drug abuser and this clouded the vision of the future for him. (41)
Many adults live a life affected by a trauma due to childhood events, causing a destructive future, not only for themselves but for others around them. Some end up like their parents: alcoholics, drug addicts. Without much perspective on how life might be different for these same children, they often end up being frustrated adults without any opportunity to see life differently or at least try to change.
Children and adults from these backgrounds begin to behave aggressively due to living in a dysfunctional family. Many commit minor crimes, girls get pregnant early and are often physically abused by their relatives. James’ sister became pregnant in her teens. James took care of his nephews while his sister worked, and this made him grow up quickly. His mother behavior slowly started to move in right the direction. She started working at a hospital. (39)
The possibility of a better life is much higher, when you have the support of your family. It is possible to have a little hope and optimism in everyone’s life. According to James, white working class is extremely pessimistic when compared to other group of people, like African American and Spanish. The bottom tier of the white people don’t believe that is possible to go to college or achieve something significant or they reject the idea that they have to work hard for self-realization and a comfortable life is not just given to them as it was given in the golden age of the country. (9)
James and a lot of children working class came into conflict with himself. How optimistic he can be if everyone around him, including his neighbors, has no hope or attempt to improve his life. It would be like a “message” saying it is useless to try that we will always end up in the same place. Generations and generations who think the same way: it is impossible to reach a better life. Changing this mindset is very difficult when you don’t have an example or if you don’t have a clue about opportunities.
Growing up my father used to tell me a lot that it was impossible to get a good job without college. It was like a mantra, but when I looked at my neighborhoods and my friends, I saw that getting good education is hard coming from poverty. Most of the girls in the neighborhood were single mothers. There have been countless cases of alcoholism, domestic violence, drugs etc. Going against these barriers takes more than just creating an optimistic mindset.
Having a stable family can be essential for the healthy development of individuals. In case of James having grandparents, especially his grandmother made a big difference in his life. She played the part of planting hope in his heart. Why did James live in a situation with so many problems if he was born in the best country in the world? Because his closer environment was failing.
