For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago and beyond, all the way to the beginning over a decade and a half ago. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions on a weekly basis. Here are the questions from a 2018 title, Hillbilly Elegy. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J D Vance
Summary:
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.
A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.
Discussion Questions
How would you describe Appalachian or “hillbilly” culture? Why does Vance believe it’s a culture in crisis?
According to Vance, why does drug and alcohol addiction have such a stronghold in Appalachia?
Vance paints a vivid portrait of his mother’s spiraling addiction. How does Vance link her addiction to her upbringing?
Mamaw and Papaw are two powerful characters in Vance’s childhood. What was their relationship like? Why did Vance’s relationship with Mamaw become such a driving force in his life?
Contrast Vance’s life in Middletown, Ohio, with his grandparents’ life in Jackson, Kentucky. How did moving to Middletown change his family’s identity?
What role does family play in Appalachian culture? Does “family” mean the same thing to Vance as it does to the rest of his family?
Vance paints a portrait of people who believe their situation is unchangeable and calls it “learned helplessness.” Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Why do think Vance was able to change his situation?
8.Why did Vance resent his neighbors who were on welfare? How does Vance portray people on government assistance?
9.What does Vance think will help resolve the crisis of Appalachian culture?
10.What does the title Hillbilly Elegy mean to you? What images are conjured by the word “hillbilly?” Why do you think the author chose this title?
What are the positive values of the culture Vance talks about in Hillbilly Elegy?
The author’s mother is arguably the book’s most powerful figure. Describe her and her struggle with addiction. How did the violence between her own parents, Mawaw and Papaw, affect her own adulthood?
To What—or to whom—does Vance attribute this escape from the cycle of addiction and poverty?
Talk about Vance’s own resentment toward his neighbors who were on welfare but owned cellphones.
Does Vance ultimately believe in the mythical American Dream by the end of his journey? If so, how does he believe children from similar backgrounds can achieve it?
By the end of the book, how does Vance ultimately feel about the hillbilly code of honor he was taught to obey as a child? What has led him to this sentiment?
How does Vance support his claim that the problem the hillbillies face is a sociological one?
What are some of the values promoted by the hillbillies? How do these values inform the themes and broader messages of the book?
What is the Section 8 law mentioned in the book, and how do Vance and his grandmother see it helping or hurting the community?
Note on creating your own questions:
Sometimes if you are in a bind, finding questions online can either get you started or completely fulfill your needs. At other times, either you won't be able to find any or the questions you find will be so long, boring, or complicated that you won't want to use them. You don't have to use the same questions that were given to you or that you find.
At those times ask yourself what interests you about the book. Maybe a passage made you think of a television show or a song on the radio. Maybe it reminded yourself about something from your childhood. Whatever the case, these are all valid responses and can generate good questions. I know when we did this title, there weren't a lot of sites with questions on Hillbilly Elegy. Those that were out there were dissertation-length (aka loooong!). Above you will find a mix of recent and original questions to get you talking.
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