Rhetorical Analysis of 'Hillbilly Elegy' by J.d Vance

The surroundings which an individual is raised affects their perception of life and greatly influences their actions. According to J.D Vance Hillbilly Elegy being raised in a poor neighborhood of society with a working-class culture was challenging to deal with, and his poor upbringing influenced his view on the world. He initially joined the Marine Corps where he gained essential life skills and later joined the Yale Law School. Several factors in the white working classes of individuals affect their interaction with each other and the environment. Issues such as drug addiction, despair among people, and poverty force individuals to engage in criminal activities to sustain their lives. In a Muslim war tone society, many dangers exist in the community which hinders people from doing their essential operations. Vance's story illustrates how it was challenging to be raised in an imperfect society and how some of the behaviors adopted then are difficult to get rid of.    

After joining the college from the military school, he finds it challenging to explain the circumstances that resulted in him into joining the institution. In a pessimism society, individuals are afraid of speaking their minds for fear of being looked down upon. He is in a dilemma of stating who his parents or guardians are. 'I had puzzled through those financial aid forms with Mamaw a few years earlier, arguing about whether to list her or Mom as my' parent/guardian'. Additionally, he does not offer any clarification for his phrase. The above can be viewed as an illustration of telling versus showing skill in delivering a story. The format of delivering is useful in building pathos as it creates a sense of empathy from the readers on the struggles that protagonists go through.    

How he narrates his story helps in the establishment of Vance's credibility as a representative of individuals that have been deprived of their voting rights and individuals of the middle working class. Having being raised in a poor environment, his narration of the story becomes more credible on his subject matter ...'to understand the significance of this cultural detachment; you must appreciate that much of my families, my neighborhoods, and my community's identity derives from a love of our country'. Although in later years his grandparents upgrade on their material possession, he still identifies himself as a member of the disenfranchised. The article later shifts to the commentary section and Vance draws mostly on the rhetorical appeal of logos to make a case for pessimism of the working class. His level of commentary and reasonability is regarded to be of a high degree.    

In conclusion, the article is vital to the modern-day society as it explains how individuals raised in different environment regarding society and help in explaining the pessimism of the working class. The problems of Appalachia affect the family recurrently as the grandfather is regarded to be violent being and drunkard. Domestic violence hence can have related to families that are not of working-class society. Vance does demonstrate not only his life story but also his upward progress to become a respectable member of society. He harshly contrasted on the pessimistic view of his community and the cultural detachment that existed to achieve his ambitions. 

Works Cited 

1. Vance, J.D. “Hillbilly Elegy.” They Say, I Say: Across Disciplines, edited by Gerald Graff, et al., W.W. Norton, 2018, pp. 287-303.