Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture

Mamaw is Vance’s maternal grandmother and, often, his surrogate mother. She suffers nine miscarriages and bears three children: Aunt Wee, Bev (Vance’s mom), and Uncle Jimmy. She lives in Middletown, and Vance grows up in a series of houses very close to Mamaw’s. Additionally, Mamaw often serves as a mother to Vance, and Vance lives with Mamaw exclusively for his final three years of high school. Vance credits Mamaw with instilling life lessons in him, such as tolerance and compassion. He also notes that her views were often complex and contradictory, like those of many people in his community. Mamaw is one of the biggest advocates for Vance to get an education and does everything with her limited resources to make that happen. Mamaw dies while Vance is in the Marines, but she remains an important force in his life.

Bev is Vance’s biological mother and chief caretaker, along with (and perhaps second to) Mamaw. She holds a string of nursing positions that she loses due to her addictions, which she struggles with for much of Vance’s life. Bev best illustrates the theme of Societal Laws Versus Family Loyalty. One of the things that complicates Vance’s childhood is his need to cover for his mother’s illicit behavior and support her. While invested in Vance’s education, she is shown as often unfit to parent and attains at least one domestic violence charge stemming from her behavior toward Vance. She goes to rehab in Cincinnati and stays sober for at least a year, only to relapse and become addicted to heroin. As an adult, Vance helps manage her life while maintaining safe literal and figurative distances from her.

Lindsay is Vance’s half-sister. She has a different biological father and is five years older. Lindsay is often called upon to fill in as a parent when Vance’s mother is incapable, or not wanting, to do so. Vance remains close to Lindsay throughout the memoir.

Papaw is Mamaw’s husband and Vance’s maternal grandfather. While dating another girl, Papaw, as a teenager, has an affair with 13-year-old Mamaw, which results in Mamaw becoming pregnant. Described as a “terrifying hillbilly,” Papaw is a violent alcoholic for the first part of Vance’s youth before giving up drinking He works at Armco Steel for the majority of his life. He dies at home when Vance is in his early teens.

Usha is Vance’s wife. Vance meets her while they are both students at Yale Law School She does a compelling job of mitigating Vance’s self-doubt and momentary bouts of rage. She went to Yale for her undergraduate education, as well, and is familiar with how high society functions, both socially and professionally.

Kevin, Lindsay’s husband, is seen by the larger family as a good guy. He does not come from Kentucky hillbilly stock. He is Kameron’s father.

Kameron is Kevin and Lindsay’s son, who enjoys a great relationship with both Vance and Mamaw.

Vance’s aunt and Bev’s younger sister, Aunt Wee drops out of high school at 16 and is in an abusive relationship soon after. She rights the ship: She works as a radiologist and is remarried to a good man by 30.

Uncle Dan is Aunt Wee’s husband. He is liked by the family and is not of hillbilly stock.

Mamaw Blanton, Vance’s great-grandmother and Mamaw’s mother, lives in Jackson, Kentucky, in the Blanton household where Vance’s family reunions occur. Blanton is also the reason for many trips back to Kentucky, so family members can aid her, as she ages.

Don Bowman is Vance’s biological father and Bev’s second husband. Vance says that during his time together with Vance’s mother, Don was “mean.” Don finds God, converting to Pentecostal Christianity; Vance lives with Don for parts of his adolescence and presents him and his new wife, Cheryl, as kind, their home peaceful, and heavily Christian-influenced.

Bob Hamel, Vance’s adoptive father and Bev’s third husband, is a high school dropout and truck driver. He has rotting teeth from drinking too much Mountain Dew. He is described as “a walking hillbilly stereotype” and a “good guy who treated [Vance] and Lindsay kindly” (62).

Steve and Chip, two men Bev dates in Ohio when Vance is young, are only mentioned briefly. Steve is a “mid-life crisis sufferer,” and Chip is an “alcoholic” police officer. Vance’s burgeoning notion of self-identity changes with the likes and dislikes of her mother’s various suitors.

Matt is Bev’s younger, firefighter boyfriend. For a short while, Vance moves to Dayton, Ohio, to live with them. Vance deems Matt a nice guy, and not at all ready to deal with the powder keg that is Vance’s mom. The two break it off after Bev has an affair with Ken, her next husband.

Ken is Bev’s fifth husband and also her boss. She has an affair with him while dating Matt. He keeps a marijuana plant on his property, which Vance, in his teenage drug experimentation, “borrows” from. Ken has three children, two girls and a boy. Vance fights the boy, who does not get along with Vance.