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Diction in Hillbilly Elegy
In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance uses diction to make his point about the uneducated and overly angered people in his community through common speech and cursing.
"Once, when a truck driver delivered supplies to one of Uncle Pet's businesses,he told my old hillbilly uncle, 'Off-load this now, you son of a bitch.' Uncle Pet took the comment literally: 'When you say that, you're calling my dear old mother a bitch, so I'd kindly ask you speak more carefully.' When the driver-nicknamed Big read because of his size and hair color- repeated the insult, Uncle Pet did what any rational business owner would do: He pulled the man from his truck, beat him unconscious, and ran an electric saw up and down his body. Big Red nearly bled to death but was rushed to the hospital and survived."
Georgia Griengl-Schott