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Imagery in Hillbilly ElegyImagery is a literary device utilized in Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance to communicate the violence and intense scenes in his mother’s Middletown, Ohio home and understand reminiscent thoughts about his childhood. He uses imagery to help the reader comprehend the complexity of his childhood home; it encourages them to look past the words on the page.
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In the text
An example of imagery that aids Vance's argument is when he is reflecting on relationship difficulties as an adult with his girlfriend, Usha. After describing how he overreacted and drew away from her, he called his inappropriate responses " proverbial arrows in (his) quiver" (pg.223). The comparison of his natural instincts from growing up with his mother to arrows in his quiver explains the relationship of his compulsions as close and personal to him.
Another time, he repeatedly used imagery when informing the readers about the consequences of the many father figures that he endured. His mother was quick to lose a partner because of her temper or instinct to overreact. In hindsight, he called them “mom’s revolving door of father figures” (pg.228). Vance uses this phrase over and over again to provoke readers to imagine the feeling of spinning when it comes to who he is suppose to look up to and respect.
- Lastly, JD Vance uses imagery to advance his argument that there are not really any straightforward answers to the questions and problems of childhood trauma. He said that the problems of "family, faith, and culture aren't like a Rubik's Cube" (pg. 238). They cannot be solved immediately and have the potential to never have a solution. JD Vance uses this analogy to convey that sometimes the best thing to do is to look for the good in poor situations; the problem is not as methodic as a Rubik's cube.
Caroline Thompson