Hillbilly Elegy: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Vance takes a moment to sing the praises of his sister Lindsay, who served as his protector when Bev’s life was chaotic and dangerous. Indeed, he admits that he always saw Lindsay as “more adult than child,” a perception that started to become even clearer when, as a late teenager, she had an opportunity to follow her dreams of being a model. Hoping to catch a break and kickstart her career, she convinced her mother and Mamaw to drive her to a local hotel, where an agency was holding auditions. When they got there, they asked if J.D. would like to be considered, too, an offer he happily accepted. By day’s end, they were told that they had advanced to the next round, which would be held in New York City. They were giddy with excitement on the ride home until Bev expressed concerns about being able to pay for the opportunity. This led to a heated fight in which Bev slapped and punched the kids while driving, until Mamaw threatened to shoot her in the face if she didn’t calm down.

When they got home from the modeling audition, Vance spoke to Mamaw in private, asking, “Mamaw, does God love us?” To his surprise, his grandmother hugged him and started crying. She was a very religious person, Vance says, though she didn’t go to church. Rather, she held tightly to Christian values while adhering to her own rules. Vance writes that by asking Mamaw this question, he was seeking for “reassuran[ance]” that his religion “could still make sense of the world [he] lived in.”

As time went on, Bev’s romantic partners continued to come in and out of Vance’s life, and it became clear that Bob Hamel had no intention of keeping up with his role as J.D.’s adoptive father. Sensing this, Bev encouraged her son to call Don Bowman one day, a suggestion that prompted J.D. and his biological father to slowly rekindle their relationship. Despite what he had been told, Vance learned that his father was a kind man. Mamaw and Bev had insisted that he was abusive, but Don denied this. He had also become religious, a devoted Christian who was very involved in church life. Contrary to Bev’s assertion that Don had willingly given J.D. up for adoption, Vance learned that his father had fought hard for custody until, seeing that it was taking a psychological toll on his son, he relented and let Bev have full custody.

Vance started visiting Don, impressed by the stable life he led. It became clear to him that his father’s church provided a wonderful support system; “When someone needed a job, church friends could either provide one or make introductions. When Dad faced financial troubles, his church banded together and purchased a used car for the family. In the broken world I saw around me—and for the people struggling in that world—religion offered tangible assistance to keep the faithful on track.” J.D. gravitated toward this church himself, happy to be involved in such a community even though it meant renouncing Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, gay people, and secular fantasy books. In retrospect, Vance recognizes the intensity of this particular religious following, but at the time he didn’t realize that these views “were sowing the seeds for an outright rejection of the Christian faith.”