pathos on hillbilly elegy chapter 11

Thus, this chapter marks Vance’s distancing from his mother, which will last nearly the entire rest of the book. In fact, Vance actually describes his decision to stay away from his mother as coming from his human instinct of “self-preservation.” This statement harkens back to one of the book’s most disturbing ironies: that Vance’s mother, who is supposed to protect him from harm, is his greatest threat. Of course, this irony makes Vance’s strained relationship with his mother all the more painful, as he realizes how dangerous she is to him chiefly when she cares for him, as she does when he comes down sick with mono.