Hillbilly Elegy and Between the World and Me both tell the story of two men finding themselves in the middle of a troubled world, as they both do not accept. themselves. The story of their characters changing as circumstances change is a great example for readers to evaluate their own hearts and work hard with what they are given! Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Vance's story begins with a basic biography. He grew up in a small town in the Appalachians of America, where he lived closely with his family members. He faced many hardships throughout his childhood, including his father's absence, his mother's mental health and abuse, and his countless boyfriends. The only people Vance really had to rely on were his grandparents and his sister Lindsay. Once his grandparents died and Lindsay started a family, Vance often seemed stuck, like he didn't know where to go next. He realized that it was all a process of growing up and dealing with the things that life threw at him. He was visibly hurt at not having his father with him, although they were later reconnected. The constancy of father figures in his life was very hard on Vance, but he put up with it. Vance's family experienced many financial difficulties, which makes sense considering the area they were located in and the fact that they were a unique family when it came to income taxes. Vance had a steady academic career. After graduating, he joined the Navy where he acquired many qualities. When he returned home, he seemed like a completely different person. After the Navy, he attended a prestigious law school, which was very rare for members of his family to be as successful as he was. This put a lot of stress on him, as his family didn't believe he could ever succeed, since they hadn't. Vance's struggles throughout his life changed his character, but definitely for the better. Even though he might have thought he wouldn't gain anything from so much pain, he did. He gained empathy and understanding. He learned to accept himself and his family as they were, no matter what others said. He also had a better understanding of the people of Appalachia and wanted to make changes. Writing Hillbilly Elegy gave Vance a platform to reach and teach people about the struggle in Appalachian culture. The book provides a lot of insight into how people in Appalachia need help and what needs to be done for change to happen. Coates' Between the World and Me is similar to Vance's in some ways. Coates' story is a little different from a traditional biography. He grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He didn't always attend traditional school. Often he would go to the library to research and learn on his own. This way of learning is actually very intelligent because he didn't want anyone's opinion to influence his own. Her book is written to her son, who grew up during a time when many black Americans were being murdered. After the Brown affair, his son was extremely upset but his father basically told him to get used to it, this is America. He had to be honest with his son because unfortunately we live in a crazy world. The purpose of his book was not to sugarcoat it, but to bluntly teach his son how black Americans should behave and he spoke.