No Longer Barefoot.
Trying to Run from Appalachian Stereotypes
This is a paper I wrote my freshman year of College in an English Composition course. Although I attended a local University, I had the odd position of being the only local Appalachian student in this class. Appalachian Literature became the focal point of the course, but strangely, no mountain heritage was found in the authors of any of our readings. The professor, newly transported to East Tennessee, had deemed herself a connoisseur and expert of the Southern Appalachian culture, despite the fact that I had promptly informed her that it was indeed pronounced “Appa - LATCH - ah”, not Appa-LAY-sha. To say that we did not meet eye to eye would be an accurate statement. This paper was a crowning moment of the class for myself even though I would later go on to have to repeat the course because my essays were not ‘to par’ with that particular professor. Funny how it received an A when resubmitted to a local professor the following semester.
When addressing Appalachian speech stereotypes, author Michael B. Montgomery of Columbia, South Carolina had this to say to National Geographic: “I can’t think of any other region where five words out of somebody’s mouth will completely affect another person’s evaluation of their intelligence, reliability, truthfulness and their ability to handle complex tasks.” (Drye, 2005) Truer words have never been said; while our nation has turned from saying much about minorities such as African Americans, Jews, Polish, Asians, and any other “insert nationality here” for fear of bigotry and racism, the Appalachian “Hillbilly” Stereotype remains alive and well throughout America. Within the pages of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, the outdated, offensive, Hillbilly stereotype is not only alive and well, but jumping off the pages, enthralling readers to believe the natives of the infamous Appalachian Trail are as backwards and idiotic as the characters of The Beverly Hillbillies even within the late 20th century.
Bill Bryson’s first dig at Appalachians is found quite early - on the third page of his first chapter. “The woods were full of peril — rattlesnakes and water moccasins and nests of copperheads; bobcats, bears, coyotes, wolves…Loony hillbillies destabilized by gross quantities of impure corn liquor and generations of profoundly unbiblical sex;” (Bryson, 5) With this first comment, Bryson sets the stage for his book and his view on the Appalachian people. The author makes so many other equally appalling statements that one may wonder if his book is a memoir on walking the Appalachian Trail or a fantasy narrative telling the world of the extremely rare barefoot hillbilly in its natural habitat. By the time the reader is half way through Bryson’s book they discover that Bryson has perfected mocking Appalachians and their heritage. There are at least twelve passages centered on inappropriate mountain stereotypes within the first 150 pages. He even adds insult to injury by spelling out the pronunciations of the “Hillbillies” he and his hiking partner, Katz encounter. The stereotypical speech of Appalachians, rooted in the old dialects of Ireland and Scotland are caused by generations of isolation from colonial times until the mid 20th century. This dialect is usually the first thing that sets mountain people apart from the rest of the country, but the manner in which Bryson displays this trait is quite unrefined. Within the dialogue he spells ‘tomorrow’ as ‘tomorrah’, ‘here’ as ‘yere’ and constantly writes ‘you’ as ‘yew’. It seems that a common trend of Americans reading this book is not to be dismayed by the taunts and barbs Bryson writes, but to openly laugh and enjoy the comic relief contributed by his tells of drunken, gun toting hillbillies who all seem to be named “Bubba” for some reason.
The only people who seem to find the daunting amount of Appalachian Stereotypes in A Walk in the Woods irritating is none other than the people he is openly mocking — Southern Appalachians such as myself. When one takes the time to dissect Bryson’s book its apparent he writes some nasty things. It’s true some of Bryson’s remarks are funny, but there is definitely a line between humor and ridicule. Bryson crossed it on page 131, “You haven't been screwing hogs again have you, Bryson?’ Asked Katz. ‘And don’t forget we’re not in Tennessee anymore. It’s probably not even legal here — at least not without a note from the vet.’.” (Bryson, 131) In what world of equality should statements such as that be allowed without anyone batting an eye? Had Bryson been openly making fun of any other minority, such as African or Latin Americans there would have been ‘Breaking News’ CNN reports, lawsuits drawn, and public statements made. However, comments, no matter how rude and insulting, about a population of God-fearing, hardworking, poor, white southerners somewhere in the hills of Tennessee or Georgia or wherever, is turned into a New York Times Best Seller without complication.
Many might believe that it is truly for the sake of humor, that Bryson’s impression of Southern Appalachians is so exaggerated that no one could possibly believe such foolishness. Well, if this were true, then stereotypes as a whole, would not exist. Take for example some of America’s most famous embodiments of Hillbillies. Li’l Abner was a comic strip first written in 1934 that ran nationwide until 1977. It was the first comic strip to ever depict Southerners. The strip was about a clan of Hillbillies from Dogpatch, Kentucky, a town full of log cabin-shacks and pine trees, where men were lazy and girls were helplessly in love with the lazy men; A place where everyone was a poor, uneducated thief. Ironic, that the author of Li’l Abner, Al Capps, born and raised in Connecticut, never sat foot on Southern soil, but may have single-handedly started the Appalachian stereotype in pop culture. The Beverly Hillbillies, a TV show that ran on CBS from 1962 - 1971, was what many consider the “discovering of Appalachia” by outsiders. In the iconic show, a backwoods family is uprooted and dropped in Beverly Hills, California after striking oil. The entire series put Appalachian Stereotypes in the lime-light. The Clampets ate road kill mystery stews, made ‘white lightning’ moonshine, went to Granny instead of a Doctor and carried 12-gauge shotguns. To a world who knew nothing about Appalachian life, watching the Beverly Hillbillies and the shows that followed in its wake - including Green Acres and HeeHaw - the antics the characters displayed were as good as visiting Appalachia itself. Then there is Deliverance a book and a movie mentioned by Bryson himself that’s setting is the Appalachian foothills of Northern Georgia. This movie adds a particular spin on Appalachian stereotypes by implementing in-breds and murderers to the Hillbilly namesake. Each of these famous works add to the modern Hillbilly stereotype, one in which Bryson openly employs. One day perhaps A Walk in the Woods will be another work on the list that is destroying the integrity of the Appalachian people and openly fueling the Hillbilly Stereotype.
Appalachians have been fighting an uphill battle against stereotypes and it seems that Bill Bryson has become a general for the opposing army in an unconventional way. Take into consideration that Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is indeed a memoir, sold in the nonfiction section. Being a nationally acclaimed book, Bryson has received much praise for his work. The LA Times had this to say: “Bryson’s truth telling happens to be hilarious.” (Bryson, Praise for A Walk in the Woods) It’s obvious that whether it is for humor or pure prejudice, Bryson uses exaggerated stereotypes, but by selling his book in the nonfiction genre he is feeding the Hillbilly stereotype as cold, hard, unaltered fact. Based on the overall trend of the opinions and thoughts in the past century, the citizens of the United States as a majority are inclined to believe him. Therefore, unfortunately the fictional Hillbillies live on.
Citations:
Bryson, Bill. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.
Bryson, Bill. “Praise for A Walk in the Woods.” LA Times. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. New York: Broadway. 1998. Print.
Davis, Cindy. “20 Facts about Deliverance.” Pajiba. 2 July 2012. Web. 4 Oct. 2014
Drye, Willie. “Appalachians Are Finding Pride in Mountain Twang. National Geographic News. National Geographic, 2 May 2005. Web. 1 Oct. 2014. <http://news.nationalgeorgraphic.com/news/2005/05/0502_050502_twang.html>
“Li’l Abner.” The Library of American comics|Li’l Abner. Idea and Design Works, LLC. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
“The Beverly Hillbillies.” TV Land. Viacom Entertainment Group. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. <http://www.tvland.com/shows/beverlyhillbillies>.