Fatalism In Appalachia
Numerous studies are available about fatalism in Appalachia. A few I’ve read, indicate the first Scotch Irish settlers of Appalachia brought their fatalistic outlook with them, then passed it on to future generations. Others infer the sometimes dim outlook of Appalachians is directly related to their isolated lives and the difficult circumstances surrounding them. I personally believe, it’s a little bit of both.
It is hard to reconcile fatalism with the hard working, life loving people of my heritage. And I’ve truly questioned whether it is a true Appalachian trait or not. I’m certainly not a scholar on Appalachia or anything else for that matter. I can only make a judgment from my experiences and what I’ve witnessed during my life in Appalachia.
All of which lead me to believe fatalism is a trait of native Appalachians. I do not believe folks are running around looking for a cliff to jump off-but more of a “work while you can, cause a day is coming when no man’ll be able to work” way of thinking.
I once shared with a close friend that sometimes I question my own compassion about life-often having the attitude “life happens and you just have to live it.” She said she didn’t think it was a matter of being cold hearted, but a matter of survival.
The conversation with my friend, helped me see fatalism as a precautionary way of living. In other words, don’t get your hopes up to high and you won’t be disappointed. One Appalachian saying that comes to mind portrays this: Lord willing and the creek don’t rise. In other words-if things keep going as good as they are we just might make it. I often hear myself telling people “if nothing happens I’ll be there” well what do I think is going to happen? I don’t know. But I do know-you never know what life is going to throw at you next.
For a song with a fatalistic tone-check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GkGvRdsJlo -a song my brother Paul wrote (it has some amazing flat top picking in it).
Hope you’ll leave me a comment with your thoughts on fatalism being an Appalachian trait or not.
Tipper
p.s. To read more about my life in Appalachia please visit me at www.blindpigandtheacorn.com       Â
This article was original published here.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Iâ??ve contemplated this issue a ton of times. I agree with you, fatalism is a little bit of both. Itâ??s passed down from generation to generation, always expecting the worst so that way they won’t be disappointed. The reason the Scotch Irish were able to settle in Appalachia is because they were hard-working and stubborn enough to work and live off the land that others found to be too much of a “tough row to hoe”. They had the skills to farm the land and they were only able to associate with likeminded people since few outsiders would venture into the tough terrain.
I think they faced disappointment so much from the environment, isolation and lack of access to health care, that they had to prepare for the worst. If everything turned out great, or even a little good, then they were pleasantly surprised. If it turned out poorly, they were prepared to deal with it and not as emotionally devastated. Itâ??s a coping mechanism, passed down from generation to generation.
One thing my parents still say, and my husband has now forbidden me to say or he gets mad at me, is the phrase “with my luck”. My husband always says “what does that mean, with your luck? You seem to have pretty good luck”. It took me years to break that habit of expecting the worst, even though my personal experiences did not support that as a valid fear. It would automatically come out of my mouth, as naturally as the breath I breathe. My Maw used to say “all you can get out of life is what you can eat anyway”. This was her answer to not worrying about what you put in your body. Fry it up and enjoy because itâ??s the only thing you can take with you.
One of the saddest things about fatalism in the Appalachian culture is that it sets our current youth up for failure because many of them think “why even try, it probably won’t work out no matter how much time or effort I put into it”. We learn many good things in Appalachia, and I am not saying that fatalism is only happening in Appalachia, because its not, but it is an issue that we need to address.
Appalachian’s are just as lucky, good, intelligent, you name it, as everyone else. However, we start at a disadvantage in life because of our indoctrinated fatalistic mindset. What is meant to protect us often results in our downfall.
Thank you so much for writing this piece Tipper. Itâ??s very important.
August 30th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I grew up in Johnson County, Eastern Kentucky, and it was prevalent there. most of my family believed in predestination, and whatever will be will be, if it happens in the middle of the night, so to speak. after lo, these many years away from there, I tend to look at life a little differently, but when I go back “home”, those thoughts are still there with all my family. when I grew up there in the 50′s and 60′s, it was a good place to live and grow up.
September 20th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I also think you can’t rule out the aspect of religion in this discussion. Church was often the major social contact people had with one another – and church was full of judgement and criticism. All of which could lead you to feel that if you couldn’t live up to what the church said God wanted you to be, then you might as well give up anyway.