In the enlightening, autobiographical novel, "Educated," written by Tara Westover and published in 2018, she goes away to college to broaden her horizons. Tara immerses herself in the fast-paced world of fashion, creativity, arts, and culture in the land of opportunity, once she learns that she has been endowed with certain inalienable civil rights, which have not been assured or guaranteed to her at home up to that point, in the rugged, heavily forested, and isolated terrain of the pristinely mountainous state of Idaho, having been raised in a strictly religious family.
Her father could well have presented himself as being the divine reincarnation of one of the original Morman founding fathers. He believes in hard work, perseverance, and self-determination. He demonstrates time and time again how powerfully influential and independent-minded he can be, because his faith in God is strong. In the real world, he operates a scrap metal recycling facility on his property, and his children help in the business.
Her mother stands by him throughout all of their ordeals, trials, and tribulations. She accepts the fact that he has the final word in most matters, but she shows that she can be very practical and wise in her own right. For instance, she is knowledgeable and highly skilled in producing herbal remedies and dispensing homeopathic medicine, which is great a benefit to her family, friends, and neighbors. Thus, she provides the family with an extra source of income.
You might be tempted to say the family has "six hungry kids and a crop in the fields," to quote a Kenny Rogers song, because their predicament looks terribly dismal, as they find themselves in dire straits time and time again. But they prove to be more the exception rather than the rule. True, theirs is a devout, outspoken, and righteous pioneering family. We know that some members of the family may tend to behave in a potentially violent manner and can be downright dangerous if provoked. Still, they are intelligent, sentient beings and God-fearing. So, they do have above average economic prospects and a bright future in front of them. There's no need to call in Billy Jack, Buford Pusser, Raylan Givens, or Efrem Zimbalist Jr., the guru, sheriff, marshal, or FBI right away. Perhaps health and human services.
Nevertheless, the family drives Tara away to college, so that she may improve her chances for living a fruitful and fully productive life among those of her ever-expanding social peer groups, although some may repudiate her secular choices and are repelled and repulsed by many of her liberal beliefs. Thus, she has a tough time reconciling the extremely tenacious tendencies of certain members of the family whose behavior is "meaner than a junkyard dog," to quote a Jim Croce song. At any rate, she does need to assert herself more and get over her shyness and personal inhibitions. She should go out into the world and realize her full potential. On the flip side, she needs to accept people more for who and what they are.
Years later, she thinks the family squabbling has to stop. She has pushed herself to the limit trying to succeed in college. She hits the pause and reset buttons, and goes in for counselling, before she can resume her studies. I think, she may have experienced an epiphany or two along the way, but the divine revelations keep coming, leaving us ordinary wee folks baffled, confused, disoriented, perplexed, but amazed. There's more to her story than meets the eye.
I reflect on another story I heard about a young family staying at Sealy's Motel and Trailer Park in Altura, Colorado during the summer of 1963, where the eldest son goes out to play and meets a contentious play-fort builder and dirt-clod thrower about his own age, eight or nine. The new acquaintance has a furry racoon-skin cap on, buck teeth like a beaver, wears wire-rimmed eyeglasses and is ready to do battle at any given moment. His plywood fort is situated on one side of a vacant trailer lot with the presumed enemy's built on the opposite side. He has meatball sized dirt-clods stacked like a pyramid of cannon balls in defense of his position, behind a rock wall. Snowballs could be stacked there in the winter, if necessary. He expects an enemy to show up at any moment. To my knowledge, one never did.
In search of further adventure or some other form of mischief, "Dennis the Menace" returns to the motel section of the park. The Lady in Waiting's front door is open to her apartment, he notices, as he casually strolls by. A securely latched screen door does not prevent or deter him in the least from maliciously seizing two handfuls of dry, finely powdered dirt from the driveway, and tossing it into the room through the screen-wire, onto the polished linoleum floor. Too late to run, he inevitably gets caught. The occupant appears on the scene immediately and invites him inside with the noble intention of making amends. She wants him to apologize and clean up the mess he's created. A broom and dustpan are generously provided. He's learned his lesson well that day.
Years later, Dennis is 33 years old and still living with his parents in their big, roomy, wooden frame house, when his father subtly inquires, "Have you thought about finding another place to live? We wouldn't want to cramp your style."
The question jogs the young man's memory, jolts him up off the sofa, and propels him into taking an evasive action. Yet in denial, he soon lands a well-paying job, borrows enough money from the bank to get there, and promptly moves to Florida to begin work. Problem solved.
More recently, Dennis is at work in his newly chosen career field discussing business matters with his colleagues. He's much older now and has to admit that "when I was a young man, I could get by with blaming all of my problems and personal issues on my negligent, abusive, cruel, and uncaring parents, but now that I am 45 years old, free and totally independent, I would sound utterly ridiculous blaming the parents for my problems in life."
Last week, Dennis was thinking over what the Lady at the Barbeque Stand told him after expressing his sincere appreciation of the extra measure of kindness she displayed, for the delicious take-out food she had meticulously prepared for him, which he in turn had promptly delivered to his sister's house for the traditional family get-together. He was supposed to bring a dish.
"I bet you've made Thanksgiving possible for countless others in town besides me!" he stated plainly.
"Sure, take all of your holiday stress and put it on us!" she declared, flatly.
He didn't think that she was acting out or demonstrating certain bi-polar tendencies. She'd only said what was on her mind. He smiles, remembering being just as pleased as punch with the turkey submarine sandwich and a bottle of Bubble-up carbonated beverage from the convenience store that he had consumed at the beach soaking up sunshine and watching the waves roll in, the year prior. It was good to be home again.
"Thanks for shopping locally!" she added, quickly recanting.
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Popular Highlights in this book
But vindication has no power over guilt. No amount of anger or rage directed at others can subdue it, because guilt is never about them. Guilt is the fear of one’s own wretchedness. It has nothing to do with other people.Highlighted by 29,486 Kindle readers- I had begun to understand that we had lent our voices to a discourse whose sole purpose was to dehumanize and brutalize others—because nurturing that discourse was easier, because retaining power always feels like the way forward.Highlighted by 26,719 Kindle readers
- The skill I was learning was a crucial one, the patience to read things I could not yet understand.Highlighted by 23,730 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
Outstanding and Heartbreaking Story
For a school project, I had to choose a non fiction story, so as I was browsing the internet I suddenly got a grateful recommendation from someone to read this book since my decisions were endless and impossible to choose from. After I received this book from Amazon it came in perfect condition with zero damage done, so I was very excited to begin reading. I would like to say, as I read this you’ll bet yourself you’ll need some tissues next to you as the book is a stab to the heart, but beautifully written. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is searching for a memoir on someone since it’s extraordinary and such a long road of emotions to go down.
Top reviews from other countries
Amazon Customer
Great memoir! It brought up many emotions, and I read this book in 2 days.
Reviewed in Canada on March 4, 2024
Anecdotal
Education rescues victim from a toxic family
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2023
