This is presumably a story about the benefits of a full education, how it expands the potential of one’s life. About learning the lessons of history and one’s place in it; the opportunity to see the wider world and appreciate the breadth of human perspectives.
It is also a story that reveals the changing dynamics of a large family, the daily impacts of religious cultural views, and to a degree the self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship which the Latter-day Saints church brings to the Rocky Mountain West. In my time living in Colorado, I met and worked with and became friends with many in the church. Like many denominations there is a wide variation in the personal commitment and lifestyles that Latter-day Saints members have derived from historical church teachings.
Educated: A Memoir: Westover, Tara: 9780399590504: Amazon.com: Books
The author of the memoir (Tara Vandever) was born and raised in the Clifton Idaho. Clifton is a small town, just across the Idaho border from Salt Lake City, and like many places in this area it is home to a significant population of families within the Latter-day Saints church.
Her father was a fundamentalist within the context of historical Latter-day Saints church teachings. Through his authority within the family structure, he implemented the strictest of these teachings related to traditional marriage and child rearing practices. He went to extreme efforts to limit his children’s exposure to modern societal trends in dress and social activities. And last but not least under his oversite they practiced self-sufficiency from most forms of government. A survivalist stocking up provisions for the end of times. Family businesses included junkyard operations, scrap metal recovery and building of barns for local and areawide customers. All seven children were born at home and “home-schooled’ to a degree. He strongly encouraged his wife to become a midwife, and it was through this home-based career choice that she took interest in home remedies and alternative holistic medical treatments. And built a thriving business from it. They complimented each other well.
As revealed in the memoir there were many omissions and restrictions within her family life, starting with the lack of a formal birth certificate or documentation of her date of birth. Homeschool learning was encouraged but books were spare and narrow in scope. Vaccinations and necessary hospital treatments were generally forbidden. Her father was reckless with protecting his family from injury; resulting in car wrecks, serious workplace injuries, and most relevant to this story the toleration of physically abusive behaviors by an older brother, over a number of years. You can draw the conclusion that family “unity” was preserved at the expense of Tara’s treatment, and others who challenged the status quo. The descriptive scenes of life in a high-risk work environment and the constant / unpredictable danger of an abuser within the house are heartfelt and heartbreaking in many scenes.
It was against this backdrop that Tara grew up, learned how to navigate through those family related dangers, and began to look out beyond an insular world, initially through town centered activities like working away from the house and joining a local musical theatre. Making the decision to pursue a formal education through college enrollment was a breaking point with family, that gradually built up over several years.
The obstacles to completing her education were manyfold, including the absence of any homeschool or high school records, financing for fees and living expenses (she was generally able to secure scholarships), and her ability to socialize within a wider society. There are fascinating scenes are of her trying to understand how to take multiple choice tests, ordering coffee for the first time, and learning about well-known historical events that she had never heard of. The Holocaust was a new term to her.
As Tara moved further away and progressed her educational journey, the gravitational pull of family ties returned her home, repeatedly, and she tried on several occasions to reconcile into the good graces of her parents. Family contact never resulted in a positive resolution, and in fact her relations progressively worsened over time. Eventually she broke down mentally and then eventually recovered to complete her education only after therapy, and the support of many mentors and educational sponsors. University mentors, close friends and more distanced relatives cared for her in an extended family like way, providing a lifeline of support.
Observations: She was cautious with capturing recollections and writing her story; often second guessing her memory and attempting to confirm her version of historical events with friends and family members as well. Her struggles with finances (to buy books, pay rent and tuition) were juxtaposed against the eventual success of her mother’s home business ventures.
I come away with admiration for the qualities she displayed of perseverance and dedication and hard work in her attempts to support the family while being pull inexorably away to her life in higher education.
By all accounts she was a gifted singer and writer and had a deep hunger for knowledge. Her love of education and attempts to understand alternative descriptions of religious and social truth are well described. These are intermixed with her ongoing escapes from ongoing family and summer break workplace dangers.
The book is in one sense a celebration of an incredibly successful educational journey. There is something in this memoir that left me with a mix of great admiration and then coupled with sadness of the constant struggles at fitting in with the restraints of a strict religious life. It was those struggles that eventually led to her long-term, perhaps permanent estrangement from family. I would urge the reader to follow her story beyond the original publication, the immediate national / international recognition and the eventual public response from her family. What does Tara Westover’s family say about ‘Educated’? It’s complicated – Deseret News
She made a good life for herself; I hope that she has found peace in that life and is in a positive place, finally.