The Value that Lies in Being Educated

I came across Tara Westover’s memoir Educated during the summer reading I had to complete for my English class. Typically, I do not particularly enjoy the books chosen by my teachers. Reading these books usually feel like a chore, for the sole purpose of writing an essay after finishing the novel. However, Educated has completely warped my conception of memoirs and non-fiction texts in general. Tara Westover’s memoir is a raw and gripping piece that allows the reader to connect with the author through her experiences. She accounts for the unorthodox, radical, abusive, and sometimes life-threatening situations brought upon her. These issues arise due to her family’s unwillingness to accept mainstream political, medical, and educational practices. Her first-hand experience with the blatant abuse from her older brother and the indifference of her parents opens the eyes of the readers as we process the mental and physical strain she had to undergo. 

Tara Westover, born in the rural areas of Idaho, was raised by Survivalists, people who actively prepare for emergencies such as the “Day of Abomination”. Her entire childhood revolved around preparing for the day when electricity would go out and the government would cease to exist.

Her family, specifically her father, forbade her from using government services, even hospitals, and instead turned to other methods, such as herbalism to tend to severe wounds. They wanted to be isolated from society, so much so that four of the seven children were not issued birth certificates. Her father believes that public schools will just brainwash children and turn them away from God, so he kept his children busy by having them work under extremely unsafe conditions in his junkyard. She spends years teaching herself math and grammar at home, to her father’s dismay, to begin her schooling at Brigham Young University, a university with the vast majority of the students being fellow Mormons. Tara begins to discover the world outside of what she has been isolated from back at home. Her schooling has taken her across the country to Harvard and across the world to Cambridge. As her thirst for knowledge grows stronger, so does her guilt from betraying her father, who preaches about the evil that lies within studies other than Mormonism.

“Everything that I worked for, all my years of study, had been to purchase myself this one privilege: to see and experience more truths than those given to me by my father, and to use those truths to construct my own mind.”

– Tara Westover, Educated

The value of education is redefined through Tara’s memoir, and I can now better understand its true importance. Attaining knowledge allows a person to gain different perspectives and insights. The author’s life is strikingly different from my own. Through seeing the violence and gaslighting she had to endure, all of her choices later on in life can be understood in more depth. A central part of the novel deals with unconditional loyalty to family. In order for Tara to remain a part of her family, she has to turn away from her education and revert back to ignorance. Most of the memoir deals with the conflicted nature of her sentiments, and the deeper she delves into her life, the greater the understanding the reader has of why she could hold such a belief. Education has given her the opportunity to see past the brainwashing and manipulation her family members have subjected her to. Her first-person point of view will draw you in as you read about her navigation of and adaptation to life outside of Buck’s Peak, where she grew up. No matter how different my life may be from hers, her strength and unwavering determination to form her own values and views are inspiring. Her depiction of exploring the education system and finding out what society has to offer is authentic and heart-wrenching. It is often easy to forget that all of the insane, near-death events she has had to live through really occurred in real life, not just words put down onto paper. This fact makes the story all the more impactful. Tara’s higher level of education allowed her to open her eyes and to see that what she went through was abnormal—which ultimately prompts her decision to hold on to the happy memories spent with her family while permanently cutting ties. This coming-of-age tale deals with a newfound confidence from gaining knowledge and unconditional love for family. Tara’s break from the constraints she has been forced under her entire life allows for the reader to contemplate two things: what education truly offers and the concept of loving someone and still choosing to say goodbye.