Tara Westover writes her autobiography is Educated, and like all memories, they are fluid, fuzzy at times, and dependent on others’ accounts of the events. One thing is for sure though: Dr. Westover did not have a good childhood. She did not go to school to experience different upbringings, was constantly oppressed in a male-dominated culture, and endured physical and psychological wounds. The family took the idea of “fixing a boo-boo by kissing it” to such an extreme that it sometimes hurt to read the text. In two separate accidents, the family had brain damage and leg injury but still stayed away In one incident, Tara describes seeing his brother’s brain after an accident, and their father still tells her to bring him home to be cured by the mom’s oils.
Tara’s days are spent working at the local grocery store, helping her father at the junkyard, and at times, dance and theater classes. Public education is not allowed so she gathers what she can from Buck’s Peak, the scattered books that they have at the house, and her brother’s music collection, which finally becomes her bridge to the outside world. Tara finds her way to Brigham Young University, gets to know life outside of Buck’s Peak, and finally goes to Cambridge. Life changes from that point on. The new Tara tries to fight the demons of the past, her older brother’s abuse, her father’s tight patriarchal grip, and her mom’s conformance to the traditional roles defined for her. She does not win. Some of her siblings support her, some stay within their comfort zone. In the end, Tara Westover received a doctorate from Cambridge but with the exception of a couple of her siblings, she was completely alienated from her family. And that is where Dr. Westover leaves us – Parents who are now very rich due to the essential oil business, two of her siblings who have doctorate degrees, and four who still make a living the old-fashioned way, and there is Tara, alone, with her newly formed fame.
The book tells an amazing story and Tara’s prose, clearly carved and shaped by the best scholars but still simple like a kid growing up in a junkyard, mesmerizes the reader. She tells the story of a kid pulling herself out of a life she did not like, an American dream of sorts. However, while she certainly explains the roles of others, they are not in a prominent role. Another title for the book with less emphasis on the actress in a leading role would have been “Educator”. Multiple people went out of their way to make sure this awkward girl, with no money, no family support, and no education background goes where her talents and passion drive her. The bishop at the church who found the grant money for her to live a normal life at BYU, Dr. Kerry who sent her to Cambridge against all odds (the least of them was not having a passport), and Dr. Steinberg who Tara later wrote in his obituary that she “[…] owes more to Jonathan Steinberg – for [her] academic, literary, and emotional life – than to any other person”. These were people who did not have to hold Tara’s hand and guide her through hardship, but they did. They could have been bishops, academic advisors, and professors, but they became coaches. They, as the great Michaelangelo says, saw the angel in the marble and carved it until they set her free. These people in our educational system are worth their weight in gold. They are the ones who make a difference, and for their service, we shall all be grateful – Dr. Westover being one of the main ones.
