Educated

I have just finished my third book of the year Educated by Tara Westover. I think the title is the best fit for the book and the cover even better. Educated is a memoir and bruh, Tara has literally been through it. I bring up the book to give context to my thought process. Tara’s parents did not believe in formal education. They both seem to have received formal education in their formative years. The first 3 children were allowed to go to school for a while until Tara’s dad decided it was no good for them and he had them drop out. Their mum home-schooled them for a while but their dad always found tasks to engage them in until they had no time to sit and learn.

Among the siblings, those who were interested in formal education had to teach themselves. Their mum gave them guidance here and there but mostly it was personal drive. She mostly ensured that they knew how to read and from there they would learn whatever they thought relevant. Tara learned how to read using the Mormon Bible. She went straight from a lack of formal education to studying for her entrance exam to the university and from there she worked her way to get her Doctorate. Two of her siblings also managed to achieve that.

In educated we see how other people’s limiting beliefs can be imparted to us. Sometimes we carry the mantle of defending those beliefs as if they are our very own maybe because we do not want to imagine that we have held onto something for so long that is untrue. Tara’s dad had strong beliefs about who a faithful servant was and he ensured his family not only knew the beliefs but also practiced them. They never sought medical attention for the serious injuries inflicted while working for their dad. they waited on the Lord to cure them because he had allowed the injury to happen in the first place and everything is his will.

To admit uncertainty is to admit to weakness, to powerlessness, and to believe in yourself despite both. It is a frailty but in this frailty, there is strength: the conviction to live in your own mind and not in someone else’s. I have often wondered if the most powerful words I wrote that night came not from anger or rage but from doubt; I don’t know. I just don’t know. Not knowing for certain, but refusing to give way to those who claim certainty was a privilege I had never allowed myself. My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.

This book is 4 stars for me and I definitely recommend nonetheless I link Lwile’s review of the book which I absolutely loved and understand her rating of the book at 1 and 1/2 stars https://lwiletheleo.com/2023/02/13/educated-by-tara-westover/. I hope you get to see that whether it is in praise or otherwise, we both talk about the book and on that basis hope that you too pick it up to see the nuances and the drive of our rating of the book.