Educated
(Penguin Random House ,UK,2018, 384 pages) is a memoir by twenty nine years old Tara Westover. Born in Idaho
to parents who believe
that schools , hospitals ,
medicines and government have a
corrupting influence on the children , she has a childhood full of struggles and restraints. She is a victim of
physical violence by one of her brothers but her
parents support her brother against her
.Her father has a bipolar disorder and
commits all kinds of brutalities but her mother supports her husband, and practices healing with herbs , energy and
oils. Her father makes her work hard , in very risk prone jobs in his junkyard.
Tara wants to go to school and then
to college and university but she has to
choose between her family and education. She also has to struggle to get
herself accepted by her class mates for whom she is an odd person, brought up in an extremely conservative way. During her
college days , she is exposed to the study and evolution of religion and society. Her memoir
describes Tara’s struggles, defeats and victories, vacillating between the bonds of family ( however conservative, cruel and unsafe) and the urge
to get education .With many ups and downs , Tara learns to believe in herself .She manages to
win Gates Scholarship to study at Cambridge
and then to study for getting Ph. D. from
Cambridge University, with the help and support of a few enlightened
Professors. Her father disapproves of her going to Cambridge but she goes. Her parents disown her and tell others that she is
possessed by evil spirits.
Education becomes a means to her transformation and metamorphosis.
The book shows how this transformation
comes about in stages as she progresses in her education .Educated is a powerful
story beautifully told, of a young
girl who tries and succeeds in making a
place for herself in the world , without
losing her connection to her family.
It is worth your time to read it. Highly
recommended.
