Introduction
Educated is a novelist Tara Westover’s memoir, in which she describes her struggle with the conservatism and alienation of her religious family from the world. In order to achieve a normal life, Tara had to break free from the strict rules and shackles of prejudice that bound her relatives. The idea of freedom, personal development, and education prevails over the pointless following of the path of life by people who do not consider other people’s interests, only because of family ties.
Family Relationships
It should be noted that the author’s fate and intra-familial relationships were quite complicated. Her father rejected public education because of his religiosity and belief in the godlessness of the state (Westover 23). Moreover, because of the poverty and peculiarities of their parents, not all of their seven children even had birth certificates and medical records. Undoubtedly, not all of them were satisfied with meager home education and life in the boondocks. Characteristically, the maternal and paternal grandmothers, for all their differences, are similar in their belief in the necessity of ordinary life and education for their grandchildren (Westover 21). The author’s relationship with her brothers is likewise very contrasting, with some helping and some hurting, and this relationship only intensifies over time. As they grew older, family relationships became more complicated, and the protagonist’s relatives were conventionally divided into two camps: those in favor of parental opinions and those who wanted development.
Tough Choices
Tara is morally dependent on her relatives and vulnerable because her upbringing was closely intertwined with abusive behavior, and she initially cannot imagine a release. The difficulty of growing up in a poor, large family with a mentally unstable father translates into Tara’s subconscious insecurity. Westover’s father does not hesitate to bind and obligate her, ignoring her wishes: “This is your family. You belong here.” (361). Later, she understands and accepts everything that has gone on between her and her relatives, but it takes a very long time. There is little a person can know about personal freedom without having their own room or personal space since childhood. So Tara discovers all this for genuine already during her studies at the university, with which she was helped with a clue by her brother (Westover 259). However, the protagonist’s attachment to her family is strong, despite the fact that every time she returns home, she becomes the victim of mockery or manipulation. Her love for her family is both her strength and her weakness. Her strength is that for all the complexity of the relationship, she keeps her faith in her close ones and cannot abandon her family, while her weakness is that her inner struggle leaves indelible scars on her psychological state.
The Dependence Between Family and Personal Freedom
In the book, the idea of the main character’s dependence on the opinion of her relatives and the painfulness of her perception of criticism from people close to her is clearly evident. Tara tries to combine school and family and get approval and good treatment from her parents, but more often than not, she runs into an impenetrable wall. The support of those closest to her can change into repulsion, and this hurts and misunderstands Tara (Westover 209). For all else, however, there is no equal opposition of family values to individual freedom in the book. The protagonist comes to the conclusion that personal life, individual development in the format of learning, and further self-improvement are still more vital in her particular case. It is emphasized by the caveat that the book is not about religion or the complexity of relationships but about the memories of thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, some of which were ruthlessly destroyed in childhood (Westover 11). Each of the author’s close relatives is dear to her, and that is why, despite the problems in communication, she tried to return home. With such dependence and love for her relatives, choosing her own destiny can genuinely be called a feat. Instead of cutting off communication permanently, Tara communicates well with her three brothers and sends letters to her mother every year. Her mother does not agree to see her because Tara does not want to meet her father, and for her mother, it “would be to disrespect her husband” (Westover 682). The author demonstrates all the complexities of her intra-familial relationships in detail, and it is impossible not to feel sympathy and empathy.
Conclusion
Personal freedom should not be opposed to family values, and although the author preferred liberty in the end, it was done only due to specific circumstances. In the process of reading, it is possible to conclude that Tara Westover is still not entirely sure whether she made the right choice. Nevertheless, this work is primarily a subjective set of memories, feelings, and opinions of a particular person, and her personal choice is solely her own. Accordingly, only the author herself can judge its correctness, and the readers are left to immerse themselves in the story of a difficult life and draw their own conclusions.
Work Cited
Westover, Tara. Educated: A Memoir. Random House, 2018.