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In 1986,Tara Westover was born in rural Idaho into a family of 9 (Moran). As a child she received little to no education, aside from her parent's idea of "homeschool" which was mainly concerned with teaching their children how to survive the end of times and to not trust the government.

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Westover Home; The Large Living Room that Tara called "The Chapel" (Westover 283)

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Tara's parents were Val, her father, and LaRee, her mother. Neither of them believed much in the government or modern medicine but Val was the real conspiracy theorist. LaRee played the roll of the quiet, obedient wife and mother who didn't want to ruffle any feathers. Maybe this is why she went as far as to treat major injuries with essential oils (Scanlan). As for Val, he chose to put his children to work mainly in the scrap yard. He truly believed that pursuing an education was more dangerous and detrimental to his children.

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As Tara grew older her home life began to change. While it may be true that her parent's beliefs and ways of raising their children were questionable, borderline neglectful, there wasn't any physical abuse until Tara was 15 years old.

The abuse didn't come by the hands of her mother and father either. It was her brother, referred to as Shawn in Westover's book "Educated". Shawn began to resent his baby sister for simply being a young woman. She began to change and develop. To Shawn this made her a whore, sinful, no better than a common prostitute (Westover 107).

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Westover, Tara. Educated. Penguin Books, 2022.

Morgan, Padraig. CBC News. "From Isolated homeschooling to a PhD from Cambridge: How Tara Westover was saved by her educaion" 21 August 2018. https://cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-may-16-2018-1.4665012/from-isolated-homeschooling-to-a-phd-from-cambridge-how-tara-westover-was-saved-by-her-education-1.4665025 , Accessed 12 April 2024.

Scanlan, Laura. National Endowment For The Humanities. "Tara Westover" 2021. https://www.neh.gov/award/tara-westover, Accessed 13 April 2024.

Gibson, Daryl. Deseret News. "'She knows me least'-5 Years after 'Educated,' Tara Westover's family yearns for reconciliation. Is it Possible?" 29 January 2023.

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While all of this was happening, it was as if her parents turned a blind eye (Gibson). She had one older brother that compulsively NEEDED to hurt her, whether it was physical or verbal. He could be shoving her head in the toilet or screaming at her that she'd burn for all of eternity for the sins she'd committed (Moran). Her mother even witnessed some of these things and never really did much to stop it, furthering Tara's messed up view of what a family should look like and her own self worth.

Thankfully she did have someone looking out for her. Her other older brother, Tyler was an advocate for Tara and her education. He encouraged her to take the ACT, go to college, and leave that life behind her (Scanlan).

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Thanks to her efforts and Tyler's assistance, Tara was accepted into Brigham Young University. This was her first time in a school setting and she learned quickly just how much her parent's "teachings" were lacking (Scanlan).

It was in this new environment that her perseverance would really be tested. Being thrown into what I'm sure seemed like some kind of alien planet would be disorienting for anyone. But for Tara, especially so. Imagine learning all in a moment that just about everything you'd leaned your entire life was a lie (Gibson). Just rantings by a couple of old kooks. Now imagine if they were your parents.

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Without education Tyler, Tara's older brother would have never gotten out. If that hadn't happened then Tara Westover would have never gotten out, gained the knowledge she did, and she certainly wouldn't be where she is today.

In my opinion her novel educated isn't just about the importance of an education, or just about the abuse and her family. I immediately think of breaking generational curses and how the changes that Tara and Tyler made to their lives, even though they've been largely disowned and ostracized from the rest of their family (Moran).