Educated by Tara Westover could be the non-fiction companion to It
by Stephen King. The parallels are striking. Both tell the story of children raised
in horrific circumstances and their courageous, and unlikely, struggle to
overcome their childhoods. Both recount brutal bullying, abusive parenting, misogyny,
and the PTSD-like aftermath. If any readers of Stephen King’s novel imagine he exaggerated
the humanity underlying his story, you only need to read Tara Westover’s
memoir.
Tara makes the case that her father
suffers from bipolar disorder. Whether this is true or not, she makes a
powerful statement about how a parent’s behavior can affect the children.
Regardless of the underlying cause, her father was controlling and misogynistic.
When she needed protection from abuse, he supported her abuser. When she needed
support, he attacked her. As a result, she suffered from years of insecurity.
When Tara was sixteen, she gathered
enough courage to leave home to go to college. In college, she learned of a
world beyond her family and began to see how her family had entrapped and
endangered her. However, her early training in loyalty and obedience made her
doubt these new views. As a result, she repeatedly returned home, only to be
furthered abused, until she learned the lesson again.
Alternately, this memoir is a stark testimony for
alternative medicine. Her family avoided hospitals in favor of homeopathic tinctures,
energy works, and faith. The family had plenty of chances to turn to medical
doctors. Three severe automobile accidents, three head traumas, two serious
burns, broken bones, and various other traumas. These were treated without
traditional medical services. In all cases, people survived with home
treatments.
Her family had seven children. Today
three have PhDs and four have not graduated from college. Her parents founded
and run the successful alternate medicine company: https://butterflyexpressions.org/welcome/story
I personally note how the impact of
early childhood indoctrination is so long-lasting. In my personal life, after
my divorce, my ex-wife took my daughter, refused visitation, and told the daughter
that I was evil. By the time my daughter reached adulthood, now almost 50, it was
too late to change her mind.
It by Stephen King comes to life.
This is an interesting review: https://www.psychologytoday.
Rebuttal by parents’ lawyers:
https://www.hjnews.com/preston/news/educated-should-be-read-with-grain-of-salt-says-family/article_0583f217-6fd2-51de-a891-9ca32adb589c.html
For my expanded notes: http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2018/08/dreamers-of-day-by-mary-doria-russell.html
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