Educated: Week 1 Discussion

Please use a different color font for answers.

Norms

Make a list of your group norms below.

● Make sure everyone contributes on every question
○ Make sure one person doesn’t dominate the discussion
● Don't go on tangents, be concise with what you’re trying to communicate
○ Don’t get off topic
● Keep the discussion organized, do not talk over each other

Roles

List any absent group members:

● Facilitator: Taylor Simpson

● Recorder: Daniel Yi
● Prioritizer: Taylor Simpson
● Connector: Leslie Andrade
● Questioner: Colin Carter

Notes

1. Educated starts with an epigraph from Virginia Woolf: “The past is beautiful because one never
realizes an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don’t have complete emotions about the
present, only the past.” What do you think Woolf meant by this? Why do you think Tara Westover chose
to begin her memoir this way?
The entirety of the book is based on a girl reflecting on her past. Perspective is also important to keep in
mind, when you see something you may not understand but looking back on it it makes more sense.
Experiences tend to be more emotionally involved than reflecting back on the memories of experiences.
Hindsight is always in 20/20, when you look back on things having gained more experiences and
knowing more, looking back on memories things are more clear. Knowledge of the future is needed to
enhance the present, so knowledge of the present is needed to clarify things of the past.
Tara might’ve started her memoir this way because throughout the story Tara explains her memories
and looks back on them realizing things that she didn’t realize at the time. She can now reflect on the
situation and her emotions and reactions and is able to give context trying to logically make everything
coincide.
2. In the first pages of Educated, we are introduced to the mountain in rural Idaho where the Westover
family lives, described as a dark, beautiful, and commanding form in a “jagged little patch of Idaho.”
How does this setting inform the family’s experience?
The family is very detached from society so the way that they live is very unconventional. The
knowledge of these families is almost like those of indigneous societies. Their practices and knowledge
often relate directly to living on this mountain and the environment around them. They are very isolated
which plays into their distrust in the government, schools systems, doctors, etc. They appear to be more
FLDS than a traditional mormon family. As this community tends to be more isolated and keep very
much into themselves whereas mormons are typically more integrated into society. Being by themselves
and not having anyone to relate their ideas to and get an outside perspective on things, this family tends
to amplify their own beliefs and ideas. Ex: Illuminati worries, and the very literal translation of the bible
in the opposition of milk and honey. The “jagged” part of the description can translate to this family’s
life and experiences being fairly underdeveloped/primitive when compared to how other people think.

3. We are also introduced early in the book to the standoff at Ruby Ridge, a 1992 gunfight between FBI
agents and U.S. marshals and a heavily armed family on an isolated homestead. How does this incident
cast a shadow over the Westover parents and children, and the survivalism that characterizes their
upbringing?
This essentially amplifies all of their fears and evil conceptions of the government. Without any context
of why the government was attacking this family this gives them another reason to hate them. Father
seemed to be very disconnected from his family after hearing about this. This could be due to the fact
that the father and his family were isolated from society and so was this family that got attacked by the
FBI. So they could see something like this very easily happening to them since they see the other family
as the closest thing to them. Like propaganda during war.

4. In Chapter 5, Westover’s brother Tyler announces that he’s going to college, something none of her
other siblings have done. Why does Westover’s father, Gene, object to formalized education? How does
Tyler’s leaving have an impact on Westover?
Public education is seen as a brain washing system by the father of this family. The father very strongly
lashes out against this decision. He thinks that the teachings are actually fundamentally incorrect. Once
one of his children leaves for school, the father is unable to work as efficiently as he could have. His
children are essentially his workforce at home for what he does. So in his mind he won’t be able to
provide for his family nearly as well if his children go off to college. Tyler has a big impact on the family
as the youngest daughter is forced to work in his place and the father is reminded of how all of his sons
have left for various reasons.

5. To what extent did Grandma-out-of town increase Tyler’s motivation to leave his family and go to
college? How did she influence Tyler’s perspective about education?
Grandma highly endorsed education and a higher, more grounded standard of living in general. Though
we don’t have any specific examples of Tyler interacting with his Grandma-out-of town about this . We
have the daughter talking to the same Grandma about these things and the Grandma is very much in
support of the education system.