Educated: Thought-Provoking Book Club Discussion Questions

Tara Westover's Educated is a compelling memoir that explores themes of family, identity, abuse, and the transformative power of education. Westover's journey from a survivalist upbringing in rural Idaho to the halls of Cambridge and Harvard is both inspiring and heartbreaking. This article provides a comprehensive set of discussion questions to facilitate an engaging and insightful book club conversation about Educated.

Introduction

Educated tells the story of Tara Westover, who was raised in a family of Mormon preppers in rural Idaho. She lacked formal schooling and access to modern medicine, and she endured significant mental and physical abuse. Despite these challenges, she eventually made her way to Brigham Young University, Trinity College, and Harvard. The memoir is lauded for its powerful emotional impact and Westover's courageous exploration of her past.

Discussion Questions

Initial Impressions

What were your expectations prior to reading the novel?
How many stars (out of ten) are you giving the book? Why?
What was your initial reaction to Tara's story? What aspects resonated with you the most?
Did this story make you feel hopeful? Why or why not?

The Significance of the Virginia Woolf Quote

Why do you think that Tara Westover chose the following Virginia Woolf quote to begin her memoir? “The past is beautiful because one never realizes an emotion at the time."

Family Dynamics

The Father

Let’s discuss Tara’s parents. Why was her father so determined that they live off the grid?
Do you believe he is undiagnosed bipolar?
How do you think Tara’s relationship with her father changed throughout the book?
Many of Tara’s father’s choices have an obvious impact on Tara’s life, but how did her mother’s choices influence her? How did that change over time?
In the "Perfect in His Generations" chapter, Tara’s father shows a bit more layers. He seems completely against her singing and acting in part, yet he continues to drive her to rehearsal and gives her feedback on her performances. Discuss this apparent contradiction.
It is said that Tara throughout the book gave the impression her father was the controller of everyone. Yet, her mother sneaks behind his back, orders a telephone, buys a computer, gets internet service and connects to AOL. For a man who wants to keep his family isolated, and control them, how on earth was this possible? How did he allow Tara to take piano and dance lessons, perform in plays and date? These are things NO controlling parent would allow.

The Mother

Tara’s mother is an interesting figure. There are signs that she believes her husband and son goes too far-yet, she never seems to try to stop it, as far as we can tell. What are your thoughts on her role in the family?
Did you notice that the author uses the word “Mother” whenever she talks about her mom, but that she most of the times uses the more endearing form of “Dad” for her father? Why do you think she did this?
When Tara´s mom says about her migraines after the accident “sometimes I think we choose our illnesses, because they benefit us in some way” - what do you think of that?

Shawn

Shawn is violent, cruel and ignorant. Why was his violent behavior allowed? What do you think was truly going on with how he treated Tara? How did his jealousy of her impact his horrible actions?
A difficult scene is when Westover realizes that Shawn has killed his dog Diego after coming to her parents’ house with a knife in hand. What was your perception of Shawn & his relationship to his family?
Let’s talk about the significance of her brother calling her a “whore” without any kind of pushback from her parents.

Tyler

Tara’s brother Tyler tells her to take the ACT. What motivates Tara to follow his advice?

Charles

Charles was Tara’s first window into the outside world. Under his influence, Tara begins to dress differently and takes medicine for the first time. Discuss Tara’s conflicting admiration for both Charles and her father.
Tara tried to date Charles, a boy from her hometown, but when he witnesses Shawn’s abuse, she pushes Charles away and doesn’t want to admit the truth about her brother. Why do you think she did this? On Page 190, Tara writes about Charles, “He couldn’t save me. Only I could." Explore the meaning of this quote.

Birth Order

How did birth order affect Tara Westover’s development?

Education and Transformation

Tara has titled her book Educated and much of her education takes place in classrooms, lectures, or other university environments. But not all. What other important moments of "education" were there? What friends, acquaintances, or experiences had the most impact on Tara? What does that imply about what an education is?
We are introduced to the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge, a gunfight between Randy Weaver and the FBI. When Westover’s brother Tyler announces that he’s going to college, it impacts the family. Westover recounts not knowing what the word “holocaust” means when she first attends Brigham Young University. Discuss the impact of these events.
One professor describes Westover as “Pygmalion,” while Westover says she believed she could “be remade, my mind recast” at her university. At the end of the book, Westover stated that she is a “changed person” from the person she was as her father’s daughter, and from her 16-year-old self. “You could call this selfhood many things,” she writes. “Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal.” What are your thoughts on this transformation?
Tara asked a professor for advice and he encouraged her to apply to Cambridge. Did you ask questions or ask for advice from authority figures? Why or why not?
Eventually, Tara confronts her family about her brother’s abuse. How do different the members of her family respond?
What keeps Tara coming back to her family as an adult?
Ultimately, what type of freedom did education give Tara?
Let’s talk about Tara’s first year at BYU and the culture shock she experienced.
On Page 190, Tara writes about Charles, “He couldn’t save me. Only I could." When did Tara truly start to understand that she came from a troubled background and that her family’s behavior up until this point was wrong?
Let’s talk about how education opened her eyes to the world but also means that she can’t come home anymore. Where do you think this leaves Tara now? Is there any hope of reuniting with her family?
Ultimately, what type of freedom did education give Tara?
What enables some people to achieve as incredibly she has?'
What do you think allowed her to do this? What sort of characteristic or dedication? How did she teach herself to READ?

Religion

There’s so much about religion in this book that we must discuss it. How did religious beliefs shape Tara's upbringing and her family's worldview?

The Writing Process and Perspective

Tara wrote this at the age of thirty, while in the midst of her healing process. Why do you think she chose to write it so young, and how does this distinguish the book from similar memoirs?
Do you agree with Tara´s decisions?
How did the fact that Westover wrote the memoir at a relatively young age influence her perspective and the way she told the story?
The content of the book is not an easy one, and as my friend, Fátima pointed out, the knowledge that it is a true life story might make you feel like you need to repeatedly put it down. It´s a story that might or might not hit close to home, but it will quite possibly leave you angry and sad.
I´d recommend this book to you if you´re open to reading a story that will possible enrage you and if you´re willing to analyse and empathise with some pretty hard to digest characters. If you´re reading it to draw some learnings from a psychological point of view, you´ll probably like it. If you´re reading it to learn something entirely new, depending on your upbringing, you might or might not find what you´re looking for.
What I felt was ironic throughout the whole schooling part of the book, is…she goes from not knowing how to read, not knowing Math, no public school education, to buying an ACT guidebook at the age of fifteen, shows up to take the ACT test and is confused as to the bubble fill in. She fails the first ACT test, studies again and aces it, is accepted to Brigham Young University, then being accepted to study abroad at Cambridge at the age of seventeen, then it's on to Harvard, with a lot of traveling to London, Paris, Rome and even a quick trip to the Middle Eastern desert. We all know that it takes more than two short years to achieve these goals, all the while you are taking piano/dance classes, acting in plays, working endless hours in the junkyard, being injured, helping with the oils, assisting her mother with mid wife, and dating, unless you are Einstein. Which we know she is NOT, because after graduating two of the finest colleges in the world, earning a PhD, it takes her six months to learn how to write a book, by listening to the New Yorker fiction podcast. I'm sorry, it's a lot for me to accept, an uneducated child, at the age of fifteen, living through the most traumatic experiences in her life, one after another, only two years, to accomplish what it takes a normal person who has gone through school teaching, years to learn. I hate to be the Debbie Downer, pessimist, unbeliever, yet again, but my common sense tells me this just does not ring true, especially when she does not want to reveal she was home schooled, at her graduation, or, give any credit to the family members who in the book she says, helped educate her. She has indeed accomplished many goals in her short years of life, in spite of the trauma she grew up in. I will give her that, but as my wise mother always told me, "Believe half of what you hear, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This is indeed a best seller. But I have to ask, were we sold a false bill of goods? Her family says, yes.
Tara does not mention her brother Shawn abusing her until she is a teenager. She infers it could be, he is not comfortable with her growing up. When you think about it, her story really does not cover her younger years much. She says her older brothers seems to have grown up in a different house than she did, yet she takes liberty in the book to speak, think and feel for them. Tyler encourage her to go to school, take the ACT test, go to college, move away and helped her learn math. When he was home for a visit and Shawn was abusing Tara, he stopped it, gave her his car keys and told her to take his car and leave. She refers to Shawn as her best friend until he begins the abuse. One brother says in a review:"She says that he's (Father) against doctors but half of my siblings were born in the hospital. We also were taken to the hospital for broken arms, broken legs, and hernia surgery, eye doctor appointments all were accidents not work related but swing off swing sets extra … We went to the dentist regularly and all that needed braces had braces. We had the choice of going to school or being home schooled. Some of my siblings chose to go to school some of us were home schooled."I am just so confused! With the injuries Tara describes she and family members suffered from, the deformities, with no modern day medical treatment, only pathogenic oils to heal them, I could never imagine some of them still walking, being able to see, or even able to function in every day life, let alone go out in public, or continue to mid wife, travel to visit her in college, run a scrap yard business, or become a multi million dollar oil business, with all the head injuries, mental illness, brain damages etc.

Broader Themes and Connections

Tara paid a high price for her education: she lost her family. Discuss the sacrifices Tara made in pursuit of education and the impact on her relationships.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point exists upon land inhabited by the indigenous people of this area, including the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and the many other nations and groups that predate colonial borders. We acknowledge that with colonization Native American people have been dispossessed of their lands and irreparably changed by the actions of individuals and institutions. We acknowledge our responsibility to understand and respond to those actions. In partnership with the Native American Center, we commit to working together to honor the past, be intentional in the present, and to build our future with truth. 2000 W. Discuss this statement in light of the themes in Educated.
Do you agree with Tara´s decisions?
Educated is a book that generates plenty of discussion. As I read Educated, I kept thinking about how much it reminded me of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Honestly, if Tara hadn’t gotten into BYU, her life might have turned out like Kya’s. Discuss the similarities and differences between Educated and Where the Crawdads Sing.
Another memoir that is a must read is Becoming by Michelle Obama. In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her-from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it-in her own words and on her own terms. You can order the book on Amazon here. How does Educated compare to other memoirs you have read?

Additional questions

What did you find most surprising or unbelievable in Tara's story?
Do you think Tara's experience is unique, or are there aspects of her story that are relatable to a wider audience?
How has reading Educated changed your perspective on the importance of education?
What lessons can be learned from Tara Westover's journey?

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