Educated: A Memoir Background

Memoir

Educated is a memoir. Memoirs and autobiographies are both nonfiction accounts of their authors’ life experiences and are usually (but not always) written in the first person. However, the two genres have some important differences. Most notably, autobiographies generally offer a complete, chronological overview of their authors’ lives. They are also usually written by authors with some level of fame, such as actors, politicians, or professional athletes. Memoirs, on the other hand, usually have a smaller scope, focusing on a specific experience or theme. They also tend to emphasize the author’s interior life and emotions, not just the bare facts of the author’s life. Educated meets the criteria of memoir for two major reasons: First, its author is still quite young and has many decades of life ahead of her beyond the scope of the book. Second, and more importantly, although Educated does cover factual events in a mostly chronological order, its main focus is on Tara’s internal growth, both intellectual and emotional.

Context

In an author’s note at the beginning of the book, Westover states, “This story is not about Mormonism,” the religion she was raised in. Mormonism, formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), is a nontrinitarian Christian denomination established in the 1820s by the prophet Joseph Smith, who claimed to have been divinely given a set of golden plates containing the writings of ancient prophets who lived in North America.

Early Mormonism was a controversial religion. One of its most contentious tenets was plural marriage (polygamy), where one man could take multiple wives. Because of this and other religious and political differences, many 19th century towns were unwelcoming to Mormons. Mormon communities pushed westward, largely settling in the territory that would become Utah.

Traditional Mormonism is a patriarchal religion. Perhaps the defining tenet of Mormonism is the concept of priesthood, which is granted to most observant men and boys starting at the age of 12. Fatherhood is an especially important aspect of priesthood, and within their households adult men are considered absolute authorities in both spiritual and nonspiritual matters. The Westovers are by no means a typical Mormon family, but their adherence to the idea that the patriarch of the family must be obeyed without question may provide some context to Tara’s father being treated with so much reverence even when he endangers his children.