Educated: A Memoir Summary and Analysis

Section One Summary: Childhood on Buck’s Peak (Chapters 1–7)

The youngest of seven children, Tara Westover grows up on a mountain in Idaho called Buck’s Peak. Her family is isolated from the outside world due to the paranoia and religious fundamentalism of Tara’s father Gene, who believes that the Apocalypse is imminent. Because Gene fears the federal government, Tara has never been to the doctor or to school, although her mother has taught her how to read and write. At one point, Gene bans the family from drinking milk based on a misinterpretation of a biblical passage. Gene’s mother, whom the family refers to as Grandma-down-the-hill, mocks the ban, but the rest of the family dutifully complies.

Because the junkyard Gene runs brings in little money, Tara’s mother Faye, who is an herbalist, begins to work as an unlicensed midwife. This is illegal in Idaho but provides financial security and a degree of independence for Faye. When Tara is 9 years old, Gene falls into a deep depression. Hoping that a change of scenery will help, the Westover family visits Grandma-down-the-hill at her winter home in Arizona. As soon as Gene starts feeling better, he demands that the family return to Idaho immediately, without stopping along the way. That night, while Tara’s teenage brother Tyler is behind the wheel, the family gets into a serious car accident that leaves Faye with a brain injury. After a long recovery, Faye eventually returns to work as a midwife and starts a business selling essential oils, but she experiences permanent neurological symptoms.

Later that year, the bookish Tyler leaves for college against Gene’s wishes, and Tara is forced to replace him on the junkyard crew. Gene’s negligence leads to both Tara and her brother Luke getting injured in the junkyard. Luke’s injuries, which result from his gasoline-soaked clothing catching fire, are especially severe. Inspired by Tyler’s independence, Tara begins to study the Mormon histories and out-of-date textbooks she finds around the house.

Section One Analysis: Childhood on Buck’s Peak (Chapters 1–7)

The book opens with Tara’s strongest childhood memory, which, she explains, is not a memory of something she personally experienced, but instead is a vivid imaginary scene based on what her father told her about the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident. Much later in the book, when Tara is a college student, she revisits this memory from a more critical perspective after educating herself about the actual facts of the event. As a child, however, everything she knew about the outside world was filtered through her father’s often distorted and paranoid perspective. In addition to showing how strong a hold Gene had on the young Tara’s reality, this anecdote introduces us to one of the central themes of the book: how memories are imperfect and can change over time.

Another important theme established in this section is the normalization of physical injury in the Westover household. Even though Tara never mentions her parents intentionally hurting her, injuries are commonplace in the household, and they are often the direct result of Gene’s lack of concern for other people’s safety. Even serious injuries like Faye’s brain trauma in the car accident and Luke’s severe burns are brushed aside and turned into family jokes.

Finally, this section introduces Tara’s brother Tyler as a mentor and a refuge from the rest of the Westover house. It is Tyler who gives Tara her first real connection to the outside world by introducing her to professionally produced music and leaving her a CD of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir when he heads off to college. After he leaves, it is at Tyler’s desk that Tara independently reads and contemplates the Mormon history books she decides to study.