NYT Best-selling Author Tara Westover’s Perception of Family

By Amanda Lupinacci, Apollon Editor Spring 2021

Can you imagine not entering a classroom until the age of seventeen? On March 16, 2021 Tara Westover, author, joined Fairfield University’s Open VISIONS Forum to discuss her New York Times best-seller Educated.

In her autobiography, Westover discusses her unique perspective on education. Westover came from a home with a loose homeschooling curriculum due to her father’s opposition toward public education. Westover reflects on how her experience growing up in a household with drastic religious beliefs affected her relationship with education. 

Westover’s education eventually led her to cut ties with family members. This has left her with a distinctive understanding of family difficulties that others deal with. “I think families can be complicated. Part of what it means to grow up is learning to define yourself both in connection to your family but also in distinction to your family,” Westover said.

Even though Westover’s specific story of religious fundamentalism doesn’t directly relate to every reader, her book’s general themes tie into everyone’s human experience. Educated hits close to home for many readers because everyone experiences family dysfunction from time to time. “I like to say that I think every family is sort of a cult,” adds Westover. She explains that everyone reaches a point in their lives where they must define and discover who they are outside of their family.

Westover implies that our parents shape our reality for us. From the time we’re young our parents teach us how to view the world and what to believe. It isn’t until we go out into the world on our own that we realize there is so much more out there than we thought. At this point, we begin to realize our parents beliefs are not our own and may challenge our family’s beliefs. 

In her mid-twenties, Westover made the decision to disconnect from some of her family members. They had clashing viewpoints and their communication became tumultuous. The decision was extremely difficult since she had built many positive memories with these people; however, she needed to do this for her own wellbeing. “I think it’s the fact that you love someone that can make it very difficult to say goodbye,” Westover said. Disconnecting from family is never easy but sometimes it is the necessary choice to ensure personal happiness and sanity.