Ten-Year-Old

Educated by Tara Westover is a powerful and well-written memoir that details the author’s lamentable childhood. Throughout the memoir, Tara vividly describes various childhood memories that motivated her to pursue a higher education and escape the isolated life she lived with her family. As the memoir progresses, readers are shown how Tara’s parents fostered an unhealthy environment for Tara and her siblings. As a result of the family’s religious ideology, Tara lacked the appropriate knowledge to treat injuries, such as the incident with Luke’s leg. The numerous injuries Tara and her family sustained and witnessed paint a clear picture of how basic medical knowledge is essential in circumstances where life altering accidents occur.

In the chapter “The Lord Will Provide,” Tara reflects on the traumatic event of her brother, Luke. When Luke and Gene go up the mountain to work, an accident occurs causing Luke’s leg to catch on fire. Tara, unaware of what’s occurring, hears Luke’s screams and swiftly runs outside. Tara then finds Luke hobbling across the grass and hollering for his mother. As Tara tries to figure out what is going on, she discovers Luke’s jeans, on his left leg, were melted. Furthermore, Luke’s thigh skin was “like wax dripping from a cheap candle.”(Westover, 69) 

Tara’s previous injuries she and her family have sustained have been cured by her mother. On this occasion, she is alone and forced to respond to a situation beyond her control. Tara, like any other ten-year-old, does not know what to do in a situation like this. Unlike any other ten-year-old, Tara has not been taught to call for help or call emergency services. Ten-year-old Tara is forced to step in and help with Luke’s injury alone. She almost makes Luke’s leg worse by burying his leg in a filthy trash can, but remembers at the last minute that the real worry with a burn was not the damaged tissue, but the infection.

    When Faye arrives later that night, she tends to Luke’s wounds. As she does so, she admits that she has never seen a burn as bad as Luke’s. Later that night Luke catches a fever which leads to Faye and Tara feeding Luke herbs that do nothing to remedy Luke’s pain. Even with the severity of Luke’s burns, Faye refuses to help Luke with his pain and disregards the idea of seeking professional help due to her believing in her own remedies and treatments.

As the weeks go by Luke is forced to stay in bed. Gene orders the Westovers’ to tell everyone at church that Luke is not feeling well. He threatens them that if anyone finds out about Luke the government will have Luke taken away, be hospitalized, and get infected and die. Additionally, Gene repeatedly endangers his family by preventing them to seek help and constantly lying to them that if anyone were to find out the truth, there would be a high chance they would be separated.

The misfortunate events that occur in the Westovers’ lives traumatize the members of the family. Throughout the memoir, the family  is depicted as being isolated and lacking basic knowledge. The main antagonist throughout the memoir was Tara’s father. Gene constantly manipulated the family and was the sole reason for the family’s underlying fear. Ultimately, if Gene did not impose his strict ideologies the family would have not endured the numerous accidents and unnecessary fear.

Work Cited

Westover, Tara. Educated: a Memoir. Random House, 2018