Educated: A Memoir

Westover imparts a memory of her brother, Tyler, announcing to the family that he is going to college. Westover remembers asking, “What’s college?” (49), which sends Gene into a lecture about lying, socialist college professors who are agents of the Illuminati. Despite his best efforts, Gene cannot talk Tyler out of going to college.

Westover then describes Tyler in more detail. As a child, he was different from everyone else in the family: organized, clean, and conscientious. Instead of roughhousing with his brothers, Tyler liked to listen to classical and choral music on his boombox and study quietly in his room. Westover remembers listening to music with Tyler in the evenings and being inspired by his gracefulness.

This leads Westover to reflect on her education growing up. Faye was idealistic about education when the children were young, believing she could teach the children as well as any public school could. When she did hold “school,” she would send the children off on their own with the four or five outdated textbooks the family owned. Westover remembers thumbing through the pages of the books and later lying to her mother that she had completed hundreds of math problems.

Although Faye protested, Gene eventually convinced her that the children should learn practical skills by working in the junkyard with him all day.