Educated

by

Tara Westover

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Educated makes teaching easy.

Educated: Chapter 33 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
When it’s time for Tara to leave Buck’s Peak, Audrey begs her not to go. Audrey reveals that no one, after all, has believed her and Tara’s words about Shawn, and that she feels all alone and powerless. Tara leaves for Cambridge anyway, and that night in her dorm room, writes a diary entry which ends: “Cambridge is less beautiful tonight.” Drew has returned to Cambridge with Tara, newly admitted to a master’s program there. Drew is the first boyfriend Tara has confided in about her family—the truth of her family—and as she tells him about Audrey, she asks him to watch out for her in case she “do[es] something crazy.”
Tara feels for Audrey and wants to help her, but sees that things at home are so bad that she needs to flee back to her life in England. Tara is caught between wanting to help save her sister and wanting to save herself—she cannot do both, as she’s been through an unspeakable amount of pain and learning when it comes to understanding how to prioritize herself.
Themes
Learning and Education Theme Icon
Devoutness and Delusion Theme Icon
Family, Abuse, and Entrapment Theme Icon
The semester passes in a hurried blur—Tara is working on a piece of original academic research to qualify for a PhD, and with the support of her supervisor Dr. Runciman, she has decided to write about “echoes of Mormon theology in the great philosophers of the nineteenth century.” Tara feels closer to her friends than ever, and yet the more she begins to see her new friends as family, the guiltier she feels about abandoning her actual family. She buys a ticket to Idaho for Christmas, hoping to reconnect with everyone back home.
As Tara’s happiness at school increases, she can’t help but wonder and worry about the life she’s left behind in Idaho. She’s so entrapped by her family that she can’t give them up, and keeps returning to Idaho even when it’s clear that things at home are bad and getting worse.
Themes
Learning and Education Theme Icon
Family, Abuse, and Entrapment Theme Icon
Tara arrives home to find the Indian Princess buried in snow atop the mountain. Tara barely recognizes her brother Luke, who has lost an eye in a paintball accident and grown a long, thick beard. Tara doesn’t see Shawn until the third day she’s home, when he comes into the house with Benjamin. As Benjamin brags about getting into a fight down in town, Shawn warns Benjamin to always watch his temper. Tara believes that Shawn has changed and cooled down, and agrees to take a ride into town with him to get milkshakes and catch up. 
The Indian Princess—a symbol of homecoming—is buried in snow, foreshadowing the fact that this trip home will be, for Tara, one marked by confusion and a sense of homelessness.
Themes
Family, Abuse, and Entrapment Theme Icon
Shawn and Tara have a pleasant drive, but on the way back up the mountain, Shawn jerks the car onto a side road and drives towards the church, bringing the vehicle to a stop in the parking lot. Shawn asks if Tara has been “talk[ing] much” to Audrey, who is a “lying piece of shit.” Shawn tells Tara that he’d put a bullet in Audrey’s head if she weren’t such a “worthless bitch” and a waste of a good bullet. Tara refuses to look at Shawn as he unleashes this rant, staying still in hopes that she can have some “control” over the situation by not responding to it. Shawn starts the ignition and asks Tara if she wants to watch a movie. Tara simply nods, and as Shawn drives back up the mountain towards home, he chatters cheerfully about what they should watch.
Tara has been telling herself for a while now that things are home are good and getting better, but it’s all been a fantasy. In this passage, she realizes just how angry, unstable, and dangerous Shawn still is—and narrowly avoids being the subject of his terrible rage.
Themes
Memory, History, and Subjectivity Theme Icon
Family, Abuse, and Entrapment Theme Icon
Get the entire Educated LitChart as a printable PDF.
Educated PDF