Shannon answers “This book is disgusting to me. I do not...”

Patricia Barry asked this question about Educated:

This book is disgusting to me. I do not understand why an educated and worldly individual would have difficulty understanding the horrible and violent upbringing that she experienced. It is unbelievable to me that she could not understand the violent situation, yet uneducated upbringing she endured. I have completely misunderstood her manner of education in a life in our country, in this country, how is this possible?

Shannon If you actually read the book then you would see that she DID understand how horrible and violent her upbringing was...AFTER she was educated. Every c…moreIf you actually read the book then you would see that she DID understand how horrible and violent her upbringing was...AFTER she was educated. Every child thinks their "norm" is THE norm - particularly when they are completely isolated from the outside world and have no experiences to compare against (except other kids in the same community who were probably treated similarly, actually reinforcing that their norm is everyone's norm). Even as an older child when she tried to hide her family's antics from outsiders, it felt more like she simply didn't want to be embarrassed, rather than realizing that the behavior itself was actually unacceptable (like when you got in trouble for doing something wrong). Remember, she wasn't even allowed to read books. They had to be manipulated historical documents and Mormon religious texts only. They were brainwashed to believe that everything else was a lie told by the corrupt establishment (that was literally try to kill them, they believed).

Towards the end of the book she specifies that her family essentially split in half: those who received a formal education and those who never did. It was the educated children that finally came to realize how bad their upbringing really was, while the uneducated children continued to accept their norm as, actually normal.

If you can't understand her journey to enlightenment, you literally missed the whole point of the book.

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