Who is Audrey Westover? What is Audrey’s relationship with her sister Tara like? Are they still in contact?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Audrey Westover is the fictional name Tara Westover gives to her only sister in the memoir Educated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ll cover parts of Educated<\/em> that demonstrate the complicated relationship between Audrey Westover and the author. We’ll also look at why they’re no longer in contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Audrey and Tara’s brother, Shawn, had a history of abusing women. By the second half of the memoir, Shawn is married to Emily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One night while Tara was home from college, Emily came running to the home of the Westover parents, Gene and Faye, crying and shaking with terror. Shawn had gotten angry with Emily for bringing home the wrong crackers for their son and violently thrown her out of the trailer in the dead of winter. Yet Tara\u2019s parents continued to do nothing about Shawn\u2019s disturbing behavior<\/strong>, even when it put their grandson and daughter-in-law at clear risk. In speaking about this incident with her sister Audrey, Tara learned that she, too, had been abused by Shawn. Being her older sister, Audrey had experienced all of it first, before Tara did. Audrey would later recount to Tara via email that she never believed their mother would intervene to stop him and protect her daughters<\/strong>. But she was determined to do something about it now<\/em>, before the situation escalated any further. Tara was afraid to reveal the abuse to her parents out of fear that they already <\/em>knew and had chosen to do nothing about it. The day after the sisters\u2019 email exchange, Audrey Westover confronted Faye about Shawn. Later that evening, Faye got in touch with Tara online to discuss the matter further. Faye confessed to having looked the other way at what her son was doing to her daughters. She had wanted to believe that Shawn was irrational and not in control of his actions<\/strong> and, therefore, not responsible for them. Faye acknowledged that she should have protected Tara and Audrey. It seemed <\/em>like they had reached a breakthrough. But Faye\u2019s support and understanding would sadly prove to be illusory.<\/strong> When Tara returned to Buck\u2019s Peak for Grandma-down-the-hill\u2019s funeral, Audrey told Tara that nothing had changed. No one had taken any action at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One night when they were alone, Shawn confronted Tara about her conversations with Audrey. Although Tara denied having spoken to her, Shawn once again revealed his malevolent streak. He called Audrey \u201ca lying piece of shit\u201d and said that he would be willing to murder her for her treachery (Shawn was often seen brandishing firearms), but he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to waste a good bullet on a worthless bitch.\u201d<\/strong> That same night, Tara decided to reveal everything to her parents. Her father, Gene, was outraged\u2014at Tara<\/em>. He demanded \u201cproof\u201d of the violent acts that Tara told him about. Tara insisted that he didn\u2019t need proof, that the truth was plain and obvious and had been right in front of his face for years. Faye, meanwhile, sat by completely silent, failing to rise in defense of Tara\u2019s claims. Back at school, Tara tried to shut out the awful events that had recently transpired on Buck\u2019s Peak. But she couldn\u2019t completely escape. Shawn began sending her threatening emails and even called her long-distance one evening to openly muse about whether he should hire an assassin to murder Tara or do the deed himself. Once again, her parents downplayed the significance of what Shawn said, saying that he was only joking or didn\u2019t really mean it. Eventually, Shawn stopped calling her. He finally wrote her a letter claiming that he never wanted to speak to her again, and warned her to stay away from his wife and daughter<\/strong>. Tara\u2019s parents, even her mother, defended Shawn\u2019s actions as entirely justified. To them, she\u2019d hurled baseless accusations at her brother and caused him and his family endless emotional anguish. To them, <\/strong>she <\/em><\/strong>was the abuser<\/strong>. It was a total denial and inversion of reality. In the end, this force of denial even swept up Audrey Westover, Tara\u2019s erstwhile ally in the fight to bring the truth to light. The family was closing ranks\u2014against their youngest daughter. <\/strong>Sure enough, Audrey likewise told Tara to stay away from her forever. Tara had lost her family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who is Audrey Westover? What is Audrey’s relationship with her sister Tara like? Are they still in contact? Audrey Westover is the fictional name Tara Westover gives to her only sister in the memoir Educated. We’ll cover parts of Educated that demonstrate the complicated relationship between Audrey Westover and the author. We’ll also look at why they’re no longer in contact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,33],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-1808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-people","tag-educated","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nAudrey Westover, Tara, and Their Brother Shawn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nAudrey Westover\u2019s Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nShawn’s Threat Toward Audrey Westover<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nAudrey Recants<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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