{"id":1809,"date":"2019-10-08T13:41:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T17:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=1809"},"modified":"2021-11-12T12:16:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T16:16:21","slug":"faye-westover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/faye-westover\/","title":{"rendered":"Faye Westover: Tara’s Cruel, Anti-Medicine Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who is Faye Westover? What is Faye’s relationship with her daughter Tara like? And why isn’t Tara Westover currently in contact with her mother?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye Westover is the fictional name Tara Westover gives her mother in her memoir Educated<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll look at Faye Westover’s relationship with the author and cover parts of Educated<\/em> that might indicate why Tara no longer has a relationship with her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Faye Westover’s Herbal Remedies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Faye’s husband Gene believed that the \u201cMedical Establishment\u201d injected brainwashing drugs into people\u2019s bodies. <\/strong>As a result, he refused to let the children go to the doctor, even when they sustained grievous injuries working in his junkyard or when they got debilitatingly sick.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife Faye Westover acted as the family\u2019s primary medical caregiver, concocting homeopathic remedies for the children. Tara and her siblings were treated with their mothers\u2019 herbal mixtures of calendula, lobelia, and witch hazel.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, when Tara was 12, she started suffering from painful sore throats. After Faye failed to reduce her swelling with echinacea and calendula, Tara was instructed to let the sun shine into her throat\u2014to allow the supposed healing powers of the sun to cure her. For a month that winter, she laid out in the backyard of their home for up to 30 minutes every day,  with her mouth agape, to no effect whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Faye\u2019s alleged expertise in homeopathic medicine<\/a> won her a reputation as an effective healer among those in the area who similarly rejected medical science. When Tara was a child, Faye became an assistant to a midwife named Judy, helping this woman with home births for families who rejected conventional prenatal care or hospital deliveries. Faye\u2019s entrance into the world of midwifery was largely at Gene\u2019s behest, who insisted that it would be important for the family\u2019s self-reliance if Faye knew how to deliver their future children (and grandchildren) free from the oppressive clutches of the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye Westover’s Midwifery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tara soon came to see just how risky and frightening unlicensed midwifery could be. Faye was clearly distraught by the idea of wielding this kind of responsibility, in which life and death hung in the balance.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She shared stories with Tara of births in which the mother suffered from uncontrollable hemorrhaging, or where the baby had the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. These were situations that could have been easily resolved had they taken place in a hospital setting: but they didn\u2019t, and Faye had to guide the mother and child through these situations with her fragmentary medical knowledge. Still, she helped deliver dozens of babies under Judy\u2019s \u201ctutelage.\u201d Eventually, when Judy moved away, Faye took over as head midwife.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risks were high. Midwifery was legal in the state, but Faye had no license to practice it. If a delivery went wrong, she could face severe civil and even criminal penalties. While still harrowing, Tara sees with hindsight that her mother derived a genuine sense of purpose<\/a> from serving as a midwife<\/strong>. For Faye, it was thoroughly empowering: she <\/em>was in charge, she wielded awesome responsibilities, and she was bringing in real money. This money even enabled the family to reinstall the phone line, which Gene had previously removed. Even Gene was willing to set aside his usual strictures against women working, as he believed that Faye\u2019s midwifery was a form of rebellion against the government<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara recalls accompanying her mother to a delivery when she was nine. To this point, she had been proud of her mother\u2019s work, and saw how the other people who were off the grid in their corner of Idaho respected her. On the way to the delivery, Faye rehearsed with Tara what the protocol would be if the Feds arrived. She was instructed to say nothing and give no information to the authorities. Tara was becoming aware of the risks. As her mom told her, \u201cAll it takes is one mistake, and you\u2019ll be visiting me in prison.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye Westover’s Transform<\/strong>ation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After a horrible car crash involving the whole family, Faye came out worst of all. Although she was never properly treated for it, her post-crash symptoms as described by Tara clearly point to a severe and permanently damaging concussion.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara recalls that her mother was never quite the same after the accident. <\/strong>She had difficulty being around bright lights, and confined herself to the basement for a week after the crash, where she could rest in darkness. Her eyes, meanwhile, had swollen to a deep black. Later, Tara would learn that these \u201craccoon eyes\u201d were a classic sign of serious brain injury. <\/strong>She would also continue to suffer from near-constant migraines, for which her homeopathic remedies were of little use. Most troublingly, Faye\u2019s short-term memory was impaired. In the ensuing months, she would repeatedly call Tara by the names of her siblings.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One might have thought that the trauma she suffered would have been a wake-up call to Faye, vividly demonstrating to her the danger in which her husband had placed the entire family. But the opposite happened. Her survival only seemed to <\/strong>deepen <\/em><\/strong>Faye\u2019s belief in her healing powers. <\/strong>Although still clearly suffering from the effects of the concussion, Faye redoubled her efforts to manufacture large batches of essential oils out of herbs like eucalyptus, sandalwood, and ravensara. She mixed different combinations together, believing that each mix had specific properties that could cure specific ailments. Over the years, she would create dozens of these \u201cmedicines.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also delved deeper into pseudo-scientific New Age \u201cenergy healing,\u201d believing that she could use the power of energy to cure injuries and disease, simply by laying her hands on someone in the right places and applying the right amount of pressure<\/strong>. She claimed that God was working through her fingers. Tara recalls diagrams of chakras and pressure points appearing throughout the house around this time.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, Faye began selling her blended oils and charging clients for \u201cenergy work.\u201d She may have had no license or training, but Tara\u2019s mother was well on her way to becoming the established medical authority for fellow off-the-grid families in their county. <\/strong>Eventually, Faye came to believe that she could diagnose illnesses simply by touching people and objects. In effect, she had come to believe that she possessed magical powers. 
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye Westover, Teacher<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The only early education Tara received had been homeschooling from her mother<\/strong>. Faye would announce the beginning of these sessions by declaring that they would be \u201cdoing school.\u201d Initially, Faye had been idealistic about homeschooling, believing that she was offering her children a better <\/em>education than what they would receive in public school. Even homeschooling, however, soon ran afoul of Gene\u2019s ideological and religious fanaticism. He wanted the children to learn practical skills, and fought with Faye to have them start working in the family\u2019s junkyard.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as with her midwifery and her homeopathy, Faye had no formal training or license to properly conduct homeschooling<\/strong>. Sadly, the results showed. Tara\u2019s brother Luke was barely literate, while Tara herself had almost no instruction in basic math. Faye\u2019s only teaching materials were some paperbacks and a motley collection of old textbooks. When she was \u201creading\u201d her math textbook, Tara would usually just run her finger down the centerfold of the page\u2014when it reached the bottom, she credited herself with having \u201cread\u201d the page. Occasionally, however, Tara\u2019s literary diet would be supplemented by trips to the local library, where she and her siblings were able to read some children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even this makeshift schooling came to an end when Gene\u2019s ideology hardened and became even more <\/em>extreme as Tara grew older. \u201cDoing school\u201d had ceased altogether by the time she was eight. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye Westover Fails to Protect Her Daughters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tara’s older brother Shawn repeatedly abused her and other women. In speaking about one 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.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day after the sisters\u2019 email exchange, Audrey 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><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Tara returned to Buck\u2019s Peak for a funeral, Audrey told Tara that nothing had changed. No one had taken any action at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Tara herself confronted her parents, 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.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye, meanwhile, sat by completely silent, failing to rise in defense of Tara\u2019s claims. Gene insisted that Shawn be given an opportunity to answer the charges in person. When Shawn came in, he gave Tara a knife that was covered in blood. He then told her that if she didn\u2019t use the knife on herself, he would use it on her<\/em>.<\/strong> This threat, made right in front of Faye and Gene, met with only mild rebukes from them. Tara fled the scene early the next morning, quite understandably in fear for her life.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Final Break From Faye Westover<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Still, Tara yearned to be part of her family. The heartache of being separated from them was destroying her. She decided to return to Buck\u2019s Peak for one last chance to reconcile. She showed up for a surprise visit. Faye was ecstatic when Tara came through the door. For a moment, Tara felt as though she was still loved, still accepted for who she was.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was, until she went to the family computer to send an email. She happened to see a previously sent email open in the browser, from Faye to Erin, one of Shawn\u2019s ex-girlfriends. In the email, Faye sang Shawn\u2019s praises as being a changed man who had been reborn and spiritually cleansed. Later in the message, Faye castigated Tara as a liar and a danger to the rest of the family.<\/strong> She said that Tara was lost and without faith.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message was clear: Faye would never <\/em>defend Tara and truly believed that the latter was the source of the family\u2019s problems. It was now clear that this was no longer Tara\u2019s home, and hadn\u2019t been for a long time. There was nothing left on Buck\u2019s Peak for Tara<\/strong>, nothing for her to cherish or hold on to.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She made an excuse that she was going to her car to take a drive. She got in her car and drove away\u2014away from Buck\u2019s Peak, and away from her former life<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who is Faye Westover? What is Faye’s relationship with her daughter Tara like? And why isn’t Tara Westover currently in contact with her mother? Faye Westover is the fictional name Tara Westover gives her mother in her memoir Educated. We’ll look at Faye Westover’s relationship with the author and cover parts of Educated that might indicate why Tara no longer has a relationship with her mother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,33,12],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-1809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting","category-people","category-relationships","tag-educated","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nFaye Westover: Tara's Cruel, Anti-Medicine Mother - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Faye Westover is the name Tara gives her mother in Educated. 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