Alex Washam > Recent Status Updates

A character I disagree with all the time is Shawn. He is abusive, mentally ill, and a bad person. This is heavily influenced by his opinion of women, brain injuries, and neglect by his parents. It is extremely hard to empathize with him because he is such a bad brother to Tara and to people in general. I also believe that he has a natural inclination that was only made worse by the brain trauma.

A character I disagree with often is Tara's mother. She is an enabler of both Tara's father and Shawn, who make Tara's childhood hell. I believe Tara's mother's upbringing influenced her the most, emphasising obedience and submission, which makes her weak and impotent towards other characters in the story.

I learned about medicinal herbs and their uses. Many types can have many different effects, but they generally don't have the same level of punch as real medicine. This helps me better understand Educated in that I comprehend the lifestyle of Tara's family and realize how lucky they were to fix the numerous injuries they received.

An interesting thing the author brings up is how impotent we can be sometimes at controlling the problems that show up in our lives. The road to problems are filled with "[c]hoices, numberless as grains of sand... coalescing into sediment … until all is set in stone" (Westover 35). One can never predict the consequences of innumerable choices stacked together in life.