Educated: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

At the end of the semester, Tara returns to Buck’s Peak. She is awaiting the grades that will determine whether she will be able to return in the fall. Tara returns to her old job at Stokes, the grocery store, but Dad soon begins to insist that she come work for him at the scrap yard—he tells her that she isn’t “too good” for his kind of work. Tara is determined not to return to the scrap yard, but when Mother confronts her and tells her she won’t be allowed to stay if she doesn’t work for Dad, Tara quits her job at the grocery store.

After a month working in the junkyard, BYU seems like a distant dream. Everything at home is as Tara remembers—except for Shawn, who seems to have grown quiet, peaceful, and even studious as he prepares to obtain his GED. When Tara and Shawn attend a play at the local theater, Charles is there, and he asks Tara to go to the movies. She agrees. After their quasi-date, Tara comes home feeling light as air—and Shawn, who has been waiting up for her, congratulates her on her new “boyfriend.” As Tara heads to bed, though, she glimpses herself in the mirror, and becomes embarrassed by her boxy, unflattering scrapping clothes.

The next week, Tara drives to the nearest Walmart and buys some women’s clothing. Though the jeans and shirts she purchases are not immodest, Tara feels exposed in them. Nevertheless, that night, she puts the clothes on in preparation for her date with Charles. They go out every night that week for burgers and ice cream, but never have a conversation about whether they are hanging out as just friends or something more. One Friday night, Tara comes home and checks the computer to find that her grades have been posted—and are good enough for her to secure a half-scholarship, enabling her return to BYU. The next day, Tara tells Charles the good news. He asks if she’s angry that her parents never put her in school, and though she protests that her parents gave her an “advantage,” Charles says quietly that he’s angry on Tara’s behalf.

One night, driving to his house to watch a movie, Charles—at last, for the first time—reaches for Tara’s hand. She longs to hold his hand, but instead jerks hers away out of some “involuntary” instinct. When Charles reaches for her again she puts her hands beneath her thighs and thinks to herself the word “whore.” When she and Charles settle in on his couch to watch the movie, their legs touch briefly before Charles moves to sit on the floor.