How to Survive a Family Cult in Angeles National Forest According to the Journal

To get a sense of the weird — and often terrifying — Michelle Dowd’s teenage years, you can look at the words she uses in her new memoir, “Forager.” She belongs to a family cult known as The Field. which is determined to save the lives of outsiders to do this She makes trips that include a tent recovery point. That way, she and her family are prepared. “If the apocalypse falls upon us and the blood on the horse’s reins.”

In 1976, when Dowd was seven years old, her family moved to a 16-acre property in the Angeles National Forest that her grandfather rented. (Spoiler: He doesn’t.) At the main course of the stadium in Arcadia, Dowd’s father and grandfather prepare the young man for the last days through Army Training and the so-called bible test rounds. bible basketball Meanwhile, the girls are trained in survival skills in the forest. This includes identifying native plants and protecting bears. Her mother was a skilled naturalist. And her axioms repeat in Dowd’s head throughout the book: “Fear not, be capable.” survive by faith”

Dowd signaled the peculiarities of her 13-year existence early on. Girls’ Day clothing is a recycled pillowcase. On trips, she wears a full-body robe called a djellaba, “to prevent men from looking at our bodies.” On one trip, an RV caught fire. dead dog inside The incident at the stadium was so intent on God’s will that Dowd’s sister painted a car — whose driver was in the frame. (“It will hang in your house for many years. And I’ll watch it every time taking care of her kids.”) But Dowd deliberately keeps the narrative from reaching a boiling point. It reminds me of this violent antisocial existence for many years, like something normal.

Until it inevitably stopped feeling that way. Dowd’s transformation is part of plain curiosity. She was constantly trained on Bible verses. But when approaching adolescence She began to notice biblical contradictions and the hypocrisy of converts. She recorded it along with other observations. in the Sears catalog which was the only secular book in her possession. She hid it under her mattress.

But limitations and persecution are both physical and mental. And with the middle point, “Hunter” becomes a memoir of the trauma implied only on the first page. The structure of the stadium is patriarchal and aggressive. The women were expected to be innocent and submissive. When the uncle arrived at the field, she identified which one was “From the way he twisted my arm, pulled my hair, or rubbed his mustache along my inner thighs. in the softest spots on my body.”

Dowd, just a teenager, was denied language and social distancing, calling it abuse. which makes the story more impactful on the page What she has is the language of the survivor: “I don’t know what is appropriate for humans. when talking about humans I only know the characteristics of apex hunters and how to appease them.”

“Forager” is more than just a faint echo. Based on the memoir of Tara Westover’s 2018 blockbuster “Educated,” which recounts Childhood in a separatist family before Westover was freed to pursue a PhD at Cambridge, Dowd also split up. She contacted former field members (“Quitters”), was excommunicated, attended college, and, of course, she wrote this book. But “Forager”‘s arc isn’t nearly as triumphant. Unlike Westover’s, where solitude has been replaced by secularism, Dowd shares enough information about her post-court life to say that her 1986 escape. successful And indeed, “escape” is the correct word for what happened.

As the book focuses on her 10 years as a full member of the Field, an air of confusion hangs over the narrative. It was undoubtedly a time of abuse and abuse. Worse, because God became a veil for everyone to hide behind. “Silence is a collusion. Like consent,” she wrote, “in our family. We will be silent when we are lost. And we are trained to hold our heads up. not meeting each other.”

Dowd’s story is a bitter irony. The intelligence and willpower she needs to get off the field—her survival skill—is taught through lessons. Designed to keep you there This book is stronger in some respects for not saying that irony. It prompts readers to think about our own youth. The risk of Dowd’s approach is ignoring those who can’t or can’t get out — those who lack determination. ingenuity Or Dowd’s luck? She notes that Field still exists, but is now Are “Completely Different Organizations” Better or Worse? Knowing why it changed might provide some lessons on what makes families cult. and what might stop them?

Without that big-picture view, Dowd left the impression that she was grateful for the knowledge she had gained. Even if she wishes to obtain it in other ways. She has left the field but is still “My mother’s daughter”

Every chapter in “Forager” opens with a brief explanation. About the native plants she knew well in the forest: pine cones, succulents, berries, weeds, lichens. They were short, but they worked very figuratively. Practice strength and sustenance. California black oaks, for example, are “tough, durable, and self-reliant” — and by extension, so is Dowd. She provides this information bluntly but with a sense of pride. Hints that she grows just as these plants do. Her character and nature are intertwined. And the knowledge she had of both was a blessing. Sufficiency is a virtue But it’s not a social movement.

Athitakis is a Phoenix-based writer and author of “The New Midwest.”