Anisha Lahkani, "Schooled"

            It was well established in our class that we considered Anna Taggert—the unlikely heroine of the novel and projected identity of the author herself—a hypocrite. As she shuffled her way through the East Side private school, succumbing to the temptation of material wealth and designer brands, Taggert criticized those who did the same, when—in actuality—she was criticizing the lifestyle she chose. Therein lies the hypocrisy. This begs me to wonder if our hate for Anna—and by extension, Lahkani—that we are so comfortable articulating, stems from a recognition of that same hypocrisy in ourselves.

            The reign of the expensive private tutors in Anna’s experience is one where teachers use this side-job to supplement their oh-so-meager salary. However, there’s a catch: to be one of these top tutors, raking in somewhere around two hundred an hour, you must be willing to renounce all that you stand for in the teaching field. As Anna notes, to be a marketable tutor, you must essentially do the homework for the student—a loss of integrity in education and a loss of morality.

            It is simple for a reader to flip through these pages, lock onto the brand-name references, and turn a disapproving eye. Likewise, it is simple to turn the book over, see the image of Lahkani with her starched Oxford button-up and pearl earrings, and shake your head with disdain. Anna Taggert has fallen victim to the underground economy of prep school tutoring; Anisha Lahkani has revealed the “dark truths” of elite schooling with the objective of making money off a bestseller. Is it really so simple to judge them? Is it really so simple to scoff and shout vulgarities? Implicit in those actions is the message that we, then, are cherub-like individuals, with a wholly intact moral code. Is this really true? For most, probably not.

            Paulina Porizkova explains it well in her review of the novel: “I stayed up way past midnight, alternately laughing and cringing as I made plans to go and blow some money on designer clothes with all the money I’d save by home schooling my children.” Reading through the corruption of the elite schooling realm, it is easy to judge Anna Taggert and Anisha Lahkani. However, thus judgment and criticism only serves to reveal insecurities. The novel, “Schooled,” does more than present a one-dimensional image of corruption and temptation; it forces readers to challenge their own hypocrisy. It may not be private tutoring to buy a Chanel bag, but—as Anna Taggert reminds us through example—there will always be temptations, there will never be purity of motives, and there is somehow a shortcut to get there.