Free College Essays - Self-Destruction in Shes Come Undone by Wally Lamb :: Shes Come Undone

Shes Come Undone - Self-Destruction  In Shes Come Undone Wally Lamb addresses the cause of personal trauma on ones self-image and the propensity of survivors to move towards self-destruction. Dolores believes that she is the cause of all of her tragedies, including her enthral and her mothers end, and that the one true evil in her life is herself. She convinces herself that she deserves whatever twinge she may receive along the course of life. With each new hardship, her guilt is increased. Her destruction begins with overeating and culminates in attempted suicide. When Dolores is in eighth grade she is ransacked by Jack, one of her grandmothers tenants. She had always had a crush on Jack and allowed him to give her rides to and from school. She decides that he must have been encouraged by her actions and that therefore the rape is her fault. Shortly after Dolores is raped, Jacks wife, Rita, has a miscarriage. Although Rita has had many miscarriages before, Dolores is su re that this one is a result of "the filthy thing that she and Jack had done" (Lamb 111). From then on, Dolores considers herself to be a "baby-killer" (112). During her high school years, Dolores only companions are her television and her junk food. She isolates herself from her peers. She eats constantly and becomes extremely overweight. She also takes up smoking. Although her doctor warns her that her lifestyle is putting her health in serious danger, she continues to binge and smoke. She does not feel that her life is worth worrying about (126). Shortly after Dolores high school graduation, Dolores mother is killed when she is remove by a semi truck. Dolores blames herself and reasons that her mothers death must be Dolores punishment for being a horrible daughter. She recalls what her mother said on the night of her death "Youve made me so ... tired" (135). She remembers how awful she was to her mother during the months before her death (138). She fee ls that she should have died kinda of her mother. She bargains with God to bring her mother back and take her instead (138). Dolores self-destruction culminates in attempted suicide. She hires a taxi to take her to Cape Cod, where she plans to commit suicide amongst the beached whales.