Ellason Boyle
ENG 3U
Mr. Zago
January 9 2012
Self-Discovery in ‘She’s Come Undone’ Self-discovery, by definition, is the act or process of achieving understanding or knowledge of oneself or, in other words, identifying your own individuality. To understand who you are is extremely important if one wants to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment. In reality, people struggle every day to uncover who they really are and for Ms. Price, this was no exception. Her life was not always stable which made her journey to discover herself extremely strenuous. Dolores Price, the main character in ‘She’s Come Undone’ by Wally Lamb, had many traumatic events that occurred during her life that persuaded her to discover who her inner self was as well as therapy and significant symbols that meant a lot to her through her journey. To begin with, Dolores Price had to overcome many traumatic and negative memorable events that life supplied her with. The thing that started it all was the miscarriage of her little brother Anthony and the separation of her mother and father. She, like a normal child caught in the middle of their parent’s separation, feels like the separation was her fault and that she could have prevented it. Another scarring event that she was forced to endure was being raped by her neighbour, Jack Speight, in eighth grade. After being raped Rita, Jack’s wife, has a miscarriage and Dolores, again, thinks that this is her fault. These lead to the other major problems that she had to overcome as her life progressed and she grew older. Her mother Bernice Price, was killed by an incoming semi truck on her way to work. Dolores felt as if it were her fault because the last thing Bernice said to her is “You’ve made me so... tired” (Lamb 135). Dolores strived and lived through these events and as she grew older, not only physically but mentally, she realized that these events and failed relationships were not her fault. People in real life are usually forced by traumatic events to become independent and to uncover who they are comfortable with being. Many people use therapy to discover who their inner-self truly is. Therapy is only a step of progression to the overall outcome of self-discovery. Dolores cried for help and therapy to discover her true self, although it was a subconscious call for help. She called her deceased mother’s life-long friend, Geneva Sweet, and it was her first step to uncovering who was really lying underneath her past. This was not so much a therapy, but a stepping stone to finding therapeutic help. Her therapeutic process really began when she was put under the care of Dr. Shaw, her therapist. During her time with Dr. Shaw, her disturbing past affairs are focused on and re-enacted since birth to replace the negative memories and phases and replace them with positive experiences. During this process she felt comfortable with her true self for the first time. “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself” (Fortgang ). Another part of her therapy was self-inflicted. She feels the need to be independent and leaves the mental institution then finds an apartment and finds herself in a relationship with Dante. This relationship wasn’t a healthy one, and once she realized this it brings her to her final stage of her self-discovery. Her relationship with Thayer causes her to realize, underneath her unfortunate past, that she is a beautiful person and is able to feel happy in life. A combination of different therapies caused her to realize that it’s okay to have a bad past and it’s better to be yourself. Finally, things that are important to people, like symbols, help them through tough times and can help them discover things about as they separate themselves from these ‘symbols’. Dolores Price has a few symbols that described who she was despite her past. One of these symbols is her etch-a-sketch that Dr. Shaw purchased for Dolores during her therapy at the mental institution. The etch-a-sketch symbolizes her freedom to express herself. When she was creating art through the etch-a-sketch, she felt that it was something she was good at and she could draw anything and not be made fun of or ridiculed. Another symbol that is present in the novel would be the amounts of food she ate after she was raped by Jack Speight. The cuisine that she indulged signified control. She had no other control over anything else in her life so when she was able to eat the food and control how much she took in, it gave her a sense of control. The whale that she tried to commit suicide beside symbolizes herself. She felt as if the whale was misunderstood and no one really knew its true intention. She felt as if the size of the whale also related to her because they were such heavy weighted creatures and she was able to form a connection with the whale because she was so overweight. These are major symbols that appear in the novel and affected Dolores Price’s life severely. In conclusion, the techniques and traumatic events that Dolores Price encounters in the novel helped her to discover who she was. The symbols or objects she had access to helped her through her tough phases and strenuous development. Using her therapy techniques along with her sentimental objects she was able to overcome the effect of her traumatic past.