She's Come Undone - Self-DestructionIn She's Come Undone Wally Lamb addresses the effects of personal trauma on self-image and the propensity of survivors to move inward - destruction. Dolores believes that she is the cause of all her tragedies, including her mother's rape and death, and that the only true evil in her life is herself. He convinces himself that he deserves whatever pain he may receive in life. With each new difficulty, his guilt increases. His destruction begins with overeating and culminates in a suicide attempt. When Dolores is in eighth grade she is raped by Jack, one of her grandmother's tenants. She had always had a crush on Jack and would let him drive her to and from school. She decides that he must have been encouraged by her actions and that the rape was therefore his fault. Shortly after Dolores' rape, Jack's wife, Rita, has a miscarriage. Although Rita has had many miscarriages before, Dolores is sure that this is the result of the "dirty thing that {she and Jack} had done" (Lamb 111). From then on, Dolores considers herself a "child killer" (112). During her high school years, Dolores' only companions are television and junk food. He isolates himself from his peers. He eats constantly and becomes extremely overweight. He also starts smoking. Even though her doctor warns her that her lifestyle seriously endangers her health, she continues to binge drink and smoke. He doesn't think his life is worth worrying about (126). Shortly after Dolores's high school graduation, Dolores' mother is killed when she is hit by a semi-truck. Dolores blames herself and feels that her mother's death must be Dolores' punishment for being a horrible daughter. She remembers what her mother said to her on the night of her death: “You made me so…tired” (135). She remembers how horrible she had been to her mother in the months before her death (138). She feels that she should have died instead of her mother. He bargains with God to bring his mother back and take her instead (138). Dolores' self-destruction culminates in a suicide attempt. She hires a taxi to take her to Cape Cod, where she intends to commit suicide among the beached whales.