While her mother was alive, many questions went unanswered and many issues unresolved, and now these issues loom in Dolores's mind. College had been Mrs. Price's dream for her daughter, and Dolores seeks to fulfill this dream despite her personal lack of interest. The other students first shun, and then take advantage of Dolores because of her weight. Desperate for acceptance, Dolores runs errands for her roommate Kippy. Secretly, Dolores develops an obsession with Kippy's boyfriend Dante, and begins to steal letters and pictures of him sent in the mail. Before the end of the first system, Dolores flees to Cape Code, where she considers suicide. In Cap Code, whales had been dying and washing up on shore. Dolores is fascinated by the dead whales, and goes to the beach to have an eye-to-eye encounter with one of them, which she describes; "The eye stared back at me without seeing. The iris was milky and blank, blurred by seawater. A cataract eye, an eye full of death". Shortly afterwards, Dolores is admitted into a mental hospital.
During her seven years of psychiatric treatment, the troubled young woman attempts to understand, accept, and move on from the turbulent events of her past. In therapy, her psychiatrist Dr. Shaw treats Dolores with "reparenting", which entails a process of rebirth and redevelopment under the doctor's care. The core objective of "reparenting" is to start anew, abandoning all hurt and resentment and beginning life with a hopeful, rather than angry, disposition. She learns that rape, which had tormented her for years, was not her fault, and that although it had been degrading, painful, and wrong, it was over, and she still had a life ahead of her. Dr. Shaw also helps Dolores to reach a point of closure regarding her father. Deciding to exclude him from her life, Dolores must accept his absence and forgive him for abandoning and destroying their family. Coming to terms with burdens of her past allows Dolores to lost weight and function as a normal adult.
ENG 214: RESEARCH METHODS LECTURERS: Mrs Abdulsalam Nike and Mr Mathias Orhero This course is designed to equip students with the knowledge, methods and technicalities of research writing. In every institution of the world, students must submit a form of research work or another as a pre-requisit...
