Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are many ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair (Rick Warren). This quote directly relates to the theme of transformation that is constantly revealed throughout the novel. Dolores Price, a shattered, vulnerable young woman trudging through the hardships of the harsh adult world begins having trouble dodging the bullets life tends to throw. Through the battles she fights including her rape, her mother's death and her inconceivable weight gain Dolores finds herself struggling to recover from the scarring events that seem to haunt her. The reader sees the grim development from a once naive, adventurous child to an emotional wreck of an adult clinging onto her past tragedies. However, Dolores discovers that the only way to a happy ending is to gather whatever personal strength she can gather and to banish her inner demons. In the book She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb demonstrates how the personal struggles one faces in life can transform an individual for the better. .
Throughout the book, Dolores is consumed in a world of self destruction and suffering due to the unspeakable past that torments her. Her journey into adulthood is a harsh account of abandonment that is a difficult pill to swallow. At a young age, the most precious thing a child possesses is their innocence. Unfortunately that gift was taken from Dolores almost instantly. From watching her mother emotionally fall apart from her miscarriage, Dolores was exposed to guilt and sadness early on. Dolores' life seems to be a domino effect of one tragic event after another, as her mother's mental state triggers her father leaving, forcing them to live at her miserable Grandma's house. The sense of abandonment Dolores was exposed to from her father's departure leaves her in an atmosphere of isolation, which then allows for a warped sense of love and affection.
