She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb Essays

Rose Mary Walls is far from being a caring mother or a positive role model to her children. She is unable to provide the basic necessities required for survival and even resorts to stealing what little resources the family has for herself; “I wondered if she had been looking forward to

Lauren’s mother succumbed to the troubles of the world and was addicted to drugs while she was pregnant. Her mother’s addiction caused the severity of Lauren’s

You’d be hard pressed to find one in a crowd. The average serial killer generally blends in with everyone else (Directory Journal, 2010). In fact, most are soft-spoken and even polite. Their monstrous nature only comes through when you dig deeper into their personalities, actions, and habits. Most seem to have come from dysfunctional family settings and were emotionally, sexually, or even verbally abused as children (Directory Journal, 2010). It is almost as if this background activates some psychological trigger that increases their feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness that led them to seek out their own heinous form of release.

Straying away from life as a whole only to be alone, some may say is the strong way to heal themselves when dealing with extreme grief or a major crisis . In the book Wild, twenty-two year old Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost it all. Dealing with the loss of her mother, her family torn to pieces, and her very own marriage was being destroyed right before her very eyes. Living life with nothing more to lose, lifeless, she made the most life changing decision of her life. Strayed never seems remorseful on her decisions to up and leave everything behind while deciding to flee from it all. This being her way of dealing with life, it shows her as being strong; a woman of great strength and character. She shows personal strength, which is

Her adjustment is impaired, which leads to violence directed at others. Maureen stabs her mother and spends a year incarcerated and institutionalized.

Dolores has checked out her adult son from a court ordered mental health facility from beating his ex-wife lover almost to death in their home. Pat Jr., a young adult, was diagnosed with bipolar behavior and has been currently seeing a psychologist. Pat Sr. was not included in this decision Dolores made, which has made him feel excluded from any decision making process. Dolores has always been the one to be compassionate and supportive with both her son and husband’s behavior issues. Dolores appears to be the glue that holds the family together.

Sane or normal people have wondered at one time or another what it is like in a

Jeannette Walls’s memoir is the heart wrenching story of her past. Walls had a very troubled upbringing which consisted of her alcoholic father, careless mother, malicious schoolkids and abusive extended family. The horrible things that Jeannette Walls went through in her childhood are important social issues that should have more light shed on them by the media.

At the next psychosocial stage, we find Dolores is in stage four of Erikson’s theory, industry vs. inferiority. This is when a child begins to seek approval for their accomplishments, start to hone their skills and complete goals. At this point, Dolores’s family television has taken over most of the family’s time, mom, dad, and even grandma when she visits watches it. She is not going outside to play and is desperately seeking attention from her parents. Her dad is spending a lot of time with his employer, Mrs. Masicotte. When her and her father’s “meetings” would go too long she would intentionally dare herself to do bad things. Dolores said, “my actions-each of which invited my father’s anger-shocked and pleased me” (Lamb, 10).

Lastly, her family betrayed her by not listening to her side of the story after her sister told lies about her, and they betrayed her when they acted as if they did not care if she moved out of the house. In all of these actions, the family itself and certain members of the family are portrayed as uncaring, unsupportive, disrespectful, conniving, deceitful, and hateful to Sister. Through every action of the family, Sister is treated harshly, and she tries to not let this bother her. Yet, anger and bitterness build up inside of her until she cannot take it anymore. Consequently, it built up so much inside of her that it severely affected Sister so profoundly that she moved away from her home to get away from her family.

Jeannette Walls is shaped by the independence of her entire childhood as she learned how to create her own future and fend for herself. For example, as Rosemary Walls throws another fit about her “horrible” life, Jeannette vows that she will never end up like her own mother and that she would never feel sorry for herself (248). Jeannette is tired of having to always pick up the messes that her parents constantly

Riding the Pale Horse of Death, Aileen Wuornos murdered seven men over a nineteen-month period from December 1989 until November 1990, along highways in the state of Florida. While working as a prostitute, Aileen would solicit her victims then murder them. Wuornos confessed to committing seven murders. Aileen Wuornos was found guilty and convicted of six murders. Aileen received the dubious honor of being named officially the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s first female serial killer. Aileen was given six death sentences, more than anyone else on Death Row at that time and maybe even to this day. Ms. Wuornos was

The pressure to lose weight in today’s society inhibits the personality and health of overweight people while essentially increasing the weight of the people who experience these pressures (Worley 163-167). So reasons Mary Ray Worley in her article, “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance.” Worley uses her personal experience as well as a small number of facts to dispute why overweight people struggle as they attempt to contribute to society (163-167). In the beginning of her article she references an association of which she is a member, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, to convey the possibilities to advance society when judgement based on size is abandoned (163-164). The association holds a conference every year, and Worley continually refers to the atmosphere at the convention as “another planet,” suggesting that the scarcity of judgment during the convention differed significantly from her everyday experiences (163-164, 167). Applying her encounters to all people of her weight category, she declares that even doctors blame the majority of sicknesses on weight (165). She also proclaims that people should not diet and exercise in order to lose weight, as this triggers loss of motivation without results, but to improve their attitude and mood (166). Referencing Dr. Diane Budd from the convention, she states that attempts to lose weight cause “lasting harmful effects on one’s appetite, metabolism, and self-esteem” (164). While Worley’s unjustifiable

At 11 years old she saw her mother deceased in a casket. She gave birth to her first baby at the age of 16 and had five more children to relieve issues of feeling empty and alone. As the pressures of teen pregnancy, poverty and motherhood mount Diane turns to crack cocaine and neglect her then young children. Her eldest daughter reports her drug use to her teachers which results in the removal of all six of Diane’s children into foster care for a period of 10 years. During that time Diane turns to her community drug rehabilitation center, Child welfare services, her religion and her therapist for help in recovering from her addictions and for help in reuniting with her children.

Once this girl started with the drugs, she could not stop. As soon as she tried the first drug, it lead to all of the other drugs and things that she did. Her first time doing the drug was an accident, and she did not know, but she made the wrong choice in continuing to do them. She said it gave her a feeling of belonging and love that she had never felt before. If her parents or her close friends had paid more attention to her, then some of the events that happened would not have happened. Her heavy drug use lead to her runaway from home to the streets, involvement in crime, her prostitution, and her visit to the insane asylum. She found a "best friend" (Chris) - one that would give her drugs - and they decided to runaway and leave their family and friends to start their own shop in San Francisco. They thought they could not handle their parents telling them what is right and what is wrong, but that is what they needed to hear. They were naive in thinking they could live their lives alone without any rules or any authority.