"Dolores Claiborne"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the abuse and victimization as portrayed in the movie and determines if murder is a justifiable action in the context of a domestic violence situation. Domestic violence is an enduring problem in our society, and the paper explains how this film graphically shows how horrible abuse can be and how people react to it differently. Some make themselves victims, and some stand up to the abuse.

From the Paper:

""Dolores Claiborne" is a disturbing film about the after effects of domestic abuse and victimization, and both leading women in the film are clearly suffering from living and growing up in a dysfunctional family. Dolores is not a "nice" woman at all, "Sometimes being a bitch is the only thing a woman has to hang onto in this world," and it is clear she is a strong survivor who will not be victimized, while her daughter Selena, has taken on the role of victim quite nicely. She is repressing the violence and abuse of her childhood with pills and booze, because she cannot confront her emotions about her past. Her father was an evil man, and if anyone deserved to fall down a well, it was him. In one flashback, Dolores remembers him picking up a block of wood whacking Dolores on the back with it. "Why do you make me do that?" he asks her ("Dolores Claiborne"). This is typical of the abuser; they blame the abused for their dreadful actions."

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