The Journal of Seeking Peace

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generations, as she almost spent her whole life there. She is familiar with everything in the town; she loves the town and belongs to the town. However, the accident alienates her from her town. Because of the accident, the townsfolk want to blame her and avoid her. After the accident, Jimbo Gagne, who works in Billy’s garage, visits Dolores’s home to buy Dolores’s old Dodge wagon. Dolores is so grateful for the visit. She tells the reader, “He [is] the first person from the town who [has] come out to the house in a normal way and on his own since the accident… I’d probably have given him my almost new Voyager van for a dollar, if he’d [ask] me for it” (Banks 229). Then Dolores sells her old wagon to Jimbo for one dollar because she wants to please the town’s people and wants to reconnect with them. In the final section of the book, the town has shunned Dolores for six months. She goes back to the town and watches the demolition derby at the Sam Dent County Fair. The boomer, her old wagon that now belongs to Jimbo, is one of the entries. The crowd cheers every time the boomer takes a hit. The other drivers understand the town’s desire to punish the car and to punish Dolores, attack with their anger. Even though other cars drop out of the competition and permanently stop, Boomer is the survivor. The crowd begins chanting, “Boomer! Boomer! Boomer!” (Banks 253). The town’s people rejoice. The demolition derby helps the town deal with the tragedy of the accident, helps the town’s people release their hatred by damaging the car, and this helps Dolores find the forgiveness of the town. We do not expect people will treat Dolores the same as before, but Dolores finds redemption and recovers mentally in the end.

By telling her story, Dolores is the person who gains the most. Another narrator, Billy Ansel, a father who lost two kids, becomes an alcoholic waiting for the end of his life. Mitchell Stephens, a lawyer, merely wants to find somebody to blame. Nichole, another accident survivor, finds relief from her father’s molestation since she cannot walk because of the accident, but she also loses so much. In contrast, Dolores gains relief after the accident, gets a chance to accept what happens to her, gets a sense of validation and the acceptance from the town’s people. Life goes on, and the love between people will help them walk through the tough winter and create the new life.

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