Her parents pity her and are embarrassed by her. Her college roommate catches her at the secret eating and offers to help her get control of her eating problem. The diet and exercise ritual, combined with smoking, brings her down 60 pounds and makes her beautiful and eligible to be married. At this point, Louise is not a hero because even though she has conquered the war within herself, society influenced her to change.

             Louise has gained self-respect for herself and self-interest in staying thin to please her husband. She feels that "somehow she had lost more than pounds of fat; that some time during her dieting she had lost herself too" (Dubus 52-53). Her parents are proud but often she senses no one knows who she really is-that she really is not this slim 120 pounds of beauty. At this moment she does not care about society"s opinion and so during her pregnancy she loses the discipline and eats compulsively and secretly. After her baby is born, she continues to eat – her husband disapproves and does not want to touch or be affectionate towards her anymore. The marriage, based only on appearance, starts to disintegrate; she talks herself into looking forward to being alone with her child and being able to eat anything she chooses without being scolded. Louise is a hero for realizing something important about her life. Society"s opinion should not influence her self-image, she should be happy with the true person within her.

             "The Fat Girl," a short complex story narrated by a woman with an eating disorder focuses on her feelings rather than giving any clinical diagnosis of the problem. Vicariously we feel, along with Louise, the pity and disapproval of her parents whose standards, especially her mother"s, seem completely superficial. Her roommate, Carrie, loves the hidden Louise and this increases Louise"s self-esteem and desire to lose weight. Carrie cares for her and helps her fight her need to eat.