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What is Dora's fundamental character?

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Blackjoker:
You know, looking back at it I think a lot of it is that Dora has trust issues that go a bit deeper than initially thought. Remember when Marten and Dora visited her parents, Doras mother said, IN FRONT OF HER, that she was honestly considering banging Marten and then got flippant when Dora understandably reacted poorly. We don't know how they were as parents exactly so I'll avoid speculation. Add in that Dora pointed out that plenty of her friends abandoned her in favor of Sven (it's possible that Dora freaked out at them for going with him so they avoided her but still). Add in Svens comments that Marten is the first 'positive' boyfriend that she's had and it gets rather depressing. Dora being nihilistic or misanthropic is fairly reasonable here, and the old sibling rivalry jealousy thing is possible too but I think it's a bit more primal than that; Dora seems to have a bit of Fayes problem near the beginning, where Faye was assuming constant attempts at groping or assault Dora instead seems to assume emotional assaults or betrayal. She had mentioned to Marten during the arc where they got together that she knew she still had issues but kept them well hidden, it's entirely possible that those issues ran much deeper than thought at the time. She might subconsciously see those around her as trying to sabotage her, Sven stealing her friends, previous lovers hurting her, and I don't know how many friends she has outside of the main cast.

I don't dislike Dora, but her behavior seems to be radically escalating in terms of viciousness and reaction. What actually bothered me was how irritated she looked in the Monday comic where she was looking at the laptop, angry that Marten didn't want her looking at it because apparently it was 'normal.' As for her fundamental character, I would probably guess depressed.

ChippyD:
My view, based on the fact that I come from a similar personality type, is that Dora feels she has a very empty life.

Seriously. Early on in the comic, Faye and Marten pretty much had to abduct Dora from her apartment. Dora has issues with filling the void in her life. Before, she was a nihilistic goth as an excuse to validate this problem: "The world's fucking worthless, so I'm not gonna play in it!" sort of deal. Once she shucked that attitude, she was still left with a very big hole in her life, and not much to fill it with. She runs Coffee of Doom so well because there literally seems to be nothing else in her life that could occupy her time. She's never seen talking to anyone outside of their group, she has hobbies to speak of. So the way that she fills that void in her life is to completely throw herself into the lives of other people, living vicariously through them, and the input they receive from her. If anyone disregards it "Oh My God Why Did You Cut Your Hair Without Asking Me?", that hole gets a little bigger. Vice versa, any time she's connected to something positive, she's over the moon "OMG I WANT TO BE THE FLOWER GIRL!".

I think one of the most important things Dora needs in order to improve her relationships with anyone, is to develope a sense of self-worth, and fill her life with things that occupy herself in particular. A new hobby. Another ring of friends to visit when this one needs a breather. I dunno. But she needs something where she can feel self-involved, rather than needing to completely leach off the positive energy of other peoples.

jwhouk:
C'mon, this is too easy. Piaget, Trust vs. Mistrust? Very big issue with borderline personalities.

Sven's man-hoeing wasn't the start of her issues, I'm betting. I'm not saying molestation as a child, but something screwed her up, and it was way before Sven's crusty socks.




Why, yes, I did graduate with a degree in Psychology, why do you ask?

Is it cold in here?:
Do you think Dora's a borderline?

IanClark:
The most defining borderline personality-ish trait of Dora is the fact that there seems to be reflexive Dora and rational Dora. Rational Dora thinks Marten would never cheat on her, respects people's privacy and doesn't fly off the handle for nearly no reason. The only problem is that rational Dora only comes out when she's had a moment to think about it or is in the mode of trying to analyze things. Being myself not a psychologist, I haven't dealt with enough BPD sufferers to know if such a distinct division is common, as in my experience both components of the personality seem to just exist without such a clear distinction of what makes one part show up as opposed to the other.

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