In 1962 , Dolores notices that Selena has become increasingly withdrawn , frightened and anti-social . After speculating that she has met a boy or become involved in drugs , Dolores finally confronts her daughter as they return home on the island ferry . She explains the truth of the hatchet incident , which Joe has used to gain sympathy with his daughter , and Selena unwillingly confesses that her father has molested her . A hysterical Selena nearly jumps off the side of the ferry , but Dolores prevents her and comforts her , vowing to protect her . That night , she considers murdering Joe on the spot , describing the urge to kill him as the opening of an " inside eye " . Instead , she confronts him , promising to have him arrested if he ever touches Selena again . Dolores resolves to protect her children by leaving Joe , but when she attempts to withdraw her children 's savings accounts to fund their escape , she discovers Joe has stolen everything she had saved . In despair , she breaks down crying at work , forcing her to confide her troubles in Vera . An unusually sympathetic Vera reveals she has had some sort of experience with Dolores ' " inside eye " , and casually remarks that men like Joe often die in accidents , leaving their wives everything . As she departs , she implies that she arranged the car crash that killed her husband and advises Dolores that " sometimes , an accident can be an unhappy woman 's best friend . " Dolores begins plotting Joe 's death , but does not find an opportunity to put her plan into action until the summer of 1963 . Vera becomes obsessed with a total solar eclipse that will be visible from the island , convinced the event will convince her estranged children to visit her . She plans a massive viewing party on the Island ferry . Knowing that the Island will be mostly empty as a result , Dolores ensures Selena is sent to camp and her sons , Joe Jr. and Pete , are sent on a trip to visit family , and marks the location of a dried-up stone well in a patch of brambles on the edge of their property . When it becomes clear her children will not be joining her , Vera becomes despondent and lashes out at her hired help , calming only after Dolores confronts her over the unjust firing of one of the maids . On the day of the eclipse , Dolores buys Joe a bottle of fine scotch and makes him a sandwich , getting him drunk and comfortable , and they share a moment of physical affection for the first time in many years . As the eclipse begins , Dolores has a vision of a young girl in the path of the eclipse who is at that same moment being sexually abused by her father . Reminded of what she has set out to do , she deliberately enrages Joe by claiming she has recovered the money he had stolen and provokes him into attacking her . She flees into the brambles , leading Joe to the well and tricking him into stepping on the rotted boards that cover it . The planks break and he falls into the well , but is not instantly killed . He calls out for help for some time before eventually falling unconscious . Dolores returns to the house and falls asleep , but has a nightmare and forces herself to go outside to check the well . She arrives to discover Joe has regained consciousness , and has managed to nearly climb out of the well , grabbing at Dolores and attempting to pull her in with him . She finally kills him by hitting him in the face with a rock , and he falls back into the well
total solar eclipse
Solar eclipse of July 20, 1963
Dolores Claiborne