In the case of Doris Finch it's achieving relatability in layers. Now that I phrase it that way, they did a very similar thing in Video/Movie/Shrek.
In Shrek, this is the whole sequence where the swamp gets invaded by the other fantasy creatures, up until the fight in Dulac. He tries to deal with his problems by scaring them away, because he doesn't know any other way of dealing with them. The problem is, he's just not scary enough for that to work on everyone. But he keeps trying, being especially awful to Donkey.