What's Eating Gilbert Grape Essay

     John Hughes’ 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, gives countless examples of the principles of interpersonal communication. Five high school students: Allison, a weirdo, Brian, a nerd, John, a criminal, Claire, a prom queen, and Andrew, a jock, are forced to spend the day in Saturday detention. By the end of the day, they find that they have more in common than they ever realized.

The family has fallen into a pattern of dysfunction. This consists of Arnie acting out in some way. The behavior of Arnie causes Gilbert to assume responsibility and diffuse the situation. Most

referees to her as a “beached whale” because she has gained so much weight. One

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, a motion picture released in 1993 and directed by Lasse Hallström, follows the life of Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp) and his younger brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mentally disabled 17 year old. Their mother, Bonnie (Darlene Cates), is morbidly obese and has been home-bound for the past seven years following the suicide of her husband. After their father died, Gilbert became the main caregiver and provider for Arnie, their two sisters Amy and Ellen, and their mother. As they grew up, Gilbert quickly became Arnie’s role-model, and the two now share a special bond. The brothers work together at the local grocery store, are often found playing hide and seek, and have a special tradition where they watch the campers drive through their small town of Endora, Iowa every year. This year while watching the campers, a traveler named Becky (Juliette Lewis) caught Gilbert’s eye, and he has trouble keeping up with a new love interest and Arnie’s constant mischief.

The book, Of Mice and Men, and the movie, What's Eating Gilbert Grape are very similar in many ways. Despite the fact that they are very different stories, Of Mice and Men and What's Eating Gilbert Grape can be seen as parallel when analyzing the characters of George and Gilbert, Arnie and Lennie, and other similarities the stories share.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a 1993 American drama film written by Peter Hedges and directed by Lasse Hallstrom. The film’s main characters are Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape and Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape. The film depicts the burden of family caretaking and the affect it has on a family both mentally, physically, and financially. Gilbert is the primary caregiver for his mentally and developmentally disabled seventeen-year-old brother Arnie (who has the mental capacity of a young child), his morbidly obese mother Bonnie, known as Mama, and his two sisters Amy and Ellen. Amy, the oldest daughter, shares most of the household chores with Gilbert and helps with Arnie’s care. She plays the mother figure role for Arnie even though Arnie’s mother is alive. Ellen, the youngest daughter, is very negative in her feelings toward her family. She doesn’t help much with the family because she is busy being a teenage girl.

Arnie Grape was referred to this agency by Sheriff Jerry Farrell of the Endora Police Department. He was concerned about Arnie's continued lack of supervision. Sheriff Farrell stated that

His physical traits are poor, and from that aspect he isn't your typical hero. Even his mental strength is not on par with most ¨heroes¨ but his memories and ability to ¨avenge¨ his mother and sister's death he feels guilty about. He has nothing to lose so he is going to give everything he has.

Love is one of the most powerful forces in the world, and one of the most difficult to describe. It is one of those emotions that words do not seem to justify a person may feel it, but may not be able to explain it. However, that does not mean that people do not know that love is out there. Many people believe that everyone has one true love somewhere in the world, and spend their lives searching for that person. Love is not difficult to find though. It exists in many forms, including love between family members, friends, different races, and even the love for oneself, both in the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Frannie Flagg and in one's own life.The first and most basic form of love is found in the family.

Gilbert is forced to work at a local grocery store because he has to provide income for his family. Due to his mother’s inability to move and his father’s death, great pressure is put on him to provide for a family of five. Throughout the film, many factors often portray how he has a great deal of pressure. Although Gilbert has the ability to abandon responsibility, the societal factor of being the oldest male chains him to be responsible for the family. He does not realize that he is masking his inner self. Gilbert, like many males is “living behind a mask of masculine bravado that hides the genuine self to conform to our society’s expectations; the feel it is necessary to cut themselves off from any feelings that society teaches them are unacceptable for men and boys—fear, uncertainty, feelings of loneliness and need (Pollack, 1999).” As explained by Pollack, societal pressure force Gilbert to think that he has to handle the situation alone and is afraid of asking for help which eventually causes him to become depressed. Throughout the majority of the film, he is rarely seen smiling, even though he loves his family and has a small group of friends, they fail to make him happy.

In frustration, Gilberts snaps and hits Arnie several times. He then leaves without telling a soul because he is so appalled from his actions. Gilbert finally returns during Arnie’s 18th birthday celebration in hopes to apologize to his family for leaving and his behavior towards Arnie. After Arnie’s birthday, the mother decides to climb the stairs to her bedroom which she has not done since her husband died. Arnie climbs the stairs seeing his mother lying in bed. As he attempts to wake her up he soon realizes she has died. To prevent anyone knowing of their mother’s death the family decides to instead set the house on fire. The movie ends with Gilbert and Arnie sitting by the road waiting for

He is incredibly smart and clever and he can read other people's expressions very well. He is also, an orphan who feels very lonely and isolated. After answering the ad and completing a series of increasingly complex and challenging tests, he and three other kids are picked to help Mr. Benedict on a secret mission. Reynie, Sticky Washington,

Various internal and external factors impact Gilbert’s progression throughout the film. Both internal and external factors link together as Gilbert internalizes the affects of the numerous external events that occur throughout his young life. Gilbert’s diminished self worth originates after losing his father at a young age and riles through the continual demands employed on him by Bonnie and the remainder of the Grape family. By continuously attending to the family’s needs, Gilbert has not established personal wants, desires, and goals. Throughout the film, Gilbert voices subtle displeasures of Endora and its bleak future with nothing to offer and void of change, when in truth, these reasons represent Gilbert.

Gilbert Grape is a 24-year-old Caucasian male living in Eldora, Iowa with his mother, Bonnie, his two sisters, Ellen and Amy, and his younger brother, Arnie. After their father committed suicide in their basement, Gilbert, his older sister Amy, and younger sister Ellen, have worked to take care of Bonnie, who is obese, and Arnie, who has a developmental disability. Gilbert, Amy, and Ellen also work on repairs, clean and do chores, and make food for the family. To provide money for the family Gilbert holds a job at the local grocery store called Lamson’s Grocery, while Ellen works at an ice cream shop called Dairy Dreme. Because of Arnie’s disability Gilbert is having to constantly take care of him and his needs and keep him out of trouble, since Bonnie is unable to because of her condition. Gilbert’s relationship with Amy and Arnie is stable, while Gilbert will sometimes argue with his sisters.

Thinking he was abandoned by his own mother, he developed a cunning character. He was a very naughty boy in the orphanage and the nuns disliked him. The nun presumed he was in jail, which actually was true. He was full of mischief, for instance, the part where the nun told Julius that Vincent had disgraced Sister Maria. Not only was he constantly causing mischief, he was a womanizer who slept around with other people’s wives and even borrowed money from Linda Mason who was his girlfriend. He escaped the orphanage and went incurring debts from everyone he knew. He was also suspected for starting a fire in the orphanage. He is also very money minded because he tries to steal money or somehow get his hands on money throughout the movie. He is a small time crook, steals cars and then sells them for money to pay off his debts. He was facing troubles with the loan sharks as he owed them a huge amount of money and couldn’t pay back. The loan sharks went in search for him. When he was stealing a Cadillac he came a across a fuel injector in the trunk that needs to be delivered for 5 million dollars. He was dishonest and decides to become the delivery man so that he can have the