What's Eating Gilbert Grape Life Stages

Mark Rydell’s “On Golden Pond” is a drama that emphasizes the stages people of various ages endures. Utilizing Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages as learned in Dr. Malone’s class, each of the main characters can be placed within a stage and their age-related crises analyzed. As this film is a drama, it was relatable to the audience, prompting personal reactions as well as implementing life examples of some of the theories studied in Malone’s class.

Life has its way of turning an individual’s attention to better understanding the overall course of life. One may experience different transitions, and turning points as well as particular life events and family experiences that may influence the developmental trajectories of life. The Moore Family- Ed, Jessica, Derrick, Terrance, Debbie and Barbara- all have stories that have unfolded over a period of time. One of the useful ways I will attempt to explain the Moore’s family stories, and the relationship between time and human behavior, is the life course perspective. The life course perspective maintains that chronological age, relationships, common life transitions, and social change shape people’s lives from birth to death (Hutchinson, 2013). Timing is very important.

Jane Godwin's book, 'Falling from Grace', explores the extent that each of the main characters grow in maturity. Maturity is not determined by age, but by the experiences that a person has which effects how far someone grows. We observe the main characters; Annie, Kip, Grace and Ted in their growth in maturity and how people still stay the same even into adulthood. As the characters mature, they can also see others in the different way, thinking the other has changed, but in reality, the change is within themselves. These are fundamental aspects of 'Falling from Grace'.

Becky becomes involved with the Grape family and helps Gilbert to realize that he is entitled to his own life, wants and needs. Gilbert Grape will be the focus of this paper and what can be done to implement changes in his life. These changes will benefit Gilbert and the entire Grape family, by focusing on a strengths prospective.

This theory attempts to explain why individuals who have had a rough or neglectful childhood have trouble adjusting in adult life, or why adolescents who had trouble finding and identity have issues later in life (Erikson, 1994). This theory helps therapists to ask more key questions about developmental stages and how the patient adjusted to each one (Mummendey, 1999). For example, If the patient was not able to establish a healthy identity then the therapist can identify what was in the way of the formation (Mummendey, 1999).

The Grape family lives in Pandora, Iowa. Gilbert is a Caucasian male, age 24. The presenting problem is grief and trauma due to his father committing suicide. His mom Bonnie was especially affected by the death of Gilbert’s father and due to this has become agoraphobic (7yrs). She has developed a food addiction, with clinical depression. With Bonnie’s clinical depression it has led her to withdraw from the family, creating a risk factor of instability in the family. This has created new social norms, rules and dynamics (unstable functioning level 1) (Vanhook, 2014). Level 1 being basic family functions, level 4 being leadership, flexibility and boundaries (Vanhook, 2014). This is displayed towards the bottom of the paper as seen in appendix one (Vanhook, 2014). Due to Arthur’s suicide there has been family dysfunction and conflict, with Gilbert and others having the perceptions that the family is “stuck in time.” Gilbert has a younger brother named Arnie who has autism and congenital heart defects. Gilbert has two younger sisters Amy (youngest) and Ellen. Amy is in high school getting ready to leave for college and Ellen is getting ready to go away for culinary training.

Many people want to grow up quickly, they wish to be on their own as soon as possible, but the process of growing up can be as challenging as climbing Mount Everest. In A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester, a teenage boys struggling with self-doubt, is a prime example of this. Year after year, people are met with inner turmoil on who they are and what they stand for, moreover, the transition between adolescent to adulthood only increases complications with identity.

Forrest Gump is an exceptional movie that includes a wide range variety of character diversity. Upon my examination of the movie, the first aspect I’d like to deliberate on is the developmental psychology of early adulthood. In the early adulthood life stage, individuals are typically between the ages of 20 and 35. Individuals in the early adulthood life stage are more than likely to possess good health, live a healthy active life, and are career oriented. Early adulthood life stage focuses on the formal cognitive stage, though there is much deliberation among many developmentalists.

Much like Maeve’s trial and error phase, Erikson’s theory of identity versus role confusion explains psychological conflict of adolescence. This theory states that this conflict is resolved positively when adolescents achieve an identity after a period of exploration and inner soul searching. If a young person’s earlier conflicts were resolved negatively or if society limits their choices to ones that do not match their abilities and desires, they may appear shallow, directionless, and unprepared for the challenges of late adulthood. (p. 314). Maeve luckily didn’t make many choices that were resolved negatively. These social and emotional changes weren’t always easy for the rest of the family to deal with, but they were a part of her growth. With us there to provide nurturing support, she was able to develop her own healthy identity after her period of “soul searching.”

In the novel, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, by Peter Hedges, Gilbert Grape, the protagonist, is twenty-four years old, living in the small town of Endora Iowa with his family. Throughout the book Gilbert is involved in two relationships that are different in many aspects. The first relationship is with Mrs. Carver, a married woman with two children. Gilbert’s relationship with Mrs. Carver has been ongoing for seven years. The relationship is based solely on sexual activity and is a toxic relationship for Gilbert. Gilbert’s second relationship is with Becky, an intriguing fifteen year old girl who is staying in Endora with her grandmother. Gilbert and Becky pursue an interesting relationship with one another but seem to have different objectives.

When a family is put in tough situations, it is natural to want to escape from it all. As a man surrounded by things that seem beyond his control, the main character of the film, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, shows the psychological emotional detachment that can occur when the realization of such an escape is impossible. Gilbert Grape is a man often thinking carefully about his situation and making an effort to filter his feelings. His family life is depressing, and his emotional response to his living arrangement is an overall rejection of everything around him. Gilbert often shows contempt for his family by having cynical thoughts of them whenever he speaks inwardly about them in his mind. Gilbert appears to be on autopilot through life, only speaking enough to keep things peaceful with friends and the people of Endora. Gilbert has a general lack of interest in most relationships outside of his family, and often turns a blind eye towards the town of Endora as a whole. His severance extends even to himself, as he is not emotionally honest with himself. As the film progresses, Gilbert's emotional state begins to readjust as he comes back into contact with his feelings. The emotional detachment is extreme for Gilbert, and Johnny Depp does an excellent job at depicting the psychological effects of a broken home and the difficulty one faces in overcoming it.

Written by Peter Hedges, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is the story of the Grape family, which consists of Gilbert, Amy, Arnie, Ellen, and Bonnie. The movie is narrated by Gilbert Grape. Arnie is one of the main characters in the movie. Arnie is a 17-year-old male who shows signs of having Mental Retardation and Autism. Throughout the majority of the movie, Arnie is looking forward to the birthday party his family is going to be throwing for him for his 18th birthday. The movie is based on how the members of the Grape family are affected by Arnie’s disabilities, and the daily struggles they go through while caring for a family member with disabilities. All of Arnie’s siblings help out, but Gilbert does the majority of the

The movie On Golden Pond represents three stages of development: adolescence, middle-adulthood, and late-adulthood. In the movie, Billy, Chelsea and Norman, three of the main characters symbolize the three stages of development by specific behaviors related to biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial developments. It was necessary for the three characters to break down during hard situations in their lives to start appreciating the different seasons of their lives, the transition from adolescence to adulthood to aging and the people around them. In this paper I will discuss how these characters develop as individuals through the lenses of biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development, and I will also end my discussion by explaining how

A major cause of low self-control is improperly raising a child (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990). In fact, research has shown that affection, supervision, and discipline have all been absent from the homes of delinquents. In order to teach children self-control someone must at least monitor the child’s behavior, recognize deviant behavior when it occurs, and punish this kind of behavior.

For morals to be effectively instilled in a human, it must begin in infancy. Therefore, the family structure is vital in moral development. Morality is learned through socialization and the examples people around them set in their own daily life. Children learn how to make moral judgements in difficult situations from their parents, even if their judgements seem to lack moral intelligence (McIsaac). Many families are not ideal, nor do they set a good example for the children growing up in them. Domestic violence, drug use, drug dealing, or fraudulent behavior observed by the maturing child does not go unnoticed. These decisions are taken "to heart" and remembered when the child is faced with a similar situation. On the other hand, children may push away their families, and the negative example set and turn to gangs. In a gang, they feel they have sufficient support and love. Unfortunately, violent crime and severe criminal behavior of all kinds accompany a gang environment. The lack of morals in a family structure