What's Eating Gilbert Grape Character Analysis

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What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a movie that I’ve been wanting to see for quite some time. The movie stars Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape a young, small town guy who spends his days working at a grocery store, helping his morbidly obese mother around the house, and constantly taking care of his autistic brother Arnie whose played by one of my favorite actors, a young Leonardo Dicaprio. Arnie is an eighteen year old autistic boy who uncontrollably acts as a much younger, and sometimes misbehaved child. Gilbert is the main member of the Grape family who takes care of Arnie, because the dad is gone, the mom can’t even move her legs, one of the sisters Ellen is a spoiled brat, and the oldest sister Laura is busy taking care of the house. Gilbert brings Arnie everywhere he …show more content…

Arnie kept running away and climbing the water tower so much that it later got him arrested. The mother has to leave the house for the first time in years and head down to the station to get her son back. They let her leave with Arnie, but when she walks outside she notices all the judgement and laughter at her weight, and reminds her why she never leaves her house. In Gilberts personal life, he finishes his romance with this older, married woman, when he meets a young, female, traveler name Becky. Gilbert starts catching feels for this girl but is constantly getting embarrassed around her by Arnies odd mannerisms. Gilbert slowly starts to lose it with Arnie, and even abuses him towards the end when he misbehaved and wouldn’t get in the shower. Gilbert is so shocked from his action that he took off and spent the night with Becky. He showed up the next day for Arnies birthday and made up with his brother and the rest of the family. At the end of the film, the mother passes away and Becky leaves the town, only to return a year later for Arnie’s nineteenth