What's Eating Gilbert Grape Essay

The movie I selected to watch was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I never have seen the movie and I noticed many students had in class, so I figured it would be a good one to watch. There was a lot going on in the movie relating to challenges the family faced. The family was white, they lived in poverty in the middle of nowhere, their youngest brother was on the autism spectrum and the family was trying to cope after their father’s suicide. It seemed that things went downhill fast after the father’s suicide in their own basement. The mother shut down, and had gained a lot of weight and was struggling with depression. The children were taking care of each other and their mother while she was pretty much dependent on the couch. Gilbert, the oldest son was the care taker of the youngest son who had a

Gilbert had the most stress being the eldest son of a family where there was no longer a father figure. He felt he needed to take on all of the roles of his father and make sure he was supporting the family. I think he had the most stress in the family and was struggling emotionally and probably physically. Once he met Becky (who seemed to be higher on the social class ladder), things started to change for him. He knew his family was kind of the outcast of the town, but Becky was accepting of their status and challenges they faced. Becky was able to connect with Arnie which was something Gilbert never saw before. I felt that even Arnie’s sisters weren’t that understanding of Arnie’s autism. Becky and her grandmother understood Arnie and were accepting to him and the family’s situation. That took a lot of stress of Gilbert and he was able to relax and let his guard down a little. After the family’s mother passed, Gilbert and Arnie were able to travel with Becky and her grandmother. They started a blended family, and Gilbert and Arnie were finally able to feel like they were accepted and fit in