What's Eating Gilbert Grape Analysis

Lasse Hallstrom has directed several outstanding films, one of them being What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. The movie follows Gilbert’s life experiences and what’s ‘eating’ him up. Gilbert and his family live in the town of Endora, Iowa. The movie supposedly takes place in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Gilbert is in his early 20’s but has more burdens than any 20 year old should have. Whether it’s his mentally challenged brother, handicapped mother, desire for freedom et cetera, Gilbert is slowly getting ‘eaten up’ on the inside.

Responsibility takes up a huge part of Gilbert’s life because they don’t have proper parental figures, because he is in charge of the house repairs and because everyone expects him to manage autistic Arnie. The family relies on Gilbert to supervise Arnie but Arnie always manages to get under his skin, obviously never intentional. Arnie generates a lot of frustration

for Gilbert and the annoyance builds up, leading to a physical fight, which is ironic because Gilbert once said “Nobody hurts Arnie”. Because of Arnie’s mental disability, it’s harder to get messages across to him and make him understand, and it becomes a chore. Occasionally, Gilbert gets tired of this chore, which is proven when he says “Some days you want him to live and some days you don’t.” One night, Gilbert sternly tells Arnie not to eat the cake, and then a shot of Arnie licking his fingers clean of cake is shown. Arnie overlooked Gilbert’s order, and that evoked Gilbert to get physical. Gilbert drove out of Endora to cool down, and the director includes a close up of his face and soundtrack. Then he slows down and is apparently being ‘eaten up’, as seen from the film. The close up displays Gilbert’s messed up emotions more evidently and the soundtrack gave of a sense of guilt and remorse. He was always the one to blame when Arnie slips up. For example, when Arnie wasn’t capable of bathing himself. The entire family blamed it on Gilbert. He was bound to crack sooner or later.

The scrutiny of the public eye can also contribute to Gilbert’s frustration.

Thanks to Bonnie, the overweight mother and Arnie, the loony brother, the Grape household is simply demanding for attention. This is set in Endora as well, which makes it worse. At the beginning of the movie, Gilbert doesn’t seem to be too disturbed by this. He lifts the children up for them to observe Bonnie, ‘the beached whale’. Gilbert is shown getting ‘eaten up’ in slow motion at the police station. After Momma retrieves her son and exits the police station, everyone slows their step and gathers around to ‘examine’ Momma. Hallstrom throws in reaction shots along with the soundtrack which reinforces the feeling of sympathy for Momma. Gilbert is obviously not wanting to be seen with Momma, as he’s always trying to avoid being near her. The car ride home was awkward and Gilbert’s face was unhappy and troubled. The Grape family doesn’t respond to the public but are certainly disturbed by their judgmental watch. Having to deal with the town people is also one of the burdens that add to Gilbert’s

irritation.

Being stuck in a doomed town is clearly not the preferred way to live your life. It seems like Gilbert has a desire for freedom, but even his hometown is telling him it’s the end. The starting scene that shows the drugstore with a sign ‘Endora of the Line Drugs’ is a pun and a sign. When Gilbert was seen with Becky in her caravan, with the close-ups of his face and fingers pointing at numerous destinations, I felt a strong want for travel from Gilbert, but he is stuck in a dead town, with a family to tend to. There is a lot of things ‘eating’ Gilbert.

Along with those matters, other small things can also contribute to Gilbert being ‘eaten up’. Even the small things in life aren’t going his way. You’d think Gilbert would be tired with all these problems being thrown at him, but no, he decides to get involved with Betty, a married woman who has two sons. Further into the film, she becomes a suspect of her husband’s murder. Betty says “Everyone thinks I killed him.” and asks what Gilbert thinks. I actually think Betty loves Gilbert. Either that or she yearns for attention from him. Obviously, that plays a part in Gilbert’s discontent in life. Gilbert is basically the only source of income for the household and he works at the local grocery store. Everything was fine until a more advanced supermarket lands in Endora, Foodland. Foodland starts to take over, and Lawson’s Grocery is losing their business. How is Gilbert going to feed the family now?

Gilbert’s been through a lot. I’m glad he eventually dropped all the responsibility, the people and got his opportunity to escape. Betty also leaves the town and he no longer needs a job. Gilbert is no longer being ‘eaten up’ as badly and the ending leads to a new beginning.