From the movie “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” I chose to analyze the character, Gilbert Grape who is portrayed by Johnny Depp. Gilbert Grape is a young man from a small town who has a great deal of responsibility. The majority of his responsibilities and concerns revolve around his mother who can no longer leave the house or do anything by herself because she has become terribly overweight. She cannot make dinner, take care of her children, or even move by herself. Gilbert occasionally makes fun of her weight. Gilbert’s biggest responsibility though would have to be looking after his younger brother, Arnie, who is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a big responsibility because Arnie is mentally impaired, and always seems to find trouble. Gilbert has a steady job at a local …show more content…
Erikson states, “A person’s assessment of the importance of certain content areas in relation to others influences the use of resources, the direction of certain decisions, and the kinds of experiences that may be perceived as most personally rewarding or threatening.” Therefore, during adolescence years, individuals are challenged in finding out who they are, what they are all about, and where they see themselves in the future. While, attempting to support his extremely dysfunctional family, Gilbert often finds it impossible to find his personal identity. Gilbert’s lack of any type of social life is because of the huge amounts of pressure he has to support his family, and watch over Arnie. Gilbert has been forced to play the role of ‘dad’ ever since his dad committed suicide in the family’s basement. He gave up having a social life to deliver groceries and stock shelves just to make sure his family is taken care of. These are things that someone of his age should not have to worry about. Gilbert should be out enjoying himself, instead of constantly caring for his mom and
George constantly reminds Lennie that he would not be struggling if he wasn’t taking care of him (STEINBECK, 1977). Similarly, in the film What's Eating Gilbert Grapes, Gilbert is a teenager struggling to provide for his family consisting of two sisters, a mentally handicapped brother and an obese mother. Gilbert is held up with responsibilities making him have no time for a social life (DEWIS, 2011).
In the short story, “The Intruder”, by Andre Dubus, the main character, Kenneth, experiences changes that affect his relationships with his family and himself. Even though thirteen-year-old boys undergo quite a few changes in this time of their life, Kenneth goes through even more shifts in his world during this story. As Kenneth avoids sharing his imagination with his family, hides his sister, Connie’s, secrets for her, and shoots Connie’s boyfriend, Kenneth’s way of relating with the people in his life is affected drastically. In “The Intruder”, the effect of Kenneth and his family’s actions are shown through the changes Kenneth undergoes.
Gilbert Grape is the eldest child. He takes on the role of being the head of the family by working a full-time job at the town’s mini-grocery store providing for his siblings, special care for his disabled brother Arnie and homebound mother. Amy Grape is the second eldest and takes on the motherly role in the household while becoming their
Parents are always supposed to look out for the best interests of their child. Anne Tyler authored the short story “Teenage Wasteland” which depicts the strained mother and son relationship between the character Donny, and his mother Daisy. Donny is a teenage boy who is struggling with his grades at school and is exhibiting poor behavior. His mother Daisy is concerned with her son’s grades and behavior, however, she fails at getting her son the help that he requires. Told through a third person point of view through the character of Daisy, Tyler uses irony to tell the story of a teenage boy who is failed by the adults in his life who are supposed to help him flourish, including his parents, a psychologist, and his tutor.
The family dynamics in the Grape family is close and reflects a general sense of caring. Each character on some level interacted with one another in order to keep the family together. While Gilbert works tirelessly as a caregiver for his brother, he also works to provide for his family. When Ellen is not preoccupied with herself, she also helps take care of her mother. Bonnie, while immobile for much of the movie, runs her family unit from her spot on the couch, and she is included in meals when they bring the table to her in order for them to eat together. Newman & Newman (2012) suggested that the demands of household management stimulate development. As each character is involved in this role in some sense,
In the film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" directed by Lasse Hallstrom in 1993, one of the main ideas is that of struggle and hardship. This idea is significant to the film because it relates to each character in a different way, making the storyline more interesting. Three different techniques used by Lasse Hallstrom to illustrate the idea of struggle and hardship include Gilberts voice over, the extra close-ups of Bonnie as she climbs the stairs and the double up of dialogue, where Mrs Carver is talking to Gilbert, and Mr Carver is heard tying to entertain their children in background.
After watching the movie “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” it focuses more on Gilbert Grape than any other characters in the movie. Gilbert Grape is a young man who resides in a small community called Endora. Gilbert at the beginning of the movie states “Describing Endora is like dancing to no music”. Gilbert’s youngest brother Arnie is soon to be 18 years old and has a developmental disability that never was disclosed in the movie. Furthermore, Bonnie Gilbert’s mother has been locked in her own home since her husband committed suicide seven years ago. Moreover, Bonnie is at the stage of stagnation. She is over-weighted and doesn’t think of doing anything for herself or for any of her children. Therefore, leaving Gilbert with the full responsibility of caring for his family especially Arnie.
After Tom is done explaining the list to Mr. Jenkins, he goes down to the “little Chinese restaurant” to have his dinner and potentially look for possible candidates to take home to his parents. While Tom is sitting down to enjoying his ice-cream soda, a big muscular man comes up to him requesting about the job that is available on his farm. Tom politely declines to say, "My father… doesn’t want a couple of men. He just wants one” (Ross 226). Tom shows his new earning maturity here because most young children his age would be frightened if not terrified of the huge man standing in front of them, but Tom just declines as if he is a famous lawyer from a big city. The huge man himself almost acts as if he is trying to impress Tom as he shows him his “hump of muscle” on his arm, but Tom just declines. Although the man is a perfect fit for the job, he does not work unless he comes with his friend, and since Tom was only told to get one man, he stays responsible and declines the offer. Thus staying strong to what his father wants, and becoming more responsible and
These instances of Tom, Chambers, and Roxy all confining to the ways in which they were raised while defying their true natures all point to the fact that it is, indeed, our environment that shapes us as a person both inside and out. Even though there were a few instances in which both Tom and Chambers could have forged new habits, the gravity of their pasts were too much to overcome. In light of this discovery, I, too, wonder just how much my upbringing has affected who I am today, and whether or not it could have been changed. It seems that Tom and Chamber’s character could have been reversed, if only Roxy didn’t switch the kids.
Firstly, one’s identity is largely influenced by the dynamics of one’s relationship with their father throughout their childhood. These dynamics are often established through the various experiences that one shares with a father while growing up. In The Glass Castle and The Kite Runner, Jeannette and Amir have very different relationships with their fathers as children. However the experiences they share with these men undou...
Parental influences can negatively impact a child’s life. An example of this is in the novel
The Grapes are a family living in a rural and economically depressed community. The members of the Grape family presently residing in the familial home consists of biological birth mother Bonnie Grape, who is unemployed and 54 years of age. Amy Grape, the eldest child, Unemployed and currently 34 years of age. Gilbert Grape, the eldest male sibling who is employed at a local grocery store and is currently 24, years of age. Arnie Grape is Gilbert’s younger brother and is presently turning 18 years of age. Arnie reaching his 18th birthday is considered to be somewhat of a triumph by the Grape family, as Arnie suffers from a debilitating medical condition that has not only kept him from achieving age appropriate developmental milestones but also threatens to shorten his life expectancy considerably. The youngest sibling Ellen Grape is currently employed at a local ice cream parlor and is 16 years of age.
Since Ian’s father is the only doctor in the small town of Struan, as was his grandfather, the townspeople expect Ian to follow in their footsteps. However, he thinks, “He imagined living in Toronto, or Vancouver or New York. Think of the freedom. You could be whoever you wanted to be. No one expecting anything of you, no one knowing who your parents were, no one caring if you were a brain surgeon or a bum” (21). Ian is tired of the assumptions people make of his future, because he feels like he is not under control of his life. Since he lives in the archetype of a small town, all the residents know each other, and from word of mouth, any mistake one makes will be known to everyone. Ian resents when people mistake him for his father, and how people say they look alike, because this means that he needs their approval for his actions, as it will affect the reputation of his whole family. This expectation set upon him makes him question whether he truly wants to stay in Struan or find better things to do elsewhere, breaking the tradition. Ian also dislikes when others plan his future for him and assume where he will go, even if it is what he wants. He argues with his girlfriend, Cathy, “‘We don’t have to go. Most of the kids we started school with aren’t going.’ ‘Yes, but people like us have to go. You know that. [...] You have so much potential, Ian. You couldn’t develop it
The boy appears to play the role of the responsible adult more so than the father does. The boy has typical signs of a child from today’s broken family relationships; he does not want to disappoint either parent. The boy s...
The story provides many sources for the boy's animosity. Beginning with his home and overall environment, and reaching all the way to the adults that surround him. However, it is clear that all of these causes of the boy's isolation have something in common, he has control over none of these factors. While many of these circumstances no one can expect to have control over, it is the culmination of all these elements that lead to the boy’s undeniable feeling of lack of control.