Whats Eating Gilbert Grape

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WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE In the film “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” Lasse Hallstrom creates the idea that when the film ends, Gilbert Grape is in exactly the same place as where he began, yet he has travelled a long way. From the start Gilbert is set with the burden of his family weighing him down, but as he progresses through life, with Arnie and Becky assisting him with his growth, it is made evident that he has come a long way without really going anywhere. When this film opens, Hallstrom accentuates Gilbert’s confinement to Endora, a moribund town, because of his devouring family who trap him. The image of Arnie trapping an insect inside a jar and it struggling to get free, can be generalized to the whole of Endora who seem to be enclosed in this town with no way out. Gilbert describes Endora as “like dancing without music.” Larry, Gilbert’s older brother, is said to “have got away,” but this is not as easy for Gilbert. He can check out of Endora at any time he likes but he always feels guilty for leaving Arnie and Endora, so he always returns. He is stuck in Endora with the burden of his family and the boredom of his life. The impact of his father’s suicide made a lot of responsibilities fall straight on Gilbert, even though they felt “as though he was already dead.” Gilbert’s resentment begins with his mother being a major burden on Gilbert and the rest of the family. Because of his father’s traumatizing death, Bonnie became mentally and physically attached to the house .Gilbert is aware that it is his mother that is holding the family down and he shows a distinct desire to be clear from her devouring nature. When Bonnie gets Arnie in a tight embrace, Gilbert says, “just let him go.” Gilbert had to “work extra hours to feed her,” and constantly torments her by helping small children ridicule her and by constantly referring to her as a “beached whale.”
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