Gilbert Grape: Stoic and Satisfied Anonymous 11th Grade

Most have heard motivational speakers, teachers, or grandmothers proclaim: “Dream big!”, “Shoot for the stars!”. In a small town like Endora, Iowa, “You believe it. You can achieve it!” is matched with an adversarial, “It’s easier said than done.” In “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” by Peter Hedges, Gilbert Grape feels confined within the barriers of his family, hometown, and self-made fears of vulnerability. He is a stone in a creek—slowly deteriorating, immobile—everything moves around him. Life flows by; he remains.

The Grapes exemplify family dysfunction. Gilbert resides in a home with a mother who takes “through the roof” to a whole new level. Morbidly obese, she sits on a chair, the floor below her caving in, and isolates herself from society. Gilbert’s father, once idolized in the Endora community, commits suicide when Gilbert is in elementary school. Gilbert’s older sister, Amy, assumes the role of a mother in the Grape household. Her room is practically a shrine for Elvis, for whom she is still mourning. Ellen, Gilbert’s younger sister, has a newfound obsession with makeup and boys; Arnie, Gilbert’s younger autistic brother, obtains the community’s attention by illegally climbing the Endora water tower. Gilbert is...