The Grape family attends Mr. Carver’s funeral. During the ceremony, the town’s new Burger Barn arrives on a tow truck. This sends Arnie into an excited fit, thus disrupting the somber ceremony. After the funeral, Betty stops by Lamson’s Grocery, where she tells Gilbert that she and her sons are moving to St. Louis to start a new life. Betty asks Gilbert if he thinks she killed Mr. Carver, as many people in the town have assumed that she is responsible for her husband’s death. Betty tells Gilbert that she hopes her sons grow up to be like him.
As Betty and Gilbert are talking, Becky walks into the store. Becky appears slightly jealous, as she is aware of Gilbert’s relationship with the previously-married woman. As Betty leaves, she indicates that she approves of Becky’s relationship with Gilbert. Becky then asks Gilbert if he will miss Mrs. Carver. Gilbert honestly answers that he will miss her, to which Becky replies, “good.”
Gilbert drives Becky to her camper, which has finally started working. The new Burger Barn has its grand opening, and Tucker is one of the first employees. Becky tells Gilbert that now that her RV is fixed, she and her grandmother will be leaving Endora tomorrow. Although Arnie invites Becky to his birthday party the following day, Gilbert advises that she not attend. He gives a hasty goodbye, and Becky is visibly upset at their lack of closure.
Arnie runs through the house and accidentally bumps into Amy, ruining the birthday cake she was carrying. Pressed for time, Amy decides to order a replacement cake from Foodland, and she asks for Gilbert to pick it up. While walking out of FoodLand with the cake in tow, Gilbert runs into Mr. Lamson, and the two exchange a silent acknowledgment—Gilbert has betrayed his employer by shopping at the rival grocery store. After Arnie eats the new cake that is in the refrigerator, Gilbert, frustrated and clearly upset about his status with Becky, slaps Arnie across the face. Gilbert runs out of the house and drives to Becky’s RV, but he cannot muster enough courage to exit his truck.
Meanwhile, Arnie has run away to Becky. At the site in which her camper is parked, Becky cares for Arnie’s wounds and offers to go swimming with him. Later in the night, Gilbert finds Arnie at Becky’s campsite. He watches from afar as Amy and Ellen come to pick Arnie up. After watching the situation from afar, Gilbert decides to join his brother and Becky at the lake.
Gilbert later confesses to Becky that he hit Arnie. In his admission, Gilbert acknowledges and explains his feelings of frustration and guilt. Although Gilbert tries to run away, he allows himself to be vulnerable and cry in front of Becky. He then tells her about his dad’s death and his mother before she was obese. The two kiss and spend the night together sleeping under the stars.
The following morning is the day of Arnie’s birthday party. Gilbert shows up late, and Amy is clearly upset at him. Gilbert, feeling guilty about hitting Arnie the night before, asks about his brother’s whereabouts so he can apologize. After Arnie jumps down from the tree, the two share a tender moment and reconcile. Gilbert then goes inside the house to talk to Bonnie, who, despite her grand plans for the party, is too embarrassed to be seen by the guests outside.
Analysis
The arrival of the new Burger Barn symbolizes how big corporations are slowly entering and transforming the Endora community. Like FoodLand, Burger Barn alters Endora’s dependence on mom-and-pop shop commerce for economic sustenance. As audience members, we are prompted to analyze the effects of these changes. Is Endora progressing, or is it merely losing its small-town quaintness and becoming homogenized? It is significant that FoodLand and Burger Barn enter Endora’s landscape at the same time that Becky enters Gilbert’s life. In this way, the changes in Gilbert’s ways of thinking and feeling are similarly reflected in the changes in his greater physical environment.
Following Mr. Carver’s funeral, Betty and Gilbert’s relationship changes. Though Betty has previously failed to remark on Gilbert’s morality or the troubles he faces at home, the reflection she shares with Gilbert before leaving Endora indicates that she sees her lover as both a friend and confidante. Betty alludes to Endora’s suffocating voyeurism when she reveals that she must move away because the entire town thinks she is culpable in her husband’s death. Before Betty leaves his store, Gilbert asks why she chose him as a lover. She explains that it is because she knew he “would always be around.” This comment prompts Gilbert to reflect upon his own stagnation and broaden his own horizons.
In his heart, Gilbert recognizes the impact that Becky has had on his life. However, Gilbert remains unable to appropriately express his fear of losing Becky and his jealousy of her freedom. Instead of explaining his feelings honestly, Gilbert begins to act out in a variety of ways. Gilbert’s superficial goodbye to Becky is his way of defending against his sadness and feelings of attachment. Afraid of losing his friend and partner, Gilbert begins to dissociate. Although Becky has developed her own relationship with Arnie, Gilbert’s decision to ban her from coming to his birthday party indicates his own selfishness, frustrations, and unhappiness.
The motif of loyalty is evident in Gilbert’s purchase from FoodLand. Though he has vowed his allegiance to his employers, Gilbert must break his loyalty in order to provide the cake for Arnie’s birthday. As he locks eyes with Mr. Lamson, his boss, Gilbert feels an overwhelming sense of guilt and betrayal. This scene remains yet another example of the sacrifices Gilbert must make on behalf of his family. The idea of loyalty parallels a later scene in this sequence, in which Gilbert hits Arnie after he refuses to take a bath.
Gilbert’s decision to strike Arnie is a result of Gilbert displacing his emotions onto others. He is aggravated by Arnie’s aversion to water, which grew out of the trauma of being left in the bathtub for many hours. Arnie, who has increasingly gotten dirtier and dirtier throughout the film, remains a physical reminder of Gilbert’s own path for independence and his previous “negligent” actions. Additionally, Gilbert hits Arnie because he is overwhelmed by Becky’s upcoming departure and his own feelings of abandonment. Though neither of these reasons justify Gilbert’s violence, we are able to learn more about his complex emotions and his coping mechanisms.
