Gilbert Case

Gilbert and One example is that the children are consistently closing in on society to protect their mother. The scene in which the children went with their mother to the jail to pick up Arnie was a display of the family preserving their integrity. The children helped their mother and stayed together as the crowd of townspeople gathered around them snapping pictures and making cruel comments. At the end of the film, when the mother passed away, the children burned the house down to protect their mother's integrity. In this scene, Gilbert stated, "No one is going to make a joke out of my mother."

This model is unique in that it "addresses family health promotion, family reaction when a stressor affects the family and restoration of the family via family functions to achieve balance or equilibrium" (Harmon-Hanson, Gedaly-Duff, & Rowe Kaakinen, 2005). This aspect of the model was evident when Gilbert left the house after his fight with Arnie. The family was very distraught and the mother was uncertain whether Gilbert was going to return. The family was restored following this stressor by Gilbert's return home for Arnie's birthday party. Gilbert also went to talk with his mother when he returned home and he promised that he would never "up and leave" the family as his father did. This event provided balance and trust to be restored to the family dynamics

I found that the children aided in her practice of isolation by providing total care for her. Gilbert was the only one who seemed to look at the reality of her situation and declare how bizarre it actually was, but he never told her. The children protected their mother from reality. For example, when Arnie kept repeating "Dad's dead" at the table, the attention turned to the mother and getting Arnie to stop saying the statement. But why? Arnie was mentally disabled and he was stating the truth that the mother was unable to except after so many years.

Another important part of family dynamics that I recognized in this film was how much Arnie's condition brought the family together. For example, when Arnie was arrested for climbing the water tower, after repeated warnings, his mother finally came out of the house with the children and they all went to get him out of jail. Also, Arnie's 18th birthday party was a big collaborative effort. In the scene where Arnie was saying that he wanted hot dogs at his