What's Eating Gilbert Grape Case

The novel of What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges tells us a twenty-four-years-old grocery clerk Gilbert's relationship with his family, his two sisters Amy and Ellen, his enormous mother and his retarded brother Arnie. All his members of his family are eating him. All those responsibilities prevent him from leaving this boring town. But the biggest event on the horizon for all the Grape is the eighteenth birthday of Gilbert's young brother, Arnie. The central theme of this essay is Gilbert's relationship with his family and what is eating him.

Arnie is the central character for Gilbert, also burden and savior, like the novel said "sometime you want he alive, sometime you want he die." Gilbert very loves his brother, he won't let someone heart him. When Arnie climbs on the water tower, Gilbert always to save his brother. The biggest event of Arnie's eighteen birthday party is coming. This is the reason that Gilbert still live in this house with his abnormal family. He wants celebrate his brother's birthday party. He wants to see his brother turns to eighteen. But this also is the reason that prevent Gilbert from leaving this family.

Gilbert's mother was a very pretty lady and was skinny, but after Gilbert's dad killed himself, mom starts eat lots and stay at home, never leave this house. In fact, mom very care about this family, nobody know it. When Arnie took to the station, mom decide to go to the station, she decide to go out from this house for his son. She always says "is that too hard to see my son turns eighteen?" She cares about this family, she just needs more understanding, but nobody know it.

At final, mom died in her own bed and they decide to fire their house, they want mom can still live with dad, live with this house. They also want to cut off this relationship, they want a new life, a new start. In conclusion, Peter Hedges's novel What's Eating Gilbert Grape tells us a man who is the only man.