"We're not going anywhere, goodbye." This quote talks about how the Grape family is being held down and can't leave. What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Question – “We’re not going anywhere, goodbye.” This quote talks about how the Grape

family is being held down and can’t leave.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a film of many themes and symbols that are significant to the events that occur. The title is used as a statement because while it covers the life of Gilbert Grape after the death of his father and his older brother leaves, it is also telling the audience the actual things that are ‘eating’ him. Gilbert is forced to take the role of father and takes care of Arnie, who suffers from a mental illness. Their mother, deep in a state of depression, eats her way into a hole she cannot get out of and results in them all being attached to her, the house and the dull town of Endora. Throughout the film they are haunted by the death of their father and cannot relieve themselves of this burden. However this all changes when Becky appears and starts a series of events that lead to the binds of the Grape family being released.

Their mother, or as Gilbert first sees her, a beached whale, is trapped in sadness and grief from the death of their father. She causes the Grape family to learn to be independent and also take care of her while balancing the troubles of daily life. It is extremely obvious that she does care for them though, especially Arnie. The love of her son is shown when she steps out of the house for the first time in 7 years to release Arnie from jail. Bonnie and Arnie are perceived as the wall stopping Gilbert from leaving and this becomes apparent when Betty tells Gilbert “I chose you because I knew you wouldn’t be going anywhere.” It can also be said that Gilbert didn’t want his older sister Amy to have to carry the burden of taking care of Bonnie, Arnie and Elle, so he doesn’t try to escape like his older brother did. Even when he drives out of town after his quarrel with Arnie, he returns to Endora. Gilbert however has not much respect or care for his mother throughout the first half of the film as he helps the child see his mother through the window as if she were a tourist attraction. Gilbert’s mother struggles to get their family to cooperate and though she wants the best for her family, she is a burden to them. At Arnie’s birthday party she sits by herself inside and watches, while the party was her idea at the start. When she meets Becky, they have a kind of moment which makes them both realise something about their lives and Bonnie says “I wasn’t always like this”. After the party she walks up the stairs in a plea to change her life from what it has become, when she reaches her bed she passes away and finds a way, finally, for the Grape family to cooperate without arguing. They clear out the house and Gilbert burns the house down, to prevent his mother being the joke of the town.

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The death of their father causes their mother to become depressed, and they are constantly reminded of their father because of this. In the general store the owner says “The way you say that makes you sound like your father.” Their father has an adverse affect on Arnie where in one scene at the dinner table Arnie starts screaming “Dads dead, Dads dead, Dads Dead.” and upsets his mother. Gilbert cannot face his father’s death and keeps all his emotions hidden inside himself, his hesitation to enter the basement of the house – his father’s study, shows that he hasn’t let go of the pain and sorrow. Especially because when Gilbert tries to make Arnie go down to help Arnie starts shouting “No, I don’t want to go down there Gilbert, no way! Dads in there!” This void within himself seems to separate him from his family sometimes, though at some points he becomes angry. Their fathers’ death is truly the main cause of the happenings of the Grape family. Gilbert doesn’t really understand this because he mocks his own mother, but he somewhat realises this after his mother has died. Gilbert never enters the basement, because he wants to avoid confronting his fathers’ death, until near the end of the film. At this point their mother has let go and passed away, and Gilbert lets go of all his anger and frustration when he knocks the timber poles down, and from this he has truly let go of his feelings towards his fathers’ death, and maybe his brother leaving as well. Gilbert’s anger is directed at mostly his father, because he has to take care of Arnie everyday, and because they have to take care of their mother everyday. He also cares for Amy, as he never tries to hurt her, she can be seen as an umpire in the house. Amy cares for everyone in the family and cares for her mother, she prepares a bed for her mother even though their mother may never go up to it.

At the start of the film the caravans coming into Endora and this is nearly identical to the end scene where they are leaving Endora, but this time with Gilbert and Arnie. Becky enters Endora and the lives of the Grape family this way, as she slowly gains Gilberts interest they become friends and later become a loving couple. However, because of Becky it seems that Gilbert slowly neglects his family duties. Not only does Becky cause him to do this, but Betty as well. As Betty and Gilbert are in her house, he leaves Arnie in the car by himself, and he, in his moment of fun and joy climbs the water tower. Becky sees Gilbert calling Arnie down from the water tower, she admires him for his relationship with his brother. When Gilbert leaves Arnie in the bathtub to pick up Becky he over estimates Arnie’s ability to take care of himself, and that Becky has a priority over Arnie at times. Arnie becomes scared of water because of this and Gilbert, in his anger, slaps Arnie because he won’t have a bath. Both Arnie and Gilbert turn to Becky at this point, she is seen as a caring and kind person, and shows that she does not judge by first impressions. Later Arnie manages to overcome this with Becky’s help. Becky tells Gilbert that she finds his mother brave and admires her for what she does, when Bonnie saves Arnie from jail. So at Arnie’s birthday Gilbert agrees to introduce her to his mother and Becky seems to inspire Bonnie to do something for her family. This is shown when Bonnie finally releases her family from their burden, her. Becky makes the family change in ways that couldn’t have happened had she not appeared. So they come to terms with their past and learn to accept what used to be. Finally the family spread out starting their new life at the end, Amy moving to another town to work, Elle going to school again to start anew, and Gilbert and Arnie travelling with Becky around the world.

The film ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ shows many symbolic representations of life, death and change. Family can change a person’s future greatly, either by actions of themselves or by others. Not only is taking care and remembering family important, but so is letting go of the past and moving on. The trouble and burden that can be created through the constant build up of sad emotions is shown in the movie, and this can be changed for worse or for better. It is shown that one person can make many lives better and that the way a person looks on the outside can never express what they are inside. Family is a significant factor of life for the Grape family and it is a section of their life which they cannot let go of throughout the film, until the end, in which they go their separate ways.