Essay What 's Eating Gilbert Grape

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a movie about the life and hardships of Gilbert Grape. Gilbert is a 24 year-old boy, who should be out living his life, but is instead stuck with the responsibility of caring for his family. He took on this job after his father committed suicide to escape from it, and this is where all of his problems stem from. The best way to understand Gilbert’s issues is by taking a look at his relationships with each member of his family. To do so, I will begin with the person who had the least impact on his life, Ellen. Ellen was a young girl, going through her teen years in high school, who really had neither of her parents present to see her maturing. Her mother was still alive, but she didn’t participate much in anyone’s life, and instead stayed home all day and only spoke to her kids while they were having dinner or watching TV. Because of this, Ellen was bitter and resentful to those around her, especially so to her family. Ellen’s relationship with Gilbert was based around this anger that she felt toward her parents, so she was always finding any way that she could to annoy him or make his day a little bit harder. Despite her bad attitude towards Gilbert, though, they still had a very sibling-like relationship in which they would tease each other and have fun together. They didn’t spend much time together, but Gilbert was also like a father figure towards Ellen, who was still seeking parental the parental affection that she wasn’t receiving from…