As far as the rest, I like how the book handled it. As they sit around Momma, Gilbert says to her, “you know they will need to use a crane to get you out”. Amy asks what he is saying, and he says nothing. What kind of person is Gilbert's younger sister Ellen? Discuss Hedges' use of dialogue to develop her character. What is the source of Ellen's hostility toward Gilbert? Why might the fact that Gilbert has done nothing since high school bother Ellen, and even frighten her? We can guess that she tells Gilbert he shimmers, not shines, because he hasn’t allowed himself to live up to his potential. Not only that, but he also hasn’t allowed himself to be happy and to fully shine. Shimming also means the light is reflected, Gilbert lives for others, and so he reflects their light rather than let his own shine. Martyr Complex

The book was a huge success for Hedges, catapulting him into the limelight of the literary world. It was subsequently adapted from a screenplay written by Hedges himself into an equally successful motion picture in 1993. The movie received multiple accolades and saw Leonardo di Caprio nominated for his first oscar in 1994. Hedges continues to write books and movies, often focusing on relationships within the family such as the famous "About A Boy" published in 1998 and adapted in 2002. Update this section! When they have to install support beams, because Momma’s weight is making the floor sink, it just so happen to be in the same spot where Albert had been hung. Momma

Help

They're not coming at all, Gilbert. The rides got in a big crash and all the workers hung themselves...." Hunter, Stephen (December 25, 1994). "Films worthy of the title 'best' in short supply MOVIES". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved July 19, 2020. Elliott, David (December 25, 1994). "On the big screen, color it a satisfying time". The San Diego Union-Tribune (1, 2ed.). p.E=8. In the book we learn that Gilbert cried the day his dad died, and that he hasn’t cried since. He was in second grade at the time, so it’s been like 17 years or something.

From a passage in the book where Momma is talking to Gilbert about motherhood/creastion: "I see you and I know that I'm a god. Or a goddess. Godlike! And this house is my kingdom. Yes, Gilbert. This chair is my throne. And you, Gilbert, are my knight in shimmering armor."..."Shining, I think, Momma, is what you mean."..."No, I know what I mean. You don't shine, Gilbert. You shimmer. You hear?. You shimmer!" In the small town of Endora, Iowa, Gilbert Grape is busy caring for Arnie, his intellectually disabled younger brother who is about to turn 18, as they wait for the many tourists' trailers to pass through town during an annual Airstreamers' Club gathering at a nearby recreational area. His father had hanged himself fourteen years earlier, [4] and since then his mother, Bonnie, has spent most of her days on the couch watching television and eating. With Bonnie's morbid obesity leaving her unable to care for her children on her own, Gilbert has taken responsibility for repairing the old house and being protective of Arnie, who has a habit of climbing the town water tower as well as trees, while his sisters Amy and Ellen do the other housework. A new FoodLand supermarket has opened, threatening the small Lamson's Grocery where Gilbert works. In addition, Gilbert is having an affair with a married woman, Betty Carver. This book was lovely. Not because it was sweet, or because I loved Gilbert, he could be quite the shit, but I defy anyone to live under the circumstances and burdens Gilbert endured every day and not be one at least occasionally. It was lovely because it was realistic. There is no Mother Theresa among us today. There are just people doing what they can to get by. Doing what has to be done to get their family and loved ones one day closer to happiness. Yes, Gilbert lost patience with Arnie and his sisters on occasion, but he still stayed and cared for his family in the best way he knew how. In a very sad, but real way. A new girl comes into town and entrances Gilbert, and it's all of this is just too much for him. He wants to leave: this boring town, this horrid family, but he just can't leave them all alone. He doesn't know what to do. Remembered chiefly for his relentless "optimism," Albert Grape nevertheless hung himself in his basement. How might this irony persist in Gilbert's own life, particularly in his relationship with his boss, Mr. Lamson? Throughout the novel, what does Gilbert reveal to us about his father? What sort of legacy has Albert left his son?

Develop

Young Gilbert Grape is a level 5 ass hole. He's an ass hole to his family. He's an ass hole to his friends. He's an ass hole to the women who show any interest in him. He's just an ass hole. The question is, can we blame Gilbert for being an ass hole? He lives in small town Iowa,where nothing ever happens. His family is the picture of dysfunction. He has absolutely nothing going for him, and everything going against him. So no, I dont think we can put all the blame on our friend Gilbert for being a world-class ass hole. But that still doesn't change the fact that he wasn't a very likable character, and since the entire book is from Gilbert's perspective, I found it somewhat of a letdown.

The other day in our weekly paper, the Endora Express, pigskin Tim pointed out the bright side in all of this. Now it is easy to tell which is which. After many years Tim and Tommy have finally found their own identities. That's a big thing in Endora these days. Identities. And the bright side. We got people here who've lost their farms to the bank, kids to wars, relatives to disease, and they will look you square in the eye and, with a half grin, they'll tell you the bright side. When Johnny Depp was talking about this movie in an interview he said how “…love can be painful…there’s a fine line between love and resentment…”. Even if you don’t have a martyr complex, love can be difficult and painful, and as he says there is a line between doing something for someone out of love versus doing it because you feel you have to and then it turns into resentment. Ultimately, in every relationship, whether it is with family, friends, or romantic, you need to do what you feel good about. If you do something you really don’t want to, you will simply resent the person you did it for. I’m not saying to be selfish though, if whatever it is, is really important to the person you love though, you can also try and find a way to do it in a way that you will feel good about or that will make it enjoyable for you. You just can’t keep making sacrifices for people, and then feel contempt when they start taking it for granted because it has just becomes the norm. Gilberts Breaking Point Critics have compared the narrative voice of Gilbert Grape to that of J. D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield. What similarities and differences exist between the two? Discuss other works of literature or film that echo the themes, characters, or tone of What's Eating Gilbert Grape (e.g.: Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show, Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, Don DeLillo's End Zone).Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives. I had seen this movie before, but it was like 15 years ago. Even so, I had a fairly clear memory of what it was about. So, I did go into the book knowing what would happen (assuming the book and movie were similar). This movie is most well known for DiCaprio’s performance as Arnie Grape, as well as Darlene Cates who plays Momma. I really enjoyed this book because it's like nothing I've ever read before. It was unique and special. Just like the characters and the story. There is a line from the book I thought was really beautiful which reads, “I’m not saying we all of a sudden decided that our mother was a Saint Mary. But even though she was angry, even though she was soooo fat, she was our mother. And we could see in each of us a trace of her. And we knew in some weird way that she wasn’t gone, she had just moved into us and now it was time for us to move on.” Mrs. Carver Watch the Lasse HallstrÖm film adaptation of Hedges' novel and compare the two. How does the movie echo the book's themes? How does your reading group feel about the movie's ending?

I like how he talks about how hard he was working. Clearly, he is talented, but too often people think that if someone has a “natural talent” it means they don’t have to work hard. Not true! Talent is a very small thing, putting in hours and hours of work is where you succeed.The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for discussion for Peter Hedges's What's Eating Gilbert Grape?. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. As the story unfolds, the readers learn about the many secrets that the family has or "the skeletons that they have in their closet." Gilbert has an obese mother that is a recluse and a father that committed suicide in the basement of the house when Gilbert was seven years old. Gilbert has two older sisters, an older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother. His younger brother, Arnie, is also retarded. While all the children have the same mother and father, each of the Grape children has their own personality and plays their own role in the family.