"What's Eating Gilbert Grape," is an outstanding film in both content
             and character. The film expresses themes and ideas on many levels and
             poignantly expresses the journey of a hero and the challenges that face
             him. The three levels of conflict within the film are societal, familial
             and individual. Gilbert transverses all three levels, learning from each,
             that which holds the most value and that which he believes he should leave
             behind, in order to grow into an individual who remembers his own needs,
             while still taking care of everyone else.
             Character entrances are significant as the first frame begins the
             journey of Arnie, a consummate child, delayed and needy, and about to turn
             the pivotal age of eighteen. Gilbert is Arnie's main caretaker and the
             only person in his life to this point who understands and can communicate
             with him. Each member of Gilbert's family must take on a role of one of
             the absent parents, both of whom have to a large degree disappeared as
             providers. Amy, Gilbert's oldest sister is the mother figure and enters
             the film cooking a meal in dowdy attire. Ellen who is fifteen and likely
             to be the next Grape to get away, the way the oldest brother Larry did.
             She is separated from the family and largely teenlike and resentful of the
             circumstances of her life, the burden of her brother Arnie and the burden
             of her invalid mother who is so obese she cannot leave the house.
             Within the community there is a small group of individuals who serve
             a purpose within Gilbert's journey. The two friends he has tend to
             represent what his life will be like in the future if he remains in Endora
             and does not make a change. Gilbert is having an affair with a married
             women and she and her life represent the kind of boring and loveless life
             that may have been the demise of his own family. Mrs. Carver (Betty) makes
             it clear to Gilbert that he is a hero but her i...