Thursday, January 10, 2013
Character Sketch in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
During the last two days, we intently watched the critically-acclaimed film What's Eating Gilbert Grape? You were asked to track or follow a character throughout the movie. After viewing the entire film, what are some of the things that you think your character would identify as part of their values or beliefs? How do you think their values influence their actions? Moreover, how does your character express the traits we identified as a class: Courage, Love, Friendship, Family, Fear and Kindness. Please craft a thoughtful response that is AT LEAST FIFTEEN sentences in length. Thanks and looking forward to reading.
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After watching “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” I find it difficult to analyze my character, Betty Carver. She is a very important character in the story, but she is also an interesting one because not only does she share very values that we as a class share, but she goes against many of the values that we all feel are important. Since she is cheating on her husband, she’s going against the “family” trait that we had listed on the board. Betty also doesn’t tell her husband about what’s going on, and the stress that this situation brings eventually leads to the death of Mr. Carver.
ReplyDeleteBetty is introduced early on in the film as a customer of the establishment that Gilbert works at. We first see Betty’s true motives after she requests a deliver. Once Gilbert is there, they both share a very “intimate” moment even though she is married and the only thing that keeps them from going further is the arrival of her husband. This event shows that not only is this a recurring event, but also that Betty, even though she’s wants this to keep happening (her affair with Gilbert), she’s fearful of her husband discovering what is going on between her and Gilbert. Later on in the film, Betty and Gilbert have another “intimate” moment in which Gilbert chooses to go speak with her husband instead of sating with her. This angers her and leads to her burning the food that she was making when Gilbert arrived. Later, when Mr. Carver arrives, we can tell that he is noticeably angry and frustrated with his wife and the situation. This is the turning point for Betty because later that night, her Husband dies by suffering cardiac arrest and drowning in the kiddy pool.
After further analyzing the actions of Betty, it is evident to me that she values companionship and love. From what I understand, Betty flocks to Gilbert for love and attention because she doesn’t feel as though she gets enough from her husband. In one of the later scenes, Gilbert asks Becky why she chose him, and in response she said that she knew that he’d always be there for her. This line made me question the stability of the marriage between Betty and Mr. Carver. If Betty didn’t value companionship and love, she wouldn’t constantly attempt to seduce Gilbert. While both of these values are understandable, Betty goes against many of the values that we as a class care about such as honesty and respect. While Betty Carver is a very important character in the film, her actions, decisions, and values make her a very interesting point of discussion for determining and analyzing what a person values.
The movie "Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?" follows a family that has been faced with many burdens, yet still finds a way to be loving and push through their struggles. Throughout this movie I followed the largest secondary character of the movie, Arnie Gilbert. Arnie Gilbert, portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio, is a great young boy although he has an unidentified mental illness. Arnie attempts to help out his family, but with good intentions Arnie manages to cause extra trouble for his family to deal with. Arnie's beliefs are exactly what he tells you, Arnie tells you exactly what he is thinking and what he thinks of you. Arnie is a great person that displays out of the six traits displayed above,
ReplyDeleteFamily, Kindness, Friendship, and love. Arnie is all about family, it seems that this is Arnie's number one value, Arnie is the lone member of the house that expresses undying love for his mother no matter how she looks. Arnie isn't afraid to cuddle up with his mommy or go out with her unlike the rest of the siblings. While Arnie can sometimes be a pain in the ass, he seems to be a very kind person. Arnie's kindness isn't exactly displayed to much around his family, but with Gilbert's sort of Girlfriend he shows how kind he is. Yes Arnie doesn't have many friends and isn't exactly mr. popular, he is very much about friendship. It almost appears that with his illness Arnie is able to form a strong bond with people that let Arnie in and aren't weirded out by him and his illness. Once again a prime example of friendship is with Gilbert's girlfriend, over the course of the movie her and Gilbert's relationship is more in the spotlight than Arnie and the Girlfriend's relationship. The two's relationship becomes interesting and she even gains his trust when Arnie comes to her when he leaves the house. Last but not least, love, no matter what Arnie will always love every single member of their family, and every single member of their family will love Arnie. Arnie seems to be at the center of this family and acts as a sort of glue or pull that brings the family together.
Arnie is a great kid who struggles with his illness and burdens his loved ones, yet they are all loving and supportive of him.
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ReplyDeleteThe character that I was following was Mama. The characteristic that first comes to mind when thinking of her is that she is insanely obese. Mama values her family especially Arnie and tries to keep an eye on them when they are near. When she lost a family member, her husband, her life went downhill. She didn't go outside, she constantly ate and watched tv, and never exercised. Mama showed her love of her children and the idea of family in ways such as planning Arnie's birthday, going out of the house for the first time in years to bail Arnie out of jail, and caring about her family. She shows courage when she raises her voice to get Arnie out of jail and when she walks upstairs. Arnie was one of the most important things in her life and she would do anything for his well being. She shows fear when she is scared to meet the girl that traveled and also scared of embarrassing her family. Mama does not have friends because she doesn't leave the house so friendship doesn't apply to her. She is kind by looking out for Arnie and making sure that he is being taken care of. Though Mama cannot physically do a lot she means well in the actions she takes. All of Mama's decisions revolve around her love for her family. When she realizes how much she loves them she builds up courage and walks upstairs for them. This is her way of saying thanks for all the kids do. Mama realizes too late all the things that she hasn't been able to do for her family and dies before she is able to help again. Mama is actually a very interesting character when thinking about her values, but to a normal viewer she may seem to be "the insanely fat lady".
ReplyDeleteBecause my assigned character, Arnie Grape, obviously had something very wrong with his brain--perhaps his processing skills--, he thought and acted differently than the "normal" human being. His emotions always seemed to be simple and instinctual; therefore, his values and beliefs were small in quantity. Though small, these values consumed him, and were with him in every choice he made. He valued the love of his family, especially Gilbert, always staying by Gilbert's side, searching for the love (and attention) of his siblings, and spending time with them. Another value that influences Arnie is the value of play. Mostly all he wants to do is play, for that is how he communicates his desire for care, attention, and strong relationships.
ReplyDeleteArnie expresses love to everyone. He does not hate, and is quick to forgive. His loves comes without judgement of appearances (of his mother) or past experiences (of Ellen's harsh words or Gilbert's accidents). Friendship and Family, for Arnie, are almost identical because his best friend is his brother, Gilbert. Arnie expresses these traits by always surrounding himself with friends/family, and the bonds he has with these people are strong. His friends and family do not see a sick boy; they see a caring, sweet, innocent child who only wants to love and be loved. Arnie should fear many more things due to minor experiences and basic knowledge, such as climbing on a water tower, but he isn't capable of realizing it. He only develops fear when an unpleasant action has happened to him completely, like being stuck in a bathtub overnight. His fear is very playful, yet it runs deep, restricting his playtime with Becky. Arnie shows kindness with whomever he meets, inviting strangers to his party and giving Becky hugs. His character is very pure and good, and though he may do things his family, friends, and neighbors don't appreciate, he doesn't know better.
Amy Grape, the eldest sister in the Grape family, would identify family and love as part of her values. When Mama lost the ability to move and take care of the day-to-day tasks mothers typically are in charge of, Amy graciously stepped into that role. She exemplifies her love for the family by running the household without complaint. Amy shows kindness towards Mama by taking special care of her. Placing a blanket over her, making her bed, and moving the table into the living room each day are all examples of Amy’s love for her mother. It is also clear that Amy values responsibility. She assigns jobs to Ellen and Gilbert while also making sure she does her part. Amy worked hard to make sure Arnie’s 18th birthday party would be special by making sure everything was in order. Also, throughout the movie when she is upset with Gilbert it is always because she believes he isn’t taking care of his responsibility; looking after Arnie. Even when she is upset, Amy acts maturely and remains calm and wise. For example, when Gilbert showed up at Arnie’s party after hitting his brother running away the night before, Amy proved her maturity once more. She was upset with Gilbert’s actions, but handled the situation very well by having him “find” Arnie and advising him to talk to Mama. Amy understands the other members of her family, which allowed her to help resolve the conflict from the sideline. Amy’s values of family, love, kindness, and responsibility were shown through her interactions with her family. We didn’t get to see much of her during the movie, but her role in the family is significant for the Grapes.
ReplyDeleteI was asked to follow Becky's nana throughout the course of the movie. In the story, the character is the caretaker of Becky because Becky's parents are not there. The nana is not shown often but when shown, she is portrayed as laid-back and very kind to the supporting actors. We can see that Becky's nana is a flat character, meaning she is a character who has little development during the story and does not change or grow much. Although we do not learn about Becky's mother very much, we can tell some of the traits she values. In one scene, she is shown speaking highly of Becky to Gilbert at a meal, saying she is smart and beautiful repeatedly. Even after the scene, Becky tells Gilbert that her nana is big on the "beauty thing". This scene shows that Becky's nana values kindness because of two reasons. First, Becky and her nana are kind enough to allow Gilbert to stay for a meal with them, as well as let Gilbert come over whenever he wants. Also, Becky's nana is shown being very nice to Becky and complimenting her a lot, which is an act of kindness. She is also very kind to Arnie instead of just pushing him away. Another trait Becky's nana values is the value of family. The nana is heard saying that she takes care of Becky because Becky's parents are not apparent. Becky's nana has taken the lead role of being Becky's mother figure and only apparent family member. She also says that Becky has gone so many places and the nana has wanted to be with Becky wherever she goes. The value of love ties in with these two values of course. She loves Becky so much and would not want to leave Becky on her travels by herself. It seems that she has also grown fond of Arnie and Gilbert so much that it appears she could love them too. Enough to come back to for the two a year after their house built down.
ReplyDeletebobby doesn't make much of an appearance in the film. He obviously values his friendship with gilbert as he, gilbert and tucker are shown as spending a lot of time together. He has the courage to tell his friends his views, as shown when he argues about how mr. carver wasn't killed by his wife. he isn't mean to arnie implying he is a kind person. he doesn't fear the dead to the point where its a little bit creepy. he is a person that gilbert trust, however, we don't know anymore about him because he wasn't a focal point in the movie. despite seeing him for only a short time, he clearly is a good person with good values. Perhaps social politeness isn't high on the list (mr. carver how's your mother doing? she's fine! disappointed "oh"). all in all we still get the impression he is a good person.
ReplyDeleteThe character that I followed throughout “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” was Dan Carver. Dan had a really weird part in the movie in being the husband of the town cougar. Some of the values that he had were love I guess, family I guess and kindness to people other than his kids and his wife. I think after death Dan would value love, loyalty, kindness, and family. He had very few of these while he was living. I think his beliefs made him be a little cruel to his children and a bit over trusting of his wife and Gilbert. His character developed very little in the movie because we only saw parts where it seemed like he suspected Gilbert of sleeping with his wife and the scene where she burned the cookies and he took it out on the kids. The cookie scene really showed his true personality and how he was mean to his children because he has dysfunctional relationship with his wife Betty. He also seemed to have a pretty bad relationship with his kids as well because he chased them around the pool yelling that he was doing his best and just wanted to spend time with them and play. Summed up he had a minor role in the movie and was mostly used to raise the stress level in a few scenes and ended up getting murdered by Betty. I figure that Betty murdered him for the insurance because she wanted to leave the town and move on with the kids without him. All in all he’s a decent human but a really bad father and husband.
ReplyDeleteI followed Gilbert Grape throughout the movie. From the beginning he was guarded, so really breaking down his character proved to be difficult. He was burdened with most of the laborious work around the house, including taking care of Arnie. In this you saw extreme dedication and love for his family, though at times he seemed to mock them, especially his mother. The way he dealt with Arnie was interesting as well; he was like a father trying to teach a son to grow up. With all the stress rocking his unstable life, there was only one time he cracked. There was so much going on around Gilbert all the time. There was much he needed to deal with, but he remained somewhat emotionless. I could see the love in what he did for his family, but how he went about doing so was removed. Maybe this "detachment" was how he dealt with all the pressure that came with the death of his father.
ReplyDeleteI felt Gilbert identified with all courage, love, family, fear and kindness. He had the courage to take the role of "man of the house". He did many acts of kindness and love for his family. I'm not sure he loved his life, in fact he probably wanted to leave long before he did. The only thing holding him back was the loyalty to his family.Fear is one of the traits that Gilbert best covered up. I think he feared the death of close family members, and the future for himself.
The character I followed was Ellen Grape. Ellen, although it may not seem so at first, truly values family. Throughout the movie, Ellen grows as a person and ultimately realizes that her family is important to her. In the beginning of the movie, Ellen shows disinterest in family affairs. She is self-centered and resents the fact that her brother and mother require extra care because of their respective disabilities. We see Ellen go so far as to hit her brother when he tries to climb the water tower. However, after seeing the townspeople’s mocking of her mother, Ellen becomes more protective of her family. When a group of village boys tries to peek at Mama, Ellen throws a rock through the window to scare the boys off. Ellen is seen crying towards the end of the movie anticipating the reception of her mother’s dead body being lifted by a crane. By the end of the movie, Ellen has learned to stay loyal to her family.
ReplyDeleteEllen is not particularly courageous, but shows courage when she throws a rock through her window to protect her mother. She shows love for her mother by ultimately deciding, along with the rest of family, to cremate her rather than display her to the public. Ellen shows kindness towards her mother by giving her blankets and food, and also shows kindness towards Arnie by helping him.
I wasn’t there the first morning, but I will assume that Gilbert Grape is the eldest of the Grape siblings. Being the elder, as a twenty something year-old, he carries many responsibilities. These responsibilities probably began to pile up in his early teens, some even before that. As the eldest male, he always had to help his family, but in his earlier teens when his father left his mother--I am actually not sure if he died or just left--she became really depressed and she in away took herself out of life and reverted to the couch and food as her only comfort. She never left the house for seven years and became tremendously fat. Having a mentally child in the family, the two sisters and Gilbert are forced to grow up and raise their brother who has a brain unlike anyone else's. He doesn’t grasp social cues very well and this calls for the constant need of one of his siblings at his side. Gilbert exhibits a lot of courage to continue a hard working lifestyle to support and take care of his family; and with all the emotion that he goes through, he still has the ability to remain strong and seemingly unphased. Those who go through though experiences must learn to appear strong to the world around them. He greatly values his family and shows great respect and dedication to taking care of his family. He shows so much love for his mother and his brother, both whom a lot of people looked down on. For so long he shut the world away from his family, because as much as he cared about them, he didn’t want other people to be ashamed of his family. Although, by the end of the movie, he finally lets a love outside of his family enter his life. The moment he shows his mother to his girlfriend shows a lot of respect to his mother as well as his girlfriend. He shows his mother that he isn’t ashamed of her, and shows his girlfriend that he wants her to be a part of his crazy life.
ReplyDeleteGilbert Grape acts upon several values throughout the movie. Among many, he values being loyal, keeping and open mind, being honest, and giving. His loyalty becomes apparent in the scenes where he is taking care of Arnie, working to support his family, and doing his best to keep his promises with Arnie and Becky. Even when Gilbert becomes frustrated with the inescapable rut he has been treading through his whole life and runs away, he finds himself back home the next day for Arnie's birthday. He never shops at Food Land for the sake of his employer. Gilbert keeps an open mind in all situations when dealing with others. He enters controversies always giving the offender the benefit of the doubt. When Mr. Carver died, others were quick to pass judgement and blame it on Mrs. Carver. Although Gilbert knew of a possible motivation for Mrs. Carver to murder her husband, he did not doubt her innocence. Gilbert does not speak much, but when he does he is honest. When he has something he'd rather not reveal, he prefers to stay silent rather than fabricating a lie. As his relationship with Becky increases, he begins to share more and more pieces of his life with her, ending with an introduction to his mother, a giant leap of faith and a LARGE (haha) source of discomfort for Gilbert. Gilbert gives a lot in the film, rarely taking hand outs. When asked what he wanted in life, Gilbert responded with things that pertained to others rather than himself. He is more concerned with the well being of his loved ones than his own. Gilbert stumbles upon many conflicts when pitching different values against one another, especially when having to choose between his family and his own life/Becky. There are times when his values spread him too thin, leaving him unable to fully uphold all of them. With each choice there are both repercussions and benefits, and he is ultimately left to figure out which he values more.
ReplyDeleteThe character I followed, Becky would identify her values as free-spiritedness, adventure, and living life to the fullest. Becky’s free-spiritedness gives her a very friendly and open persona. Her sense of adventure propels her to continuously travel because she believes that she will deteriorate over time if she just stays in one place. Becky tells Gilbert that she does not really care about external beauty because it always declines with age. As a result, she focuses on being herself and enjoying life.
ReplyDeleteOf the traits that we identified as a class, Becky primarily expresses the traits of love, friendship, and kindness. Becky proves to be extremely loving and kind towards Arnie. Her kindness allows her to form a unique bond with Arnie in which he fully trusts her. She helps Arnie when he is feeling at his worst after Gilbert hurts him. In fact, Arnie trusts her enough that he jumps into the body of water, despite having a fear of drowning. Through the course of the movie, Becky forms an intimate friendship that later on transforms into a romantic relationship with the main character Gilbert. Becky shows companionship when she comforts Gilbert when he feels that he failed with his family. Becky also displays her unique kindness when she meets Gilbert’s mother and responds humbly to Amy Grape’s statement saying, “I was not always like this either.” Her kindness to Gilbert’s mother makes Amy Grape feel respected again and at peace with herself. In the end of the movie, Becky’s friendship with Gilbert ultimately gives Gilbert and Ernie the chance to travel across America.
The character I followed in the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" was Tucker Van Dyke. Some of the things I think Tucker identifies as part of his values, are friendship, service, respect, loyalty, reliability, and a lot of other stuff like those. Tucker is always there for his friend. No matter what, Gilbert can always lean on Tucker for help and support. That includes the services Tucker can offer such as putting up support beams in the basement so mama doesn't fall through the floor.
ReplyDeleteAlong with always being there for Gilbert and his family,Tucker is also one of Gilbert's friends. He is a part of Gilbert's safety net and is always there for him in any way needed. Tucker also takes on the role of the Grape's family handyman. He is the one they go to when they need help with carpentry or electrical stuff.
Out of the 6 Traits we identified as a class, I feel like Tucker shows 5 of them. Friendship I already mentioned but is defiantly a big part of his life. With that also comes kindness. Tucker is a nice guy and treats Arnie and the rest of the Grapes kindly. Even though we don't see his family, we do see how much Tucker cares about the Grapes and wants to help them. This is really simple but Tucker shows courage when he goes into the basement to put in support beams. Last but not least, I changes love to compassion and then it is a trait that Tucker has. Near the beginning of the film, we see Gilbert show a little kid his mom and Tucker doesn't really approve. This situation shows that Tucker has compassion for other people and is more understanding then Gilbert is at first.
Sheriff Farrel does not have a very large role in the story, but from the few scenes that he is in we are able to infer certain things about him. The first time we see Arnie climbing the water tower, Sheriff Farrel warns Gilbert that Arnie will be arrested if he climbs the water tower again. The fact that he gives Arnie a warning and does not arrest him on the first offense that is shown in the movie shows the viewer that the sheriff is kind. It is also clear though, that he takes his job seriously and is upset about Arnie climbing up the tower. Gilbert keeps a close eye on Arnie for the next couple scenes and he doesn't climb the water tower. However, a few scenes later Arnie is all the way at the top of the water tower. This requires a crane to be brought in to rescue him. After this incident, sheriff Farrel brings Arnie in. Gilbert begs the deputies not to take Arnie, but they decide to take him. I think this shows that sheriff Farrel values family, but he takes Arnie in to keep him safe. Then Mrs. Grape comes out of her house for the first time in a while and goes down with the family to get her son back. At first the sheriff does not let Arnie go. He says that it is a legal matter. However, he is a kind man and he decides to let Arnie go. This goes to show that even though he tries to be hard and strict he is a nice guy and gives the Grape family a break. Arnie then goes home and we don't see him climb the water tower any more.
ReplyDeleteCrispin Glover in this film plays Bobby McBurney, a coroner for the town morgue. His placement in the film is done in a way that gives visible contrast between class types. His radical theoretical ramblings and job in the medical field hints that he was most likely from the city, and moved into Endora. It seems as though he was put intentionally in between characters like Gilbert and Tucker just to highlight and accentuate just how simply people like them think and go about their lives in contrast with a guy from the city with philosophical perspectives on life and death. Bobby would value principles that promote intelligence and curiosity, instead of family or respect. He's interested in coming to conclusions through investigation rather than speculation – Mr. Carver's death for example. Whether or not his actions show kindness or caution, he always expresses common courtesy to others when addressing them. I feel, however, that he only associates with Gilbert and Tucker because they're the only option. If there were any more city people in Endora, he would probably exclude the main characters, and exhibit an air of superiority around them.
ReplyDeleteI followed Betty Carver throughout “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”. I couldn’t really identify Mrs. Carver as any specific traits we identified in class. Although you can say that Mrs. Carver values love, the love she had was for Gilbert. But the love Mrs. Carver had for Gilbert wouldn’t be the love I can identify with. By cheating and lying to her husband, Ken Carver, Mrs. Carver broke their promise as a married couple. At one point in the movie, Mrs. Carver’s husband suffers a cardiac arrest and dies in the kiddy pool he had originally purchased for his kids. Afterwards, Mrs. Carver decides that she needed to leave town. Right before Mrs. Carver leaves, she pays a visit to Gilbert in the shop. While talking to Gilbert, Mrs. Carver for a short time showed fear in her words; Mrs. Carver would realize that her husband is gone and that she had never anticipated on him dying. But the fear that Mrs. Carver showed was just for a short time, because she would just go back on talking with Gilbert about his life. Even with the affair, I think that Mrs. Carver really did value and care for her children. Although Mrs. Carver obviously had no love for her husband, I think that she was forced to stay in the marriage because of the kids. If Mrs. Carver had divorced her husband, either that she will lose her children or that she would have to take care of them on her own. So because of getting trapped in the marriage, Mrs. Carver found other ways to love again by having the affair with Gilbert.
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