Bokrecension: What''s Eating Gilbert Grape av Peter Hedges

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Introduction

This is a review on “What’s eating Gilbert Grape,” written by Peter Hedges.
I want to point out that in this review, my positive criticism and interpretations are strongly personal; thus being very subjective. The story has also been adapted for the screen, so I will, although this is a book review; make some short comments on the most important differences between the book and the film.

Review

The quality of the book

From my point of view, this is an exceptional well-written book; it is exciting, thrilling, amusing and dramatic. Peter Hedges has written the book in first person, giving Gilbert Grape the role as narrator. This gives the book life and character, and in a way, it simplifies the making of “the film” that is played in your mind while you are reading the book. Hedges has also been successful avoiding making the book boring by having a well-composed mix between the conversations and the narrations.
Thankfully, Peter Hedges also seems to have quite some skills in human psychology, so although the narrator (which sometimes is Gilbert Grape) is strongly subjective, he reacts and thinks just like the majority would, if not with more patience, I mean, who would stand out a little brother who climbs up a water tower every ones a week? Therefore, his reactions and actions don’t upset you.

The characters

The main characters are obviously Mr Lamson, the Grape family, consisting of Gilbert, Arnie, Amy, Ellen Grape and their mother. In the book, Gilbert tells us how their father was found dead, but this is not mentioned in the film (I will comment that later on). As the story progresses, more and more characters are revealed, Becky and Mrs. Carver for instance.
Gilbert seems to be a very caring and dedicated person. But it seems that he only reveals that to Arnie and Mr. Lamson. Why? Is this part of his personality or is it just that he cares only about them? My answer is partly yes and partly no. I interpret Gilbert Grape just as a caring and dedicated person, but he can only admit and reveal it to the people the he trust the most. It is logical and understandable that Arnie and Mr. Lamson are those people. Since Arnie is a retard, he is unlikely to exploit Gilbert’s brotherly affection to him. Mr. Lamson has almost the role as Gilbert Grape’s father, and because Grape’s father is dead, I think that the bond between Mr. Lamson and Gilbert Grape is much like the one between father and son.
But I would like to portray their relationship as an even closer one. Since Mr. Lamson could not possibly be the biological father of Grape, no family-like taboo issues exist. This, I think makes Grape’s bond with Mr. Lamson even more strong. Besides all this, I have a strong feeling that Gilbert Grape, deep inside is really fed up with this life, and this is clearly exposed in the book when Grape says that he wants to flea this life.
Arnie, well, he is a retard, to be precise, he is mentally retarded since he is able to speak. This is an important detail. If Hedges had not given Arnie the capability to speak, and more or less the capability to express himself, the whole book would be much more complicated and nonsensical. The reason is that Arnie would be more like an object, and since the story is much about Arnie, the story would get very meaningless. From another perspective, Gilbert would have lost a brother, a brother that he can talk to. It would be hard for Peter Hedges to replace him.
Arnie seems to have a need for heights, because he always climbs the water tower, how come? To explain that, one could go to the bottom of the “problem,” and just like a mathematical equation, there is a variable, which is why he climbs the water tower.
Then we have the facts, Arnie is a retard, retarded in a way that he thinks like a child.
And which child hasn’t dreamt of flying? So the answer is simply; because he’s a retard, and thinks like a child.
Amy has as it’s written in the book, taken over the role as the mother, the question is, and does she accept it? Honestly, I think she does. Since she has not had any luck in her relationships, she feels secure being needed in her house. She has a position, and she is needed, this strongly resembles the female role in a family.
Ellen, the typical teenager is from a certain point of view not such a spectacular and “different-minded” character at all. That perspective may certainly differ between readers. As a teenager myself, it is easy for me to respect and understand her acts and speech. She is most likely just like Gilbert Grape, tired of the whole town. The difference is that she reveals it. She makes it very clear that everything, even her family annoys her. Take for example, in the book, Ellen get furious when Arnie once again climbs the water tower. Ellen is also very superficial.
Gilbert Grape’s mother, or “Momma” as she’s called in the book is quite an annoying thing. She demands things from others, and gives nothing in return, of course, she gave birth to her children, but that doesn’t mean that she can exploit them. She also seems to lack one important thing called understanding. In the book, she accuses Gilbert Grape of being evil when he forgets Arnie in the bathtub. My first thought was: She lacks some empathy. And surely, she seems to do that. She just lies there in the sofa, eating her children’s food and smoking cigarettes, demanding things, and when they don’t satisfy her, she gets angry.
Contrary to Ellen, Becky is very deep, and she falls for Gilbert because she thinks that his thoughts are beautiful. Becky seems to be a very dominant person, and she makes it clear whether she likes something or not. I think that she’s has put honesty above politeness, she is not rood, but she isn’t afraid of the truth. Hedges portrays her as a very beautiful women, and she’s also in the movie. (Although her clothes remind me of something from the Stone Age) But one should question oneself; does her beauty have anything to do with her personality? Certainly yes, as beauty boosts you self-esteem, you get very confident when saying controversial things.
Gilbert has this “behind doors” relationship with Mrs Carver, wife of Mr Carver. There aren’t many emotions in this relationship, it is just simply sexual, but Mrs Carver is the one who needs to be satisfied. Whenever she wants him, she just calls Mr Lamson for a “special delivery”. In the story she also invites Gilbert for a picnic, she makes this lovely chicken, which he loves and while he’s eating she’s trying to engage him into some sexual act. But he refuses, and after finishing the chicken, he leaves her. Is this a case where Gilbert is exploiting her? Obviously he came just for the chicken. But from another point of view, she’s also exploiting him, making the chicken must have been a piece of cake for her, she’s not out for the picnic, she wants sex. So, who is right? My opinion is that Mrs carver is right, She’s exploiting him because she seems to have some sort of emotions for him, although she’s not in love, but Gilbert just exploit her for no reason.

Events
The festival, which is one of the main happenings in the beginning of the book, was for me a crucial happening. Somehow it made me understand Arnie a little bit more.
It explains and portraits his personality and situation very clearly.
Clearly, Arnie gets very excited when the festival comes, and he gets especially excited over the horses. But he’s not just like other children; he does not enjoy the horse ride, he’s fascinated over it. And so, the festival becomes an aim for him, it’s one of his climaxes every year, and has made the time go a bit faster. Faster for Gilbert and the others, because Arnie lives in the present, he doesn’t think long term.
Every man has a breaking point, after which he doesn’t stand anymore, When Arnie pushed the cake over the edge, he also pushed Gilbert over the edge. Gilbert gets furious and rages against him. Gilbert had most probably pushed his frustration and anger aside every time, so all of this anger accumulated in the beating of Arnie, perfectly understandable. But what touches one is the fact how innocent Arnie is. He can’t stand for his actions. Some would stop now and blame Gilbert, but I would like to take it one step further. Anger is very uncontrollable, and when it really comes, it’s hard to stop. For Gilbert to avoid the actions of anger must have been very hard, but this time he couldn’t just put it away. By this, I would like to say that it’s no ones fault.

Comparison with the film
As I said before, one of the differences between the movie and the book is that Gilbert in the book explains how his father committed suicide, and not in the film. And the explanation is rather simple. Whilst reading a book, a movie is played within your mind by your imagination; in a movie the film does it for you. And, the details can easily be seen in a movie, whilst it’s up to the author to describe the details. Often, the book can be felt...