What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Gilbert arrives at the water tower and quickly talks Arnie down. Sheriff Farrell tells him he has no choice but to arrest Arnie. Gilbert tries to talk him out of it but is unsuccessful, and he notices that Becky is watching. Gilbert returns home and informs Amy. When Bonnie hears about the arrest, she demands her coat. Gilbert provides his snow boots to his mother and cleans out Amy’s old car. Bonnie manages to get into the front passenger seat, and Amy sits in the back while Gilbert drives. Bonnie insists they stop for Ellen before driving to Motley to retrieve Arnie. Sheriff Farrell once had feelings for Bonnie and came to their house often after Albert died. He is shocked to see her now, but he quickly relents when Bonnie walks into the sheriff’s office and demands the return of her son. They drive home with Arnie crushed in Bonnie’s arms.

Within hours, gossip spreads about Bonnie’s outing. The town council sends a basket of diet books for Bonnie, and the Elks Lodge sends $72 and a list of dietitians in Motley. The gossip is particularly intense because Bonnie was once a beauty who could have married any man in town before choosing Albert Grape. Gilbert is embarrassed by the gossip about his mother. A few days later, Mrs. Rex Mefford goes to Lamson Grocery, corners Gilbert, and tries to convince him to return to church. However, Gilbert and his family began boycotting church the Sunday after Albert’s death, when the reading included “a small reference to how suicide is a sure ticket to hell” (131).

Gilbert goes home to make sure Mrs. Mefford and her friends didn’t make an appearance at his house. Instead, he finds Arnie suffering from a bee's sting. After consoling him, he goes to his planned picnic with Mrs. Carver. They engage in awkward conversation while Gilbert eats. Mrs. Carver makes the odd decision to jump into the stream and begs him to join her. When she goes under, Gilbert prepares to save her, and she finds this endearing. Gilbert leaves.

Later that evening, Mrs. Carver calls to give Amy the recipe for the fried chicken she made for Gilbert that day. Gilbert starts the laundry and prepares to leave, refusing to have dinner with the family. Amy tells him the city is burning down the old school. Gilbert goes in search of Tucker and finds him watching as the construction workers leave the Burger Barn site. They talk for a minute, and Gilbert asks where Becky lives. Tucker warns him that she’s not a nice person because she turned him down for a date. Gilbert drives to the house, and the older woman who lives there—Becky’s grandmother—comes out to invite him to breakfast the next morning.

Gilbert barely sleeps and is up early to go to breakfast. When he arrives, Becky’s grandmother invites him in and has him sit on the couch while she finishes in the kitchen. She invites him to the table and serves him eggs and bacon. She wakes Becky, but rather than join them, she goes out back to smoke a cigarette. Becky’s grandmother tells Gilbert that Becky is only 15, and he shouldn’t do anything she isn’t comfortable with. When Gilbert leaves, Becky follows him, and they go for a walk.

Becky and Gilbert walk to Dairy Dream. Becky goes inside to order since Ellen refuses to acknowledge Gilbert. Cindy Mansfield, who is Ellen's manager and the owner's daughter, invites Gilbert to Bible study, but he refuses. They continue to walk, and Gilbert finishes his drink. He crosses to Carver’s Insurance to throw away the cup but finds the door locked. When he peeks through the blinds, he can see Mr. Carver and Melanie having sex. Gilbert and Becky continue walking, stopping at the car wash. He turns on the water and sprays her, and she grabs the hose and sprays him back. They sit on the concrete and wait until they dry. Tucker sees them when he drives by but does not acknowledge them.

Becky and Gilbert arrive at the old school building. She breaks in through a window, so he follows. Becky gives Gilbert a piece of chalk and tells him to say goodbye by writing something on each of the blackboards. Gilbert does, but he skips Mrs. Brainer’s room. Becky notices and makes him go back, so he writes a story on the board about being in class one afternoon and having an uneasy feeling about his dad. At the same time, he needs to use the bathroom, but Mrs. Brainer has a rule that students lose their recess if they go to the bathroom before break. Gilbert wants to check on his dad during recess, so he doesn’t ask permission, but he has an accident eight minutes before recess begins. Mrs. Brainer makes him clean it up after Lance tells on him. He later learns that his dad died at that moment. Becky says that everyone talks about how he cried that day, but he didn’t cry at the funeral. Gilbert tells her he hasn’t cried since. When she accuses him of being proud of that, he begins to laugh and runs away.

Gilbert elects to drive to Des Moines to pick Janice up at the airport instead of going with Arnie to see the school being burned down. He leaves early and stops at a Burger Barn but leaves without ordering. He’s early, so he drives around, remembering trips to Des Moines with his father and Larry. When he arrives at the airport, Janice is unhappy to find that Gilbert is picking her up; she prefers Amy. They stop for gas, and Janice changes out of her flight attendant uniform into jeans and boots. On the drive, Gilbert updates her on the family, using derogatory terms to refer to both Bonnie and Arnie. Janice uses her psychology education to comment on each family member, blaming their father’s death for Bonnie’s behavior and Larry’s decision to leave home. The only person she can’t analyze is Gilbert.

They arrive home in time for dinner. Afterward, Amy and Gilbert sit on the porch and talk about the fire. Gilbert has a conversation with Arnie to make sure he hasn’t developed an interest in starting fires. Janice allows Ellen to borrow her flight attendant’s uniform, and they make a show of demonstrating the safety measures on a plane. Becky calls to inform Gilbert she’s going home for a few days. Later, Gilbert walks to the school to see its remains.