What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Gilbert stops to check on Ellen when he passes Dairy Dream and finds a couple of construction workers’ trucks in the parking lot. He warns her about the guys, but she pushes him away, reminding him that he needs to get Arnie to take a bath. News spreads around town that Lance is going to anchor the news that night. The Church of Christ is renting a big-screen television for the event. Gilbert and Ellen argue at the dinner table until Bonnie yells at them to get along. Ellen offers to do the dishes despite her frequent excuses. Gilbert decides to leave.

Gilbert goes upstairs and starts packing. Amy comes in to tell him Arnie wants to go see the big-screen TV. She asks Gilbert not to leave until after the birthday party. When everyone else leaves, Gilbert goes downstairs to adjust the antenna so Bonnie can watch the newscast. He is not impressed by Lance, but Bonnie is. Later that night, Gilbert comforts Arnie after a nightmare. He hears his mother speaking downstairs, but she’s alone. She tells Gilbert how great she thinks Lance is.

Gilbert leaves the house because Lance is the only subject anyone wants to talk about. He goes to work; on the way home, he runs into Becky, who says the newscast last night must have been hard for him. Gilbert doesn’t want to talk about it. When he starts to drive off, Becky rushes up and gives him a kiss. It begins to rain for the first time in months.

Gilbert attempts to get Arnie outside so the rain will wash him clean, but he refuses. Instead, Arnie steals a picture of their father that Amy gave to Gilbert. Arnie insists that Gilbert is shrinking. The Grapes spend the afternoon preparing for the party. Gilbert goes out and buys condoms before going over to Becky’s house. They go for a ride to the cemetery, and Becky makes it clear that nothing else is going to happen between them because Gilbert is too closed-off to his feelings. He labels Becky a tease.

The next morning, Arnie wakes Gilbert and reminds him it is Burger Barn's opening day. They go, but Gilbert won’t let Arnie out of the truck because he is so dirty. Arnie promises to take a bath in exchange for dinner at Burger Barn, but when they get home, he leaves Gilbert alone in the bathtub.

Gilbert tells Amy what happened as she works on the birthday cake. Amy is frustrated and demands Arnie be clean by his birthday. She puts Gilbert in charge of party games. As they talk, Larry wanders into the house. They are surprised to see him until they realize he mixed the dates up and accidentally arrived two days early for the party. He quickly leaves. Larry spots Arnie as he leaves town and calls to complain about how dirty he is.

Janice calls and complains about the rain, even though the area has been in a drought. Gilbert tries again to get Arnie to play in the hose, but he won’t. Gilbert goes to work, and Mr. Lamson gives him a free tub of peanut butter for Arnie. When Gilbert leaves work, Becky is waiting on the hood of his truck. She tries to tell him why she won’t kiss him again, but he doesn’t want to listen. Gilbert arrives home to find Bonnie alone. She seems to be talking to no one again and admits she has been talking to Albert. Bonnie forces Gilbert to say that he hates his mother. When he does, he can see the pain in her face.

Amy finishes the birthday cake, and it is the best one she ever made. Arnie comes into the kitchen, and Amy moves to hide the cake from him. Arnie crawls between Gilbert’s legs, and he holds him there, causing Arnie to squeal. When Arnie is gone, Gilbert turns and discovers that Amy accidentally pushed the cake onto the floor. She calls Food Land to order a new one and insists Gilbert pick it up because she arranged for Bonnie to have her hair done late that evening.

On the way to Food Land, Gilbert stops at Dave’s and discovers he fixed his cable bell. Gilbert walks around Food Land while he waits for candles to be placed on the cake. He unexpectedly runs into his boss. He is both horrified to be caught at the competitor's store and saddened to see that Mr. Lamson realizes he cannot compete with Food Land. Gilbert returns home, makes himself and Arnie dinner, and settles in to watch TV. Amy calls to check on the cake, and he reassures her it is safely in the refrigerator. Arnie is also curious about the cake, but Gilbert won’t tell him anything about it.

Becky arrives at the house and attempts to give Gilbert insight into himself by forcing him to look in a mirror. Arnie comes out and tries to break the mirror. When Gilbert realizes Arnie is covered in frosting, he rushes into the house and sees that Arnie got into the cake. He drags him upstairs and attempts to bathe him, hitting him when he resists. When Arnie starts crying about his eye, Gilbert attempts to comfort him. Gilbert puts Arnie to bed, cleans up their mess, and does his best to fix the cake.

The women arrive home in an optimistic mood, but Bonnie quickly gets her feelings hurt when Ellen talks about going into cosmetology to “mak[e] the ugly beautiful” (278). Amy also feels a little ridiculous for all the fuss. Gilbert shows her the cake and explains what happened. Later that night, Gilbert goes to check on Arnie and realizes he is gone. He drives around town, and he cries when he eventually finds Arnie bathing in the town pool with Becky. She tells Gilbert that she convinced Arnie by telling him Gilbert will stay if he gets clean.