What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

1. Main Character: Arnie Grape Played By: Leonardo DiCaprio Mental Illness: Autism

2. Arnie has trouble fitting in because he has autism. The characters surrounding Arnie didn't know what autism was, so they couldn't understand what was wrong with him.

2.1. People viewed him as special.

2.2. They also had a short temper with him. They also didn't like him. Therefore Arnie had trouble fitting in.

3. What's Eating Gilbert Grape teaches the audience about autism. The film dives deep into the topic of autism.

3.1. It dives into the autistic fits Arnie has, which is similar to the fits children with Autism have in real life.

3.2. What's Eating Gilbert Grape also dives into Arnie's autistic tendencies, such as when Arnie climbs the water tank multiple times. The movie continues to dive into Arnie's tendencies when Arnie likes to hide in the tree and tell people to go find him.

3.3. The film also discuses how hard it is to raise a child with autism. Gilbert understood what he had to do to get Arnie on a routine, so he could function in their small town society.

4. What's Eating Gilbert Grape connects to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" through the obvious topic of mental illness. However What's Eating Gilbert Grape also connects to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" because in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Arnie is viewed as an outsider. This is similar to the way the patients of the mental hospital felt when they went out of their fishing trip

4.1. However What's Eating Gilbert Grape also connects to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" because in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Arnie is viewed as an outsider.

4.2. This is similar to the way the patients of the mental hospital in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" felt when they went out of their fishing trip that McMurphy planned out.