Comparison Between of Mice and Men and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
They both have similar qualities that relate in each story. In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the time period is set in the 1930s. In the movie Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, it is set more in the modern times. The characters act and are similar in a lot of ways. Gilbert is a teenager that is struggling to support his family after his father killed himself. Gilbert relates to George because they are both constantly having to take care of someone else.
George is always having to take care of Lennie. Lennie is also a mentally handicapped man who is the reason why they are in trouble most of the time. Lennie and Arnie are exactly the same.They both have a “fatherly” figure that is always there to take care of them and they both are diagnosed with mentally retardation. Although the time period is different, both stories follow along with the same story line. They both are struggling with living in a depressing world and always looking for opportunities for work. Betty Carver is a married mother of two children who is lonely.
Her husband is a sales man and is considered mean. They relate to Curley and his wife. Curley is a land owner and is the boss of the workers. Curley’s wife is always looking for attention but is not someone you want to mess around with.They both are seducing younger men which in the end turns out to be trouble. Bonnie, the mother of the grape family, is struggling with being morbidly obese and widowed. She is laughed at and made fun of when seen.
She reminds me of Crook. Crook is a black man who is put down because of his color. He doesn’t like to be around anyone he doesn’t know. In the end, both George and Gilbert have to make a big decision. George has to either killer Lennie or run away again and Gilbert has to either let his mother be humiliated by being lifted out by a crane or burn the house down with her inside of it.
