Who Is Bonnie's Suicide In The Grape Family

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The Grape family lives in town called Endora in Iowa, where there are few options for employment or socializing. Gilbert is one of the five children (three boys and two girls) of the Grape family and he is the primary care taker for his younger brother, Arnie, who has a developmental disability and for his mother, who has become morbidly obese after the suicide of her husband. Endora is a place where nothing much happens and the only times that the police has something to do is when Gilbert’s autistic brother, Arnie, climbs up the water tower. Moreover, in order to cope with all the troubles in his life, Gilbert has been having an affair with Betty, a housewife. While the family is preparing for Arnie’s 18th birthday celebration, Gilbert meets…show more content…
Since her husband committed suicide in the basement of their house, she has been suffering from depression. Before the death her husband, she was the prettiest girl in town but she takes a turn for the worse as she mourns the death of her husband. Bonnie has not left the house in seven years. She has taken a fond of eating unhealthy food and over the years has become morbidly obese. She is unable to leave the couch or work and has become a burden for her children since she is unable to play the role of a mother. She has a very strong fear of her family “disappearing” on her and grows anxious when her children are not home on time. This can be seen when Arnie was arrested for climbing up the water tower. When Bonnie was informed that Arnie was arrested and will not be coming home, she decided to go down to the police station to get her child. This was a big step since she has not left the house in over seven years. After leaving the station with her children, she realized how bad her situation as become as people gathered around and laughed at her. This shows the psychological theme hat depression after her husband’s lead to Bonnie becoming morbidly obese due to an eating disorder. Depression triggers her desires for comfort, which she seeks it in food and within the house her husband built for their family. Obesity is related to mood or any other depression…show more content…
Everyone deals with Arnie’s action and behaviors differently. For instance, during dinner Ellen and Gilbert were arguing because Ellen resents that Gilbert has taken on the father figure role. Gilbert replies to her comment by saying, “Dad’s dead.” Arnie becomes over stimulated and assumes that Ellen and Gilbert made a funny joke. Arnie attempts to partake in the “joke” and starts laughing and yelling, “Dad’s dead.” Arnie took the joke too far and upsets his mother causing her to scream at him and throw the dinner on the table to the floor. Moreover, autism can be aggravated by anxiety and depression, which is constantly seen in the Grape household. Moreover, Alfred Adler’s birth order theory can be seen with the different personalities of the Grape children. This theory states that the first-born tends to become intellectual, conscientious and dominant in social setting (Adams, n.p). The second and middle children tend to be more competitive, rebellious and consistent in attempting to be best (Adams, n.p). The youngest children tend to be dependent and selfish due to always being taken care of by family members (Adams, n.p). Although it is slightly distorted because of Arnie’s developmental disability, it is still applicable. Amy is the oldest and had the pressure to set the good examples and caring for the children. Gilbert, the middle child is the pacemaker and is
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