Of Mice And Men/What's Eating Gilbert Grape
             Although the book Of Mice and Men and the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" have two different plots, the themes are very similar. The theme of both stories portrays the struggle of a relationship between a caregiver and a disabled individual whom is receiving the care. In addition to the struggling relationship experienced by a caregiver and a disabled individual, the theme of both stories expresses the struggle of life in general. In both stories, the struggle of life can be seen through several aspects. Both George and Gilbert experience adverse psychosocial effects because of the disabled person they are caring for.
             One of the major, and possibly the most apparent, psychosocial effects Gilbert and George experienced was a lack of social freedom. Caring for another human being is a full time job which leaves little time to "play". Unlike Arnie, who is always looking for something or someone to play with, Gilbert is tied down by the responsibilities that accompany caring for his fatherless family. Gilbert cannot spend time with his friends when he expected to play the role of the father as well as Arnie's full-time caregiver. With the tasks that accompany these roles, Gilbert is lucky he gets enough time to sleep. If Gilbert takes time out of his day to be social, such as talk to his new acquaintance Becky, Arnie often gets into trouble or puts himself in danger without even knowing it. For example, Arnie's lack of the ability to reason and solve problems nearly kills him when Gilbert leaves him to take a bath on his own so he can go to Becky's house. Although Arnie had taken a shower religiously every day of his life, he still failed to accomplish the simple task without the supervision and assistance of Gilbert. This resulted in a frightening experience in which Arnie nearly froze to death. Luckily, Gilbert discovered him still in the ...