film / 1982
The World According to Garp
The film turns Garp's strange life into a tragicomic story about family, fame, fear, and the accidents no one can manage.
Verified facts
- Runtime
- 2h 16m
- Director
- George Roy Hill
- Released
- 1982
- Based on
- The World According to Garp
PlotGeeks explainer signals
Why read this explainer
Garp's family life develops under Jenny's public shadow. His fear of random harm becomes another pressure on the home he wants to secure.
PlotGeeks note
The accident makes Garp's protective imagination confront damage inside the family. His own death later confirms the limits of anticipating danger.
Connected knowledge
Connected in PlotGeeks
Related explainers and browse pages for The World According to Garp.
- Compare with The World According to Garp (1978 book)
Compare what changes between the 1978 book and the 1982 film.
- Explore Family
Family can offer shelter, impose a role, or become the system a character must escape.
Timeline
Major events
- Jenny becomes famous
Her book gives the family an unwanted public position.
- The car accident
Garp's rush home kills Walt and injures Duncan.
- Jenny is assassinated
Her public work brings violence into the family.
- Garp is shot
The helicopter ride recalls being lifted by his mother.
Story in 60 Seconds
The short version
T. S. Garp grows up with Jenny Fields, whose successful book makes her a public feminist figure. He becomes a writer, marries Helen, and devotes himself to their children while Jenny establishes a refuge for women. Family life develops alongside infidelity, fear, and conflicts around people who claim to speak for the assaulted Ellen James. Garp's wish to protect his household fails catastrophically when he crashes into the car where Helen is with her lover. The accident brings the harm he fears into his own home.
Spoiler sectionEnding ExplainedShow ending detailsHide ending details
After Jenny is assassinated, Garp attends her memorial despite a ban on men and receives thanks from Ellen James for his writing. Later, Pooh shoots him while he is coaching wrestling. The film ends with a helicopter evacuation and his memory of Jenny tossing him as a baby, returning to maternal care as his life ends.
Original context
Why it matters
What the conflict reveals
Garp tries to protect his household from a world he imagines as dangerous. The accident brings that fear into the family through choices made within it.
Key turning points
Jenny is assassinated
The car accident makes Garp's attempt to confront Helen's affair injure the children he most wants to protect. Fear does not keep him separate from responsibility.
Character links
Who connects to whom
Character motivations
What drives the characters
Garp wants security for his family and recognition as a writer apart from Jenny. His efforts to control danger repeatedly collide with his own choices and other people's violence.
Adaptation
Book and film connection
Explore the story