One of the most interesting characters in the movie, Little Miss Sunshine, is the big brother Dwayne. Throughout the movie he has a grand character arc from hating his family, to hating his life, and finally to loving and defending his family. The screenwriter did this completely through definitive action because, the character does not speak for most of the movie.
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The beginning of the movie shows our character has taken a vow of silence. This is because of his study of Nietzsche and his reading the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Arndt 6). We also find that Dwayne has wants and needs to be a pilot through his intense work outs and marking of his calendar demarking the time until enlistment (Arndt 2). During the motel scene Dwayne purposely turns off the TV to listen to his parent’s argument demonstrates his absorption of the negativity of the family (Arndt 49). The fact that the character is reading a french philosophical nihilist shows that Dwayne is a very pessimistic but highly intelligent person. In nihilist thought people discover that the world does not have objective value or meaning (Jerman 6). The enlistment in the military and the silent treatment shows that the character is committing to a path that impairs communication with his family and that he wishes to run away from the confines of the family.
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Even with his outward and visible disdain of his family, the screenwriters do hint at the change that is going to come when they are first trying to get the van going after the clutch goes out. He and Frank are pushing the VW and are attempting to jump in when Frank falls behind. Dwayne goes back and helps Frank to get into the van (Arndt 39). Also when Dwayne writes to Olive to hug his mother when she is having her breakdown (Arndt 59) allows his character to remain aloof while still showing the audience that he cares for his family, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.
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The apex of his arc is when he finds out that he is color blind from playing with the eye charts with Olive. He finds out he is colorblind and thus cannot fly. He runs away from the van shrieking like a wild animal (Arndt 74) and most notably pokes ants with a straw (Arndt 75). [This is also a subtle point of the screenwriters bringing back in nihilism. In noir, nihilistic film characters act and react out of despair and persistently engage in activities that have no meaning at all. All attempts to get out of trouble only because more trouble (Jerman 6). Poking the ants shows the ants have no control over their future.] This is the point where he completely withdraws from the family unable to deal with the crashing of his dreams. This separation is shown by him standing on the edge of the group (Arndt 82) as well as when he is sitting alone at the contest (Arndt 84).
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His arc begins to change as he and Frank rent the surf boards and paddles out into the ocean. His one job was to keep Frank from killing himself and for a moment Dwayne worries that Frank has done just that by drowning himself (Arndt 92). In understanding his own feelings about possibility letting down his family he comes to the realization that he does care about his family.
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Thus we complete his character arc with him rushing into the competition and trying to convince his mother to remove Olive from the competition so that she would not be embarrassed. He enters the backstage area where he was not permitted and brushes past obstacles like the attendant and the contestant to find his family (Arndt 97). In fact when asked if he is part of the family, he nods in affirmation (Arndt 100). Lastly we come to him being proactive about supporting his family with him being the first person to cheer on Olive while she performs (Arndt 104) and then supporting his dad in his attacking the MC by rushing the stage (Arndt 106).
Bibliography
Arndt, M. D. (2007). Little Miss Sunshine: The shooting script. New York: Newmarket Press.
Jerman, J. (2008). “Unit One Notes,” Film Noir: Culture in Crisis. University of Oklahoma.
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