Lamson’s Grocery is where Gilbert works. ‘Foodland is where everyone shops’. Do you think the Grocery store symbolically represents Gilbert? If this is the case, what or who does Foodland symbolise?

I think Lamson's Grocery represents his town of Endora and/or his family. He is committed to protecting his home and family, because that's all he knows. Foodland represents the rest of the world; it's something foreign and new, something different for Gilbert.