Help with compiling GTK program

[Brit <brit job jsums edu>]

I am using an SGI Octane.
I installed GIMP and GTK.
Next I cut and pasted the program that creates a 200x200 pixel window
which is on the "Get Started"
page of.... http://www.gtk.org/tutorial/gtk_tut-2.html.

I saved this program as base.c
in my home directory.
I try compile the program by typing:

gcc base.c -o base `gtk-config --cflags --libs`

This is the errors that I got:
brit % gcc base.c -o base `gtk-config --cflags --libs`
Cannot execute binary file
/usr/local/bin/gcc - Exec format error

Please, What am I doing wrong?
Can you guide me through the right paths?
I do not have a background in programming, but I'm tring.
Thanks
-Brit