It’s about Forest Gump, a man who faces many challenges in his daily life. Although the story is told retrospectively, the ending follows chronological order. Forrest Gump acts as the director and narrates the movie from a third-person perspective. The movie opens with happiness, but the film becomes sadder as it progresses. Forrest Gump is the main character, while Jenny Curran is the supporting actress.
The story follows Forrest, the male protagonist, but Jenny is also featured. Forrest Gump doesn’t have the greatest intelligence. Forrest Gump struggles with understanding academic information and finding the right answers. His mental retardation makes this not uncommon. Forrest is a kind and loving person. Forrest cares deeply about Jenny. Forrest has been a friend since childhood. Forrest loves his mom. As a child, Forrest was influenced greatly by her. This is shown by him recalling the things she used to say. Jenny Curran was abused as a baby by her father. Her bad childhood can be interpreted as a major influence on her life. Later in her life, she uses drugs, becomes prostitute and attempts suicide. Jenny decides to destroy her life and continues living it. She becomes more stable as the movie progresses. Maybe it’s because her child is with her or because she is dying. Forrest’s affection is not returned by Jenny. She doesn’t show Forrest much affection by leaving him so many times. Before his legs were amputated in the Vietnam War, Dan Taylor was an honorable man. Forrest saved Dan in Vietnam War. But Dan didn’t want to be helped and became bitter. Later, his affection for Forrest grows. Forrest’s life is full of confusion. This is because Forrest has a 75-IQ, which he discovered as a kid. Forrest, who has a crooked spine, was also handicapped when he was a child. Forrest was bullied at school because of his disability. Forrest is most passionate about Jenny, his only friend growing old. During the movie, he is constantly in conflict with Jenny.
Forrest must also learn to accept the fact that everyone he loves will die, one by one. Bubba’s death is the first, Jenny’s mother follows, and then his father. Forrest does not see death as an obstacle to living. He finally reconnected with Jenny after his problems with Jenny were resolved. She accepted him as he was and eventually married him. Forrest Gump sits at a bus station and a feather falls to the ground. Forrest grabs the feather and places it in a book. He begins telling the story of how he came to be here to this woman. It is interesting to note that Forrest’s story keeps changing throughout the movie. Forrest recounts the story of his childhood as he travels to the doctor along with his mother. Because he couldn’t straighten his back properly, he needed special shoes. Forrest’s mother, Mrs. Gump told him that he was like everybody else. But, his intelligence of 75 was lower than the normal.
Jenny Curran was Forrest’s best friend as a young boy. Forrest’s disability led to him being bullied by boys. One time, Forrest was chased by bicyclists. This saved his and many others’ lives. This incident happened again several years later. Forrest ran at the speed of the wind, was chased relentlessly by cars, and then continued running through a football stadium, where a game was ongoing. Forrest was able to get into college because of his incredible speed. Forrest, in his constant effort to protect Jenny’s life, once beat up Jenny’s date because he misunderstood the situation. The movie shows this happening several times. Forrest is sent to the U.S. Army after he graduates, and Jenny is expelled from school due to some photos she took in Playboy magazine. Forrest is deployed to Vietnam while he serves his U.S. Army duty. Bubba becomes Forrest’s best friend and he learns everything about shrimps. Forrest and Bubba agree to start their own shrimp company. Bubba was killed in the ambush that engulfed his squad. But many people survived due to Forrest’s tireless running through the woods and rescuing people. Forrest was assisted by Dan Taylor, his Lieutenant. Taylor refused to help him and had to have his legs amputated. Forrest is awarded the Medal of Honor. Forrest visits Bayou La Batre where Bubba lives and purchases a boat in order to establish the “Bubba Gump Shrimp Company”. Lieutenant Dan joins him.
Their business grows after the hurricane. They have one boat left. Forrest sent money to Bubba as a gesture of kindness. Forrest returns home after his mother passes away. Forrest and Jenny visited him after the death of his mother. Jenny declines Forrest’s proposal to her that night. They had sex later that night. Jenny departs Forrest the next morning…again. Forrest began running across America for “three-two months-fourteen-days-and-sixteen-hours”. Although he was considered to be doing this because of a special reason, Forrest simply ran because he enjoyed it. An old woman is sitting next to Forrest as he tells his story. Forrest tells the woman that he came to visit Jenny. He also shows her a letter Jenny sent. Forrest asks the woman to show him where it is, and he can take the bus. Forrest finds out that Jenny is actually her father and is not mentally disabled. Jenny marries Forrest, but Jenny is soon killed by an unknown virus. Forrest and Forrest board the first school day’s bus together.
Forrest’s feather is now free and has traveled through the skies. “Forrest Gump’s” key message is not about giving up, but living and managing obstacles. Forrest faced many obstacles but persevered. As his mother used to say, “Life’s like a box filled with chocolates.” It’s impossible to predict what you might get. Forrest was able to deal with the challenges as they presented themselves. Acceptance is another theme. The key phrase is “Stupidity is the same as stupidity does”. It simply means that your stupidity is as great as your actions. In this instance, Forrest Gump wasn’t stupid. Although he was mentally stupid, he didn’t do stupid things. Another message is that acceptance of death is a part and parcel of life, as the movie deals with it.
Some symbols are obvious, but the important feather at the beginning of and at the end is significant. It is a symbol of luck and destiny. After Jenny had left Forrest, Forrest saw Jenny many times. It was either pure luck or destiny.
