A feather is flying in the wind, over the tree, and then, falling down at the foot of a man who sits on the bench telling the story about his lifetime. This is the start of the movie which tells a genuine and moving story about an amazing character.
The plot is relatively simple but remarkable .A man named Forrest Gump who is unfortunately born with a lower IQ and the muscle problem in the state of Alabama of America not long after WWⅡ. Usually, people think a person with an IQ of 75 can’t be successful in doing anything. But, instead, Gump has led a remarkably successful life from a football star to war hero, from a Ping-Pong champion to business magnate. Gump mould incarnation of virtue is Keep one’s word, Perseverance, Honesty, Optimism, brave paying attention to emotion in the film .His noble qualities reflects every aspect of everyday life and important social political incidents in recent American history. Forrest’s amazing achievements are played out as a humorous gimmick, but they are also part of his life story.
In the contention of the best picture of the 67th Oscar Award in 1995, film Forrest Gump have got six Grand Prizes, such as the best picture, the best actor, the best achievement in directing , adapting drama , the best achievement in film editing and the best visual effect, etc. at one blow . The film was passed to a intellectual disturbance person the description of life has reflected every aspect of U.S.A.’s life, important incident of social political life make and represent to these decades such as U.S.A. from one unique angle. Film adapt Winston · novel of the same name of Groom since. Only the original work is that one is full of fantastic novels with a satiric flavor, but the film modifies and beautifies the story. Have abandoned the absurdity of the original work and revealed that satirizes meaning, have added a kind of tender feeling for the film. This undoubtedly makes the film suit audience and judging panel’s taste even more, but has sacrificed the struggle spirit of the rebel of the original work, make the film become one kind and idealize ethical symbol.
Forrest Gump is not a perfect film nor is it one-of-a-kind. But it is near perfect and not easily equaled. It is instead special, accomplished and create an emotional link with the audience which other films try, but fail to attain. Forrest Gump is a film that entertains yet makes us think, not by forcing the audience to keep up, but by letting us see the world we know through someone else’s eyes ,the eyes of Forrest Gump.
In the movie, Forrest Gump not only is stigmatized by his low intelligence, but also has to wear leg braces because of a crooked back. However, his mother is a woman of persistent, who wants her son to live normally, so she always encourages Gump to be self-reliant. Fortunately, Gump was blessed by God with the capacity of quick-running and a pure heart. The education given by his mother greatly influences the life of Gump, maybe his life can be dated back to the beginning of learning the first word from his mother and the environment created by his mother. Under the guide of her, Gump also makes great effort. Mrs. Gump always lets Gump adhere to the principle of “life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna get.” and “Stupid is as stupid does.” Those words from the mother turned out to be the principles kept by Gump for the rest of his life. Gump is not born in a noble family nor celebrated one, and even his life is ordinary enough. However, those moving elements are not always earth-shaking events but those containing details in ordinary life.#p#分页标题#e#
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are gonna get.” These words can be recited by anyone who likes the legendary movie Forrest Gump, they are Gump’s living philosophy, which can be originated from his mother and become a popular motto cherished by many people later .This is also the movie’s philosophy. The author interprets it as that no matter what happens, the best alternative for us is “just do it” and try to find the secret of life by ourselves. So we can add a latter sentence to Gump’s proverb, “trying to guess the flavor of the chocolate is in vain, but it is worthy of trying to taste it.”
The words seem simple, but not simple in the content is the stance of life which can be understood but not done by anyone. No one knows what is going to happen next. The venture of life is unknown. That shares similarity with chocolate that you will not know what the next one tastes like, or which is bitter or sweeter. The result will be unveiled unless you get a try.
While in the normal life, you have no idea what you are going to confront, whether it is auspicious or vicious. If it turns out to be auspicious, that is perfect, while if it turns out to be vicious, that can be deemed as bitter before sweet. Like chocolate, unless you try it first, you will not know its real taste. You will not get what you expected before going through the bitterness. That tremendous taste must be fabulous. Actually, there is certainly some different characteristics in everyone and everything a person encounters in his or her life time, therefore, when he or she come across with these things, there will be some significance. As a box of colorful chocolate, you will never know what its taste is unless you try it.
Forrest Gump is the person of serving the hour, instead of take “the flavor of chocolate” into consideration, he just accepts at leisure. He has no desire or extravagant hopes, only with his honesty and naivety left in his heart. So that people could learn a special lesson from him. It can be seen as a kind of satire that the perfect person like Forrest Gump turns out to be mentally-retarded. However, it is a healthy man that has too much desire and hopes. In fact, none of them has the idea what his chocolate will be like. Before knowing Gump, Lieutenant Dan thought that he was going to die on the battlefield as his ancestors did, while Bubba insisted that he would become a captain of shrimp ship. However, their destiny was totally turned over by Gump, who saved Lieutenant Dan, and kept the offspring of Bubba to become a shrimp ship captain.
Indeed, Forrest Gump is an acute, epic fantasy with many layers. It is as incisive as a satire of America's mores and obsessions as anything by Mark Twain .It is funny and tragic, whimsical and serious, but most importantly, it is penetrating. Yet, it avoids heavy-handed symbolism ,while it asks the universal question :do our lives have a larger content and a purpose ,or is life—as Gump puts it—like a box of chocolate; delve into it and you never know what you will ultimately experience. Not to get too heavy—the movie does make people look into their own life, and make them firmly believes that they meet their spouse. How do they get their first job? All of these have a lot of Gump’s line “delve into it and you never know what you are going to get.” People surely have to eat a lot of “chocolate” to find out what we really want to do in life. As the feather continues its meandering path; suggests life will continue to be full of surprises. Its course is determined by changes in the wind; in the same way that Forrest's life is full of unexpected twists and turns. Our life is a story; all of us are only a supporting role. Our destinies have been set at the beginning of our life. We are the feather flying with wind. Even if it is a supporting role, we still can make this role to the best one.#p#分页标题#e#
When people kept asking Gump throughout the movie, “Are you crazy or just plain stupid ?”,he always replied, as his mother taught him, “Stupid is as stupid does.” You got that right Gump. The answer seems funny but if we think deeply then we can get something from this---we just do what we should and what we can afford. That is enough. Do not try to push us at the peak. Sometimes, we may never get to the peak in our life. It also makes us believe that everyone deserves an equal opportunity in life; everyone should be treated fairly and with the same level of respect, no matter who he is or where he is from. Democracy and freedom is one of the most basic principles of life philosophy.
Despite his sub-normal IQ, Gump leads a truly admirable life, for many of the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. Entirely without trying, Forrest teaches Elvis Presley to dance, becomes a football star, meets John F. Kennedy, serves with honor in Vietnam, meets Lyndon Johnson, speaks at an anti-war rally at the Washington Monument, hangs out with the Yippies, defeats the Chinese national team in table tennis, meets Richard Nixon, discovers the break-in at the Watergate, opens a profitable shrimp business, becomes an original investor in Apple Computers, and decides to run back and forth across the country for several years. Meanwhile, as the remarkable parade of his life goes by, Forrest never forgets Jenny, the girl he loved as a boy, and who makes her own journey through the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s that is far more troubled than the path Forrest happens upon.
Gump is not smart, even he himself admits it, “I am not a smart man.” But time and again, he succeeds in his world-gone-crazy surroundings where others fail because self-respect, loyalty, discipline, and long-term dedication are the only things he understands and cherishes as his principles towards life.
Forrest Gump stays with the fundamentals that the bottom of society. It seems all too often to ignore in spite of his low intelligence. But his positive attitude and willingness help him make his own destiny, rather than give it into some fate destined by circumstances or the labeling of others, provide inspiration for us all. “Stupid is as stupid does.”—Not to say we are all beings of sub-average IQ but merely that everyone makes an impact on the world at all times. He, with lower than average intelligence, is peculiar because of his unique language system, e.g. "Run is run". Further, his language system leads to his way of thinking, "never take your eyes away from the `ball'". Undoubtedly, his honesty, generosity and punctiliousness are predetermined and he is greatly rewarded, that means he succeed at every stage of his life. All in all ,a soul ,pure ,kind and noble, attacks the false, ugly, and wicked with every bounce in his orbit like a ball.#p#分页标题#e#
Ⅲ. Love: Eternal Theme in Life
Forrest Gump is one of those average Americans, who are living is a materialized society. Although with the IQ of only 75, Gump establishes his unique life successfully. The reason is love underlying his life.
In the elementary school, Little Gump crushed on a girl named Jenny who is abused by her father when she is little .A sequence of events thrusts Gump into the spotlight. Under the shelter of mother and Jenny, Gump started his running of life-long time.
“I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” Love is the film’s eternal theme .We gave our tears and laughter generously. The love in this film is a process in which a man with low IQ speaks out “love”. Gump doesn’t only say it to Jenny, but also to his mother and Bubba. Because the love realized by Forrest includes many things. The death of his mother and many times Jenny’s disappearance let Gump know what love is. Love is wordless permission, regretless commission. For the existence of love which given by Gump’s mother. Gump had the opportunity to be admitted by a famous public school with the effort made by his mother. Mrs. Gump shouldered the responsibility silently in a bid to make Gump realize the meaning of subsistence. Although in shortage of friends, Gump had never suffered from the loneliness tasted by others with the support from his mother. What’s more, Gump would not even feel blankness. Under the shelter of his mother, Gump ran from elementary school to college, from continent to the White House.
In fact, no matter whether Jenny loves Gump, Gump gets love and we get love from this film. Gump is able to achieve all of magic’s through great efforts. But what is about love? Despite all his success, the toughest one to achieve is his love for Jenny. They have been like carrots since they met on the school bus .His being refused a seat many times, Jenny’s seat offer opens the door of the heart of little Gump .Besides his mother, Jenny becomes Gump’s best and most special friend and his life-long sweetheart..
For Jenny, on one hand, she is unlucky for her lives in a fragment family. On the other hand, she is lucky for being sheltered by Gump. The deep love that Gump holds for Jenny almost penetrates every adventure of Gump’s. No matter where he is, what is he doing, he misses Jenny and hopes that whatever she is doing makes her happy .Gump keeps writing to Jenny all the time no matter what happens and how difficult it is . The impressive scene that Gump writes a letter to Jenny in the heavy rain during the Vietnam War shows his deep love for Jenny. The love between them is shown in a subtle way and to some extent misty. For the existence of love, Gump did not forget Jenny when he was enjoying wealth. Confronting with the hypocritical and disobedient Jenny, Gump still kept her in heart. Without romantic stories with Jenny, Gump’s steps had followed Jenny to the end of the world. He gave Jenny the happiest day during her lifetime. “You don’t know what love is.” Jenny says almost with a sigh. But Gump does know “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is .I love you Jenny, Jenny You’re my girl.” Gump teaches people that pure and true love can be promising and rewarding .It is fortunate that Jenny left their son with him before her death, giving him a hope for life.#p#分页标题#e#
As for Gump, Jenny was the most consistently “good” characters in the film. Jenny’s voice is the sweetest voice in the world, Jenny is the most beautiful name, the time spent with Jenny is the happiest in his life. In the beginning, Jenny is the sole person aside from Forrest’s mother who sees him as a human being. In fact, the two primary female characters in the movie are the only ones who believe in Forrest completely. All the ‘evil’ acts of Jenny are ascribed to a damaged psyche due to her sexual abuse by her father when she is little. She becomes self-destructive because of this, and is only when she realizes that in Forrest she had someone who loved her completely and without reservation did she regain her own sense of self-worth and dignity.
Forrest and Jenny are representatives of our booming generation. They are all of us: Forrest the simple naive side of us; Contrastively, Jenny who loved by Gump is the symbolization of corruption, almost all of the vices can be found on her, freak-out, sex-liberation and so on. The disease she died of, actually, is the disease of AIDS. Despite demerit of Jenny we mentioned above, Gump loves her without any complaints. The film, as imposing a kind of blame on him, also reflects his purity and trueness.
The real message of the film is that the best way for us to go through life and love is with a core of decent moral values, supplemented by an awareness of reality and heart felt joy. At the end of the film, in front of Jenny’s grave, people could hear the most sincere and touching lover’s utterance “I miss you, Jenny .If there is anything you need, I won’t be far away.”
Ⅳ. Optimism: The Attitude to Life m
Gump’s optimism is due to his mother’s education. In his childhood, his mother let him feel he is a normal person. She gives him her love selflessly and ceaselessly. Through his life his experiences are thrilling, including being sent overseas for the Vietnam War. He wasn’t frustrated by this thing and rescued many people. Sometimes we will be attracted by someone who is opposite to ourselves. Jenny is the one like that to Gump. Though both of them have a broken family, their family condition is still different. Gump has her mother’s love, but jenny has a sottish father who often abuses her. So when she grows up, she has a strong desire to have a good life and don’t mind paying out any cost, even ignores Gump’s love, he has a pure heart and always treats others intently. Because of his simplicity, he tries his best to do everything. Never think about whether it is benefit or not. It is why he can do everything so successful.
If a person keeps in a positive mood, and sees life in the bright light, then once he confronts some great difficulties, he believes that it will be better. One day, he will achieve success.
The road of life is not even flat, so is the road of happiness. Despite the difficulties lies in life and pursuit of happiness, we should not give up the right of pursuit. Instead, we should pursuit happiness in a happy and persistent mood. Happiness could not only be achieved in good environment but also through hardship.#p#分页标题#e#
Certainly, there will be hope in adversity, once we hold that hope and turn it to motivity, then, we can grow up. Many great men achieve their achievements in adversity.
We have to practice beforehand in order to be a person of high taste. It is necessary for us to think positively when confronting any problem, and believe that there will be a favorable turn. Through this way, positive outlook of life could be forged to resist the fear of being defeated. How many people wake up with a smile on his face? There is a common ground shared by optimisms which is smile on their faces. Smile can be functioned as a tool for relaxing. We could breathe more fresh air through laughing.
Optimism is easier in pronunciation than in doing. First, you should learn to find bright in dark. Someone says, when the sky turns to be dark, then, stars will appear. If it is difficult to keep a bright mood, then making friends with the people who lives optimism, you will be influenced by their optimism and make you to be more optimistic. What’s more, you can make some imagination that is beneficial for you.
A successful commercial person once said that I was not a good student since I was born, but I did not give up, when I confront any difficulty I will tell myself I should be more optimistic, and tomorrow will be ok. Someone see himself as a loser as he comes across some difficulty. This kind of conception will restrict you from becoming successful. Everything is worth trying. Therefore, the rate of success will be greater.
If one wants to obtain true happiness, what he needs first is an optimistic and open heart, even if he is immersing in adversity, or he will not solve anything if he put all his attention on mistakes pessimistically.
Ⅴ. Honesty: Eternal Beauty of Human Nature
Gump is always honest about the truth, brave enough to face the difficulty and sincere in his promise. Although he is not a sturdy person in the eyes of most people around him, he is weak, and represents most of the human natural and moral virtues that are needed in modern society. His kind and loving heart opens a wide sky to him and also gain him something invaluable.
The most impressive scene, however, is the most dynamic: the Vietnam battle sequence. The high point of the film with its good staging and a very emotional scene are between Forrest and Bubba. When being sent to the Vietnam War, the scene of offering seat is again performed, Gump accepts the offer from a young African American a man named Bubba, who is also from Alabama and has a goal to be a shrimp boat captain. Bubba was an innocent who, like Forrest, on the surface isn’t very bright but turns out to have a remarkable amount of knowledge. “Normal” people only see two dummies .But Forrest and Bubba see in each other decency and goodness, along with substantial abilities, and this made them good friends “like brothers and stuff” .When Bubba is killed, Forrest carries out an obligation of his friend to take care of his family. This promise is not an easy promise to keep, because it seems that Bubba’s family doesn’t appreciate Forrest’s help. But Forrest manages to fulfill his promise through determined effort, intense honest, and a little luck. He follows up on Bubba’s plans and gives Bubba’s mother her share.#p#分页标题#e#
Lieutenant Dan is born and brought up in a military family and he is on his way to be an excellent soldier .But this promising ambition is destroyed in the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Dan becomes legless in a war injury, which is an early fatal strike to him .Although saved by Gump, Lieutenant Dan complains about his destiny. “I was supposed to die in the field with honor .That was my destiny and you cheated me out of it .Now I’m nothing but a goddamned cripple. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to me. I had a destiny. I was Lieutenant Dan Taylor.” (Winston Groom, 1994: 456) He thinks the world is unfair. But Forrest cares nothing about it and regards Lieutenant Dan as his commander both physically and emotionally. Lieutenant Dan has new legs at last, and also, in a rational sense makes peace with God.
Gump’s simple, literal interpretation of everything around him and his tenacity and honest to a dead friend, a disabled lieutenant and others turns him into a model soldier earning him the congressional medal of honor, a business partner, a fortunate being, and a friend for life.
Ⅵ. Perseverance: The Key to Success
Gump have never thought about his future, but encouraged by mother and Jenny to strike for the unknown future regardless of difficulties. During his marathon for life, he gets over all the difficulties he came across, and consequently his perseverance gives him a noticeable success.
In the movie, running is provides us food for thought. It also represents the characters that Gump have. When the story opens, he is being fitted to fix a back that’s “as crooked as a politician”. But Gump runs right out of those braces and once he starts running, he never stops.
He has his own perseverance, keeping on running without any reason, JUST RUNS. He said: “Man has to look forward, and never encumbered by foretime. I think that's the meaning of my running.” Few people will stick to doing one thing, Gump sticks to his insist, so he became a "god."
Once the Lieutenant Dan said that his fate was die in war. However, Gump saved him and let him be alive. After losing legs, Lieutenant Dan was decadent and disgusted with life, complaining that Gump shouldn't have saved him. When he adjusted his mind, fishing with Gump, he started to enjoy the wonderful life and thank for Gump's help. Gump’s perseverance intends to tell people that life is wonderful. Rainbow always comes after clouds. The key point is that we should have a good mind or an opportunity to ourselves to change bad situation. The movie is also sends such a message to us: do well what we should do, and life will give us a good feedback. There will be a miracle if there is perseverance.
Running is the most important spirit in Gump’s running blood. .He runs from adversity to success; he runs from ordinary to extraordinary, he runs so fast, so attentively and randomly. Gump’s running can also stand for going forwards whatever he can get or not , even we can take Gump’s running as Jenny’s shouting. When we miss someone, this kind of feeling can become one standard of real memory to the person.#p#分页标题#e#
It is interesting to watch who was running, from where, for what .Running in the film becomes a symbol for perseverance, just like the feather that floats at the beginning and end of the movie .Forrest runs freely ,runs naturally, runs to get his own life. Although in the film Forrest tells the reporters that he thinks about nothing but just feels like running .We can see that his running does have meaning in the film, and also ,in his life“, My mama always said ,you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.” That is the key point of running. It is no doubt that his amazing running gift as a miracle affects his whole life. Besides, it is a reflection of his positive attitude towards life, especially, “running gives people hope for life.”
Perseverance is one of the precious characters of human beings, together with adamancy, boldness, and kind-heartedness, perseverance is cherished by people since ancient times. Most of the time, we suffer from lacking of persistence, and perseverance. Despite the bright future shining before us, we can not at least strike forward with little confidence and perseverance. At last, all the effort made before was result in vain. Those who are bold enough to confront the difficulties are respectable. The spirit of perseverance originates from the accumulation of recognition towards the external society. The realizing of persistence is the process of growing. Without perseverance, people will not grow up. Without perseverance, there’s no accomplishment. Without persistence, the value of life would no longer exist.
Ⅶ. Conclusion
Gump is one of those ordinary Americans who live in a materialized society. He is also unordinary. With IQ of only 75, he has blazed a trail for himself, because of the love from his surroundings, and most important, from his own heart. Actually, some features of Gump remind audience the character of Benjy in The Sound and Fury written by William Faulkner. Although they have a lot in common, they have essential disparity. Benjy is nothing but a real mentally-retarded, however, Gump stands for those virtues that are hardly found in this time. Honesty, perseverance, optimism, kind-heartedness and sentiment can be traced on Gump.
Although it is just a film with fictive plot, Forrest Gump has influenced the ideology of several generations in American or even other countries. Every action taken and words spoken by Gump seem simple enough, even too simple to catch attention of audience, especially for his identity as mentally-retarded. However, it is this movie with a disabled hero as actor that has won the precious award of Oscar. As the director of Forrest Gump has mentioned, what the ordinary people should learn is the optimism from the bottom of Gump’s heart. Without any thrilling scene, this movie reminds audiences of himself or herself, and that period of history. Everyone who has ever watched the movie would draw a lesson from it. The accomplishment of Gump is not made by accident. There are always some rules followed by the trend of life. #p#分页标题#e#
At the end of the film, the white soft feather began floating near Gump’s feet, waving to the blue sky. We finally completely experienced a film traveling filled with infinite charms and happiness. Despite the vicissitude of this world, something is permanent. Although the scene of the movie is in flash speed, the sentiment of life is permanent. The spirit of Gump will be with us forever.
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