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Ian Dickerman
Professor Cecilia Sinclair
LBST 2101-335
August 7, 2014

Forest Gump

The 1960s and 1970s were a very progressive time in our nations history, and a lot of
advances were made in those years. One man was present for every single political and social
movement of those times, he just happens to be fictional and his name was Forest Gump.
Although it is debatable that he suffers some sort of minor mental illness, it is definitely a fact
that if he was a real person he would have been one of the best men to ever live. I believe that
Forest gained a lot of character through his struggles growing older, and his whole life can be
described as a very noble pursuit of happiness. Forest Gump is one of the most American
movies ever to be made, because it doesnt only house every major political and social
movement of the late 1900s but it shows the true American dream of a simple man from the
heartland of the country.
Forest Gump, was released in the year 1994 and was directed by Robert Zemeckis, and
produced by the paramount movie company. Tom Hanks is the actor who played the role of
Forest, a simple southern man from the small town of Greenbow, Alabama. Greenbow is a

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fictional town invented for the story but is designed like most southern Alabama towns. Forest
grows up with a low IQ, and he stays that way. He was raised by a single mother, while his
father was on vacation. His mother says vacation is when go somewhere, and you dont ever
come back. Forest gets to his teenage years and is still like peas and carrots with his childhood
friend Jenny. Forrest is chased down by a group of bullies in there 54 ford pickup and he runs
and runs straight to a college scholarship with Alabama University, the dominating force in
college football during this time. Jenny is at an all-girls college that she is eventually removed
from. He makes the All American team and meets JFK. He is recruited by the US Army at his
college graduation and is then sent directly to one of the most controversial wars ever, Vietnam.
While Forest is in Vietnam, Jenny is a hippie of the era protesting the war. Bubba, a young black
man who was drafted rather than recruited, was an aspiring shrimp boat captain who becomes
best friends with Forest immediately. Forest is given the Medal of Honor and turns into a ping
pong pro. Being a ping pong All American he meets Nixon, and is actually the caller who reports
the Watergate Scandal. After Bubba dies in the war Forest starts the Bubba Gump shrimping
company, the most successful shrimping company ever. Forest finds out he has a son with Jenny
and they move in with him, in his mothers old plantation style home back in Greenbow. Jenny
who is the love of Forests life, passes away and leaves him to raise their son.
The theories discussed in chapter five are mainly about how people think that the end of a
goal is what makes them happy and although that may be true, more often than not is it the steps
taken towards achieving the goal that make a person truly happy. People often complete what it
is they wish to have completed and instead of being excited they are often lost on what to do
next. The chapter also goes on to explain how environmental factors effect very little a persons
happiness and that the strong connections a person makes does.

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Chapter seven starts out talking about how as a child grows up, if they were shielded
from every single serious trauma, they would be weak and under developed. It then discusses a
theory called post traumatic growth. This is when something negative happens to someone and
then they are made a better person for it. The more that someone goes through, isnt all the better
though.
Forest is beyond a millionaire due to the Bubba Gump Company, and his early
investments in the Apple Corporations, one of the best stocks to ever hit the market. Forests
whole life is the pursuit of happiness and is completed by living with the love of his life and his
son. Money helps achieve happiness, but only when to the point of meeting basic financial needs.
Social interaction is far more helpful in finding happiness than materialism is, and Forest is the
opposite of materialistic. (Parker) He has a variety of very close personal relationships, with
friends such as Bubba, Lieutenant Dan, and Jenny. His relationship with Jenny turns romantic,
although throughout the movie they only state that they slept together one time. He doesnt have
a lot of friends, but his relationships are strong and that is more important than the number of
them. Personal goals are important on the road to happiness and Forest Gump achieved
everything he set his mind to regardless of his obvious lack of intelligence. He didnt come from
a successful family or old money, but he made something of his life. The most admirable thing
about the achievements he made was that none of them were made in selfish motives. Forest
didnt feel the need to be selfish, he just did what he thought was the right thing to do and
sometimes he did things just because it seemed like that was what was next. His lack of
intelligence is almost a blessing in a way because he doesnt over think how he can do things to
benefit him. This seems to work for Forest because instead of doing the selfish thing, he always
does what his momma taught him was right. The second most important thing to finding

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happiness is a persons perspective. There are several occasions in the movie where people
approach Forest and are angry with his nave beliefs but I dont think he is nave in every
occasion. Forest has a great outlook on life and sees everything in a positive light. After he is
shot in the buttocks, the only thing he has to say isnt about the pain, or not being able to sit
down, its about how the veterans hospital gives him all the free ice cream he wants. After he
loses Jenny, he is just thankful that she has given him his new best friend, Forest Jr.
Forests life isnt all happiness though, he faces some serious adversity through his years
with all the experiences that he goes through. The death of someones mother is one of the most
traumatic things that someone goes through, and when it happened to Forest he was beyond
crushed but it helped him learn how to cope with the loss of his wife later down the line. Forest
does dwell on the death of his mother the same way that he does Jennys, but I think thats
because he accepted that it was his mothers time to go. After Forest faces all the adversity he
did in his time in the army he conducts himself differently through what he learned in his time
there. The main cause for benefiting from adversity is positive changes in life structure. Basically
after people go through hard times, they learn how to get along better even when they arent
facing hard times. For the majority of people adversity also helps people look at things in a more
positive light. (Curtis) Forest doesnt really have a problem seeing things in a positive light so
that figure doesnt necessarily apply to him. The main reason I think that he grows more than
most through the adversity that he has faced, is that in every stage of the movie he seems to be
happier than the last. The times where he is sad are there but he is at his absolute happiest at the
end of the movie when he is putting little Forest on the bus for his first day of school. The only
time that Forest might have been happier was the short time period where he lived in his
boyhood home with his wife, and son.

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The journey to happiness is a long one that is specific in how someone should approach it
and Forest Gump had the perfect way to achieve it. He was a simple man and was very good at
approaching a good life. Forest Gump lived a good life. Through every struggle that he faced he
was made stronger and a better man for it. The way he lived his life was admirable and fits in
almost every category of the text book which details how to live a good life. The American
dream is a good one, although not for everyone. This movie is all about the American dream and
achieving a good life.