Pavlína Roščáková, V.

ročník

Forrest Gump

The main characters in the movie are Forrest Gump and Jenny
Curran. The story mainly follows Forrest, but it would be right to
call Jenny the female protagonist. Forrest’s mother: Mrs. Gump,
Lieutenant Dan and Bubba are the more peripheral characters.

Forrest Gump isn’t the smartest guy on earth. He is on the slow

side when it comes to understanding academic things and
figuring things out, and that is not very strange when he is on the
borderline of mental retardation. He is a loving and kind person,
who tries to protect those he cares about, especially Jenny, the
main female character in the movie, who is a childhood friend.
Forrest is quite fond of his mother, who had a big influence on
him as a kid, and shows this by recollecting what she used to say
to him, throughout the movie.
Forrest’s life is in disarray and his biggest drawback is his mental
retardation, with his IQ of 75, which is discovered when he is a
kid. Forrest was also physically handicapped as a kid, with his
crooked back. Because of his disabilities he was bullied at school.
Forrest’s main conflict is with Jenny, who was his only friend
during his childhood. He is in a perpetual conflict throughout the
movie, as he doesn’t know whether to be in love with Jenny or be
her friend. Death is another aspect of life Forrest learns to cope
with, as everybody he cares for dies, one after the other. First
Bubba dies, then his mother, and in the end: Jenny. However,
Forrest accepts death as a part of life, and therefore this does not
become a conflict. His problem with Jenny is resolved in the end,
when she accepts him and marries him.

The key theme in “Forrest Gump” is life and not to give up on it; it
is about managing the obstacles on one’s path. Forrest faces all
these challenges, but he pulls himself through them. It is like the
phrase his mother told him: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You
never know what you’re gonna get”. Forrest handled things, as
they came. Another theme is accepting yourself for who you are,
and for what you do. The phrase: “Stupid is as stupid does” is
important here. It means that you are as stupid as the things you
Pavlína Roščáková, V.ročník

do. Forrest Gump was not really stupid in this case. He was
mentally dumb, but he didn’t do stupid things