Question #8
Isaiah Taylor
13th November.
How was the character development of Forrest Gump in “Forrest Gump”?
Forrest Gump is the main character in the film “Forrest Gump.” His character has been developed to fit in with the other support characters to develop the main themes in the film. In the film, the most outstanding theme is the theme of man vs. society. The characters are developed to show that one is capable of doing anything as long as they set their mind to do it. The thinking that anybody can achieve anything is not in the normal thoughts of people. However, Forrest Gump has been used to prove otherwise. First, he is born mentally and physically challenged. However, his mother raised him to believe he is no different from other people. His character has been developed in a manner that puts those who doubted him to shame. In the film, Forrest Gump was a rejected person. People called him names because he never dressed like the rest. However, Forrest proves everyone wrong by getting out of the nut school to getting a full ride to a university to play football. Later he joins the army and eventually joins NASA, which sends him to outer space where no one would have imagined him. He also became a millionaire, the most unbelievable to the eyes of many. Forrest is a determined character who holds everything in the film altogether. He is never put down throughout the whole story despite the names that people called him. He is a fast learner but not in terms of the syllabus. For instance, he easily learned to play harmonica and chess. His fast learning skills end him up in a ping gong championship.
The film also portrays the character of Forrest Gump as that of a wise fool. He has a kind of intelligence that is below average.
Scene example: As the film begins, he is deemed to dump for the school system. However, underneath is dumbness is a kind of wisdom. He begins to see the world from a literal perspective. He only has an attachment to idioms that his mother taught him.
Also, he has the character of love. He is the single character that has been most used to build the theme of love in the film. From his tender age, he is gentle and kind-hearted. He shows much affection and love to his childhood only friend, Jenny Curran. He is very committed and is always wanting to keep her off danger.
Scenes: He says at one point, “I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.” As the film ends, the theme of love is also developed by uniting Forrest Gump with the son he fathered with Jenny. He loves him as he climbs the school bus.
References
The Act Structure and the Content Analysis of “Forrest Gump”. bloggingpionated. (2020). Retrieved 12 November 2020, from https://bloggingpionated.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/the-act-structure-and-the-content-analysis-of-forrest-gump/.