Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump's life

Forrest Gump was born on June 6, 1943 in Greenbow, Alabama. According to his mom, his father was "on vacation". He was born with strong legs but a crooked spine, so he had to wear leg braces during his childhood. Also he had a IQ of 75 which made it hard for him to get in the school. He lived in a big house outside of the town of Greenbow. On the first day of his school, he met Jenny Curran in the school bus, who became his best friend and later married with. He kept his relationship with her through high school. Because of his fast running that appeared after breaking the leg braces, he played for the football team during high school and college years. After he graduated, he went to the military. At the military, he met the man named Bayou La Batre who had nickname "Bubba". He did a good job in his trainings and even in the war of Vietnam. During the war, he saved his friends and the captain, Bubba. After the war, he learned how to play ping-pong and got the Medal of Honor. With his great skill in ping-pong, he became the U.S. national ping-pong player. Then he was honorably discharged from the military and became the shrimping boat captain just like what he promised with Bubba. After he made a lot of money and finished his job, he returned home to Alabama. But soon he was led by his loneliness to run without reason. As he had experienced all these things and returned to home, he saw a letter from Jenny. He went to her house and found out that he had a son. They soon got married and spent a happy time together but it did not last long because of Jenny's death. However, he overcame that sorrow and thought how his life was wonderful. Then his story ends.

Forrest and Jenny

Forrest Gump is one that contains all the qualities of an American Romantic Hero. If you look at his early years, you find out he is physically and mentally challenged. However, through his whole life, he found out his talents. Having many great talents, especially running, he developed himself as an American Romantic Hero.

At first, he had great talents that others did not have. Because he had strong legs, he ran so fast that nobody could catch up with him. Fast running skills made him to graduate from high school and college. In every military training, he broke all the records such as putting the parts of a gun together and separating the parts of a gun. In the war, using his fast running skill, he saved many of his friends. Also, he had an incredible ping pong skill that he learned in the military. He was so good that he could become the U.S. national player. The other talent was talent as the captain of shrimping boat. He made a lot of money. With his earning money, he helped Bubba's family.

Secondly, he possesses youthful qualities. He was a child who listened to mom well, even when he was adult. He was described as being like a child. For example, he often started his sentence with "My mama told me" or "My mama". Also, he carried his pure mind throughout his life. He never lost his pure mind, especially love. He kept his loving mind for Jenny, even when he was away from her.

Another quality he had was innocence and he had a pure purpose in what he did. Once, he ran for 3 years for no reason. Also, he decided to become the captain of the shrimping boat just because he had a promise with Bubba. The money he earned from shrimping boat went to the family of Bubba and the company, Bubba Gump. When he saved his friends and his captain, his only goal was saving lives. He did not care about the honor in the battle, but the life of someone.

He has also a sense of honor based on his own principle. He was a person who kept promises well and loved one person so much that he would fight for her. For example, he always kept his promises. He kept his promise with his mom, his friend (Bubba), and his wife (Jenny). These were done not only with the mouth, but also with the actions. He did not do anything bad. There are many things that are bad but not illegal. However, he just could not do bad things because he had his own principle that he would not do bad things.

He has a knowledge of people and life based on deep, intuitive understanding. As a friend, he understood them well and tried to understand their families. Especially, he understood Jenny well. That was the reason that they loved each other so much. As once a soldier, he served his captain, Dan, well. His captain blamed him because he did not let him die in the battle and with honor, however, his pure mind and understanding about him made him to be a good man even in society.

Lastly, he loved nature and avoided town life. In his childhood, as he lived outside of the town, he played in the nature with Jenny such as climbing the trees, playing in the corn field and enjoying the sunset and the wind. He enjoyed his life with the nature. Also, as he ran for three years, he avoided town life and might enjoy the nature that he could experience.

Because of all these reasons, Forrest Gump is my HERO. What he had done is a good lesson to my life and can be good lesson to you. His altruistic life is a life we should live. Just like he overcame challenges and became a hero, we can be a hero if we find our talents and live like him.

As you explore this webpage, I hope you put Forrest Gump somewhere in your heart and keep in your mind that he is a HERO.