Forrest Gump - Essay Example

This book is about Forrest Gump, a so-called idiot. But the truth is that he may be an idiot, but that doesnt make him any less worthy his fellow human's respect. The man has a low IQ and also suffers from weak legs due to spine problems. He has been bullied due to his learning disabilities. Nevertheless, although he has many handicaps, I think that he has succeeded walking without props on his legs. The author has commenced a longs journey that is viewed as an extraordinary one for an individual who has an IQ of a mentally incapacitated person, and therefore, he might be considered a very lucky person. But even so, he might be seen as unlucky due to the extreme sadness that he also endured because his life is guided by love, sad, and happy times.

Although he is under the average intelligence-level, he has done the most fantastic thing, which the ordinary people, even them who is more talented than him, wouldnt manage. He is a war hero, mathematical genius, football star who has played in a high-ranked college team, been an NASA-astronaut, been in a band, been an international chess player, meet two of United States presidents, played Ping-Pong in China and representing the US and there met Chinas chairman Mao, started an multimillion shrimp business, become a millionaire and give all his money away to a son that he only have met once.

Education background

Forrest astonishingly got a scholarship for an American high school football club and became a popular football player after joining the All-State squad. Luckily for him, his competence was still to be admired, and he met Bear Bryant, who gave him an idea of playing college football. However, he fails all of his classes except for an advanced physics class, which he received a grade A, after joining the Alabama State University football club. Unfortunately, due to lack of sufficient grades, he was expelled from the university and became recruited into the military to fight in the Vietnam War.

Occupation

After high school, he took a test at the local army recruitment center and is told that he is Temporary Deferred. But with his disabilities, Forrest was able to become a combat Superman for having saved a huge number of his army friends. Apart from that, he had been awarded Award of Honor for his heroic act. He also had an opportunity to give a speech on that day he got the award, but you could not comprehend what he was saying since someone unplugged the cables when he was speaking. With all these recognition, I think that Forrest character backs up the saying that disability is not inability.

Institutional Record:

0 incidents of prosecution

1 incident of mental institutionalization

2 incidents of federal crime

Jail/Penitentiary

Forrest has done some remarkable things, but all the ever wanted was to be loved by Jenny Curran, a girl that had always been nice to him and that he has known since 1st grade. In the book, Forrest, Raquel Welch, and another man were arrested because Raquel Welch was accused of stealing a dress. Forrest was apprehended and taken down to the precinct but was never put on trial for any offense. Nevertheless, the negative publicity triggered a dive on Forrests political career, but Jenny Curran persuaded him to get rid of his congressional Award of Honor, which is actually a state crime. Because of the controverting nature of accepting the medal then throwing the Award of Honor away, the judge advocate leading the incident condemned Forrest to undertake a psychiatric assessment in a mental institution. But regardless of everything that happened, Forrest still loves Jenny Curran and would do anything for her.

Psychiatric records

Forrests mother taught him the importance of being honest and did the right thing, but when trying, Forrest always gets himself in trouble. For example, one time he gets on the cover of every newsmagazine where he showed the president of the USA his bottom. The thing that happened was that the president had indicated Forrest his war injury on this stomach, and Forrest was showing the president his own, on his bottom.

The physicians at the institution realized that Forrest was capable of living by himself, as an idiot, but must accept to undergo a psychiatric session and more examinations must be conducted regarding his inattentiveness duration and ability to mix socially with other people. He was temporarily locked up at a Psychiatric institution but was then freed with the circumstances that he comes back for regular examinations and psychotherapy visits.

Based on the results of the form, Forrest scores reflect answers containing mostly 3s and 4s, thus deeming him having Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D). Upon further analysis, Forrest had undergone through an MRI scan of his brain to further question his A.D.D. before a final diagnosis was made.

This graph expresses the relativeness between the fourth brain and Forrests brain, although it is not a direct representation of his brain. There is a direct correlation between the two brains. Forrests brain is covered with the color of red indicating he has a serious condition of increased activity of deviations. In addition, the representation and relatively of this graph further shows the mental case for Forrest having A.D.D. Since there are no clear ways to carry out the diagnosis of A.D.D, from the face-to-face examination and the MRI scan results of Forrest, I believe that he may have A.D.D.

Physical medical records:

In another part of the book, his mother, was diagnosed with Rubella while she was three months pregnant with Forrest and after eight-months, Forrest was born prematurely and at a low birth weight. Luckily, he did not contract Rubella from his mother, and no unusual sickness appeared apart from chicken pox where he was four years old. Additionally, in the Vietnam War, Forrest was shot in the buttocks and was then sent to the Danang hospital to heal accompanied by the other injured fighters, where he was under the care of the hospital for roughly two months. Apart from these incidents, I dont think there are any other reports of Forrest being hospitalized.

Book Analysis

The book was a bit difficult to read and understand, because of the way the author has written. He has written all the words the way you would pronounce it, and he has made many grammar mistakes. When reading the book, you have to concentrate when trying to understand the words or the sentence, but gradually, you get more and more used to it. But this only gave the book more character, because he had written it like an idiot would write it, how Forrest would. Here is an example from the book. My daddy, he got kilt just after I'm born, so I never knew him. He worked down to the docks as a longshoreman an one day a crane was taking a big net load of bananas off one of the United Fruit Company boats a something broke, and the bananas fell on my daddy a squashed him flat as a pancake. One time I heard some men talking about the accident say it was a helluva mess, half a ton of all the bananas my daddy squished underneath. I dont care for them bananas much myself, except for banana pudding. I like that alright.

The title series of the book carries peaceful and relaxing deep feelings. I think that in the course of the opening title sequence, the audiences trail on the journey of the feather all over the city and the sky, wondering where it will eventually land, since the direction of the feather shows a gist of infinity and destiny. Actually, it is where the feather will land on the Forest Gump that the story commences. I believe that the viewers are set off from their peaceful and relaxing feeling when the feather lands on the Forest Gump feet. This is because the props of the scene such as a baseball hat, a newspaper, a toothbrush, and a graphic book that project the melodramatic characteristics in the book.

My opinion of this book is that its a fascinating, amusing and charming story. When reading it, you will never get bored because everything happens so fast and something new constantly occurs.

I believe that the author intended was, apart from telling this fantastic story, to make folks comprehend how idiots might get treated, and that you shouldnt get treated any way dissimilar just for their intelligence quota. They are just like every other person, and maybe only as successful or even more than you. And Forrest Gump is a proof of that.