Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is a fictional character who first appears in the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. Forrest Gump also appeared on screen in the 1994 film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis. Gump was played as a child by Michael Humphreys and as an adult by Tom Hanks, who won an Oscar for the role. The portrayal of Forrest in the novel is notably different from the portrayal in the film. He later reappears in the 1995 novel Gump and Co.. In 2008, Forrest Gump was named the #20 movie character of all time by Empire magazine.

•Created by: Winston Groom •Performed by: Tom Hanks (adult). Michael Humphreys (child) •Personal information: Birth: June 6, 1944 Nationality: American •Physical characteristics: Sex/gender: Male •Family and relationships Spouse: Jennifer "Jenny" Curran (wife, deceased) Children: Forrest Gump, Jr •Other family members: Mrs. Gump (mother, deceased) •Professional information: Occupations: ⼀American football player. ⼀Soldier and sergeant of the 19th Infantry Division in the Vietnam War ⼀Ping-pong player ⼀Shrimp boat captain Gardener

•Early years Gump was born near the small town, Greenbow, Alabama, on June 6, 1944 (the same day the Normandy landings took place). His father was absent during his life, his mother said he was "on vacation", but in reality he had died. His mother named him Forrest after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a prominent Confederate soldier in the Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who is assumed to be related to him. She wanted her name to be a reminder that "Sometimes, no matter how useless you are, you have to remember that you also have a place in the world." Forrest was born with strong legs but a very bent spine. He was forced to wear leg braces that made walking difficult and running almost impossible. He also had a relatively low IQ which almost prevented him from being accepted into the town school. Despite his physical and mental problems, Forrest's mother told him not to let anyone tell him that he was different, telling him that "a fool is one who does stupid things."

Forrest and his mother lived in a large house on the outskirts of the city of Greenbow, where they earned some money by renting rooms. Among his guests was Elvis Presley. Forrest likes to dance to Elvis' music and his leg defect gave him a peculiar dance style that would inspire the young Elvis in his "drug drag" hip dance. On the bus ride to school, Forrest met Jenny Curran and immediately fell in love with her, they were like arm and arm. "I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life," he would later say of her. The two became good friends, often playing around a large tree nearby. Jenny was one of the few people besides her mother to accept Forrest as he is. However, Jenny's life at home was not as happy as Forrest's: her mother had died when she was five and her father was an abusive alcoholic who abused his children (until Jenny was taken to live with his grandmother), and Forrest's friendship offered him an escape. One day, a group of bullies were throwing fallen fruit at Forrest and chasing him on their bikes. Jenny told Forrest to run away. As Forrest struggled to escape, his leg supports broke. Once he was free of them, Forrest was able to run very fast. Forrest never wore his leg harness again, and after that he was able to run around the world if he wanted to.

•Forrest School and Jenny maintained a close friendship until the end. During high school though he continued to be a target for bullies. One day, while being chased by some bullies, he interrupted the local high school's football practice by running down the field faster than all the players. This feat caught the attention of the Alabama Crimson Tide football coach, the legendary Paul W. Bryant (Bear Bryant), who was looking for new football players. After his incredible running ability, which impressed the coach, Forrest received a football scholarship to the University of Alabama, where his speed helped him win several games. He later was named to the All-American team and went on to meet with President John F. Kennedy at the White House. When the president asked him how he felt, Forrest (after having downed about fifteen bottles of Dr. Peppers) gave an honest answer: "That I have to pee."

Forrest was also present at the June 11, 1963 incident at the University of Alabama when it was desegregated and observed Governor George Wallace, who opposed desegregation. While several citizens heckled the black students entering the campus, Forrest, not fully understanding the situation, simply approached a black woman and handed her a dropped book, saying simply, "Ma'am? You dropped it?" your book...ma'yo?" before following her and the others at school.

•In the Army At his college graduation in 1967, Forrest was approached by an Army recruiter who asked him if he had thought about his future. Shortly afterward, Forrest would join the United States Army. On the bus, Forrest met Benjamin Buford Blue, a young black man from Bayou La Batre, Alabama, who answered to the nickname "Bubba." Bubba told Forrest about his family history of cooking shrimp and how he had planned to buy his own shrimp boat after getting out of the military. Bubba explains to Forrest that he loves all kinds of shrimp. Forrest did well in the military as he followed orders and without distractions; for example, he set a new company record for assembling his M14 rifle with his sergeant, who regularly identified him as an example to recruits. Meanwhile, Jenny had been expelled from school for wearing her school sweater to pose in Playboy and had gotten a job singing naked in a prostitutes' club in Memphis, Tennessee. Forrest came to visit her one night and beat up some customers who were harassing her. Forrest tells Jenny that he loves her, but Jenny's response was "[she] doesn't know what love is." Jenny is angry, but would later worry when he tells her he is going to Vietnam. Jenny tells him not to try to be brave, if he was in trouble to run away instead.

•Washington DC Forrest later receives the Medal of Honor for his bravery in Vietnam. When the award is delivered; President Lyndon B. Johnson asked where he was hit. She whispers in his ear that she would like to see him, so Forrest, despite knowing there were people watching, drops his pants right there to show the scar. Once he does it in front of everyone, Johnson simply smiles and walks away. Shortly after, Forrest went for a walk in Washington (DC) and accidentally found himself among a group of veterans attending the October 21, 1967 demonstration against the Vietnam War led by activist Abbie Hoffman. During the demonstration, he meets Jenny, who had become a hippie. The two attend a meeting organized by the Black Panther Party, where Jenny is beaten by her boyfriend after arguing. Given this, Forrest reacts and hits Jenny's boyfriend, after which they both leave the place. Forrest and Jenny spend the entire night together, while Jenny tells Forrest about her travels. In the morning they say goodbye and Forrest gives Jenny the Medal of Honor he earned in Vietnam.

•Captain of the shrimp boat Upon his return, Forrest finds his house filled with souvenirs from his fame as a ping-pong player in China. At his mother's insistence, Forrest makes an ad for $25,000 promoting a brand of ping-pong paddles, and uses most of the money to travel to Bubba's hometown of Bayou La Batre and buy a boat. When a fisherman pointed out that it was bad luck to have a boat without a name, Forrest can only think of one name: Jenny, "the most beautiful name in the whole world." Unbeknownst to Forrest, Jenny had descended into a life of drugs and sexual promiscuity to the point of considering suicide as the first option. Later, Forrest is visited by Lieutenant Dan, who, just as he said he would on New Year's Eve 1971, would become his first officer on the shrimp boat. During the first weeks they had no luck fishing. However, things change radically when the area is hit by Hurricane Carmen in September 1974. Forrest's boat was the only one that managed to stay afloat and in this way they established a monopoly in the shrimp industry. Under the company name Bubba Gump Shrimp, he soon became very rich. Having faced his demons during the storm, Lieutenant Dan thanks Forrest for saving his life in Vietnam, and Forrest assumes that Dan (without actually saying it) made his peace with God.

•Back in Alabama Forrest returned home in September 1975 when he learned that his mother was dying of cancer. After his death, Forrest stays and exits his shrimp industry, leaving it in the hands of Lieutenant Dan and retires to mow grass and lawns, as he apparently enjoys doing so. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Dan engaged in a substantial investment in what Forrest claims to be "kind of a fruit company." In reality, the company was the fledgling Apple Computers, and it is implied that its investment largely kicked off Apple's rise and subsequent success. With the money he obtained from the investment, Forrest donated a portion to the renovation of the church he attends, the establishment of a medical center for fishermen in Bubba's hometown, and gave Bubba's family his portion of the investment money he made. It's enough so that they never have to work again. Jenny later returns to Greenbow and moves in with Forrest. The two spend time together and Forrest describes it as "the happiest time of my life." On the night of July 4, 1976, Forrest asks Jenny to marry him, but she rejects him, saying, "You wouldn't want to marry me." Forrest responds with: "I am not an intelligent man, but I know what love is." After this exchange, Jenny comes to Forrest's room, tells him that she loves him, and the two make love. However, Jenny calls a taxi very early the next morning and leaves, leaving Forrest alone again.

•Career Forrest's newfound loneliness leads him to take up a career "for no particular reason." At first, he decides to run down the road, then into the city, then across the county, then all the way to the Mississippi border. Finally, he crosses the country several times in a period of three years. Forrest attracted the media, and eventually, dozens of followers and inspired him to start what would become the running craze of 1978-79. During the march, he inspires the phrase "Shit happens" to a bumper sticker seller after walking over a pile of dog poop. He also uses a yellow T-shirt provided to him by a designer to clean his face after being splashed by mud. In the process, the "smiley face" icon is formed, the logo and tells the man to "have a nice day." One day, while running in the western United States, Forrest decides he is tired and stops. He immediately turns around and walks back to Alabama. His followers are stunned by his sudden decision. Meanwhile, Jenny has taken a job as a waitress in Savannah, Georgia and sees news coverage of Forrest's career on television.

•Back to the present Back to the present (the "present" in the film being around 1981, as seen from a car and on a bus, and the television footage of Ronald Reagan's assassination attempt), Forrest tells him he says to his latest colleague at the bank, an elderly woman, who has recently received a letter from Jenny asking him to come see her. When he tells her Forrest's destination, the old woman informs him that it is only a few blocks away. After thanking her, Forrest walks towards Jenny's house. Forrest and Jenny are happy to see each other. However, before they can catch up, Forrest meets Jenny's son, a bright young boy who named him Forrest after his father. Forrest at first thinks she met another man named Forrest, until she explains: "You're her dad, Forrest." He fearfully asks about Forrest's low intelligence but Jenny quickly states that he is completely normal. Forrest learns that Jenny is sick with an unknown virus (presumably HIV), which has no known cure. He invites Jenny and Forrest to come home and stay together. She asks him to marry him and he accepts.

Forrest and Jenny's wedding is a quiet, intimate ceremony attended by only a handful of family and friends. Among those attending is Lieutenant Dan, who has titanium prosthetic legs, with his girlfriend Susan of Vietnamese origin. It's the only time Jenny and Dan meet. Forrest, Jenny, and little Forrest have one year together as a family before Jenny dies on Saturday, March 22, 1982 (which was actually a Monday). Forrest buries her under the tree where they played as children, and then buys her childhood home (where her father had abused her) and destroys it. Even though he misses Jenny terribly, Forrest becomes a good father to little Forrest. Visiting Jenny's grave one day, he reflects on the idea of luck and destiny, wondering if Lieutenant Dan was right about people having their own destiny, or if his mother was right about the description of Jenny. life as if floating by accident like on a breeze. Forrest finally decides "maybe it's both, maybe both things are happening at the same time." He leaves a letter from little Forrest to Jenny and tells her "If there's anything you need, I won't be far away." Forrest is last seen in front of his house, watching little Forrest ride away on the bus to school, he tells his son that he loves him.