Groom, Winston - Forrest Gump

"Forrest Gump" by Winston Groom

Summary

The book is about the life of an American "idiot" called Forrest Gump.

Forrest lives in Greenbow, Alabama with his mother. His father was killed by a large amount of bananas falling down on him.

Forrest got his name from General Nathan Bedford Forrest who fought in the American Civil War and founded the Ku Klux Klan.

The boy is an idiot because his IQ is only around 70. Because he must have an IQ of 80 to go to public school his mother sleeps with the headmaster of the school. He is an outsider and his only friend is Jenny Curran. Jenny is a girl who is raped by her father and so she tries to be together with Forrest as long as possible.

The other boys dislike Forrest and they hunt him. So Forrest always has to run away.

He runs very fast and so one day he is discovered as a great football player. So he gets a scholarship for the University of Alabama. In his 5 years of being at university he just has to play football and does not understand why it is a problem that black people are allowed to study there.

Later he plays in the All American Football Team and meets President Kennedy.

Then he joins the army where he meets Bubba. Bubba and his family earn their money catching and selling shrimps.

Forrest feels good in the army because he just has to stand still and to do what he is ordered to do.

But Forrest misses Jenny and his mother very much.

One night Forrest drives to Memphis, Tennessee to meet Jenny. She works in a bar as a naked singer. She always wanted to be on stage just with her voice and her guitar, but that was not the kind of life she thought of.

Forrest tries to protect Jenny but she does not want him to. Then Forrest tells her that he has to go to Vietnam.

In Vietnam he is together with his friend Bubba in the 4th Platoon. There he meets Lieutenant Dan. His family fought and died in every American war. So he wants to die in Vietnam.

Forrest and Bubba decide to buy a shrimp cutter when they are back in the USA.

But after a long period of rain the platoon is attacked and many soldiers die. Forrest runs away like Jenny had told him before. Suddenly he realizes that he has to rescue his best friend Bubba. He runs back and before he can find Bubba he rescues some other soldiers of the platoon. Bubba dies in Forrest's arms.

Lieutenant Dan was also rescued by Forrest although he wants to die in the Jungle. Dan's legs have to be amputated. Forrest gets a medal for his brave behavior and he learns to play ping pong very well.

Back in the USA Forrest meets Jenny again at a huge demonstration in Washington against the war in Vietnam.

He tries to protect her again and knocks her boyfriend down.

Then he has to play in the ping pong national team against China. This is a very important victory for the United States and so he has to meet President Nixon.

After that he gets to New York and after giving an interview and meeting John Lennon he is discovered by Lieutenant Dan. Dan has to use a wheelchair now. The two new friends celebrate Christmas and new year's day together. Dan is thankful now that Forrest rescued him in Vietnam.

Some time later Forrest's time in the army is over. He gets back home to Greenwood.

Because he has earned so much money with his ping pong career he buys a shrimp cutter and Dan helps him.

First they do not find many shrimps but after a hurricane destroyed all cutters but Forrest's they find very many shrimps. The Bubba-Gump-Shrimp Company has many boats and makes a lot of money.

Forrest gives Bubba's mom her son's part of the money. Later Forrest's mother dies of cancer.

Dan puts all their money into stocks of AppleTM and so they are so rich that they will not have to work any longer.

Then Jenny appears again. Forrest wants to marry her but she refuses. They sleep together and the next morning Jenny disappears again.

Forrest is confused and begins to run. First he just wants to run through the town but at last he runs from coast to coast for 3 years. When the people notice him they want to run with him. They say, that he gives them hope.

But suddenly Forrest stops. He is tired and wants to get back home.

Now he goes to Jenny. She now is a mother and her son is also called Forrest. He is named after his father and he is very intelligent. So they decide to go back to Greenwood and to marry.

Jens Küsters, Englisch LK, Frau Jansen, 17.04.00 Seite /2