COMPARING THE BOOK FORREST GUMP TO ITS MOVIE VERSION
ELINE ALVES SANTOS
MARIA LAURA CAVALCANTI
RAYANE FERNANDES
English IV
In this essay we make a comparison between the book Forrest Gump, by Penguin Series written by Winston Groom and retold by John Escott, and the movie starring Tom Hanks in 1994. We are going to highlight the main differences between them. Our focus was on two characters: Forrest and Jenny. We noticed great differences between them in both works.
American movies usually have romantic viewpoints about their stories. So, in the movie, Forest is retracted like a hero and he seems to be less idiot, his IQ was only three points under the expected one.
Despite of his ingenuity, he was an independent man and he had a lot of success in his life. He studied in a conventional public school, and then he finished university, and also was a famous football player (played for the American University Team). Later, he became a soldier (after finishing the university) and went to Vietnam, for which he was given a medal for bravery.
In the book, he studied in a school for special children; he didn’t finish university because he wasn’t clever enough during the lessons. He stayed at university only for a year, this proved that he really had a mental retardation. He didn’t have too much success as on the movie. He also played football but he didn’t become famous. Actually, his team lost the final game. There was only one similarity, his success with the shrimp business, but on the movie he got success after other boats break down, as if for a miracle. In the book, however his success came for his shrimp business with Bubba’s family.
Like Forrest, Jenny was also pictured in a different manner on the movie. She was a girl who had family problems: her mother had died and she suffered from domestic violence, her aunt used to hit her. Jenny is presented as a girl who gets involved with drugs and violent love relationships. In the book, on the other hand, Jenny is a common girl and lives with her family. In childhood, Jenny doesn't appear to have a problematic life style. She take part in the hippie movement, though she wasn’t e involved with drugs. As to love relationships, it is not mentioned any problems related to violence. At last, she is just an ordinary girl with common problems for a girl at her age.
As regards Forrest and Jenny relationship, we perceive that on the film, they were actually friends. Their ups and downs show how Forrest loved Jenny, however she feels much sorrow and compassion for him. She did not dream about marrying him or living with him. She had other intentions such as: to be a singer or to become a famous artist. In the book, she really loved Forrest, although being afraid of this feeling. She began one serious relationship with him and then finishes it when she sees him kissing another girl. Then, she decides to live far from Forrest, although being pregnant of him.
At last, we see one more time that the perceptions of the director of the film and the author of the book are very different. On the film, after Jenny’s death, Forrest looks after his son, what reveals that one more time he is figured out as being more independent on the movie. On the contrary, in the book, Jenny marries another man and makes a family with little Forrest and her husband. After all, a person with mental retardation would not have conditions to bring up a child.
REFERENCES:
Forrest Gump - Penguin Readers 3. Winston, Groom. Pearson Brasil, 2008.
Forrest Gump, a film by Robert Zemeckis, 1994, USA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump
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