Book Report for IE Core2 #2

BOOK REPORT                                   11310108  Hisataka Kuzumi

Groom, Winston. Forrest Gump. New York: Pocket Books. 248 pages. 1986.

RESPONDING TO THE PLOT: (e) Which incidents in the novel did you find wonderful, surprising, comical, or even shocking?

     There were a lot of incidents that interested me. Forrest Gump, the main character of this novel, achieved many great feats. Though all of them were quite amazing, the most wonderful things that he did were his rescue in the Vietnam War and his foundation of the shrimping company.

The first one is his rescue. When he was a college student, he made friends with Bubba, who convinced him to enter the shrimping business with him when the Vietnam War is over. Forrest and Bubba enlisted in the army after their college graduation and were sent to Vietnam and started patrol with the 9^th Infantry Division. After several months of patrolling, their platoon was attacked by Vietnamese soldiers. While he was retreating, he rescued many of men in his unit though Bubba, his best friend in the army, was killed in the action, and after the terrible war, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. If I were him, I couldn’t have saved my fellows while I’m in danger and about to be killed because I don’t want to die in the war. However, he was brave enough to look for his fellows and finally saved them from the battle field. That’s why I thought it wonderful. Also, I want a close friendship with someone that can make me do something special in order to make him or her happy. I have some close friends but I’m not sure that there are such great friendships as Forrest had with Bubba with my friends. The second one is his foundation of the shrimping company. He promised his best friend to start shrimping business. Though Bubba, the friend, had died in the Vietnam War, he kept the promise and started shrimping alone. At the time, he already had large money, but he spent most of them to start the business in order to keep his promise. This is the wonderful point. You can read how sincere and honest he was. I, myself, sometimes can’t keep even small and easy promises. However, Forrest tried to keep that difficult promise though that challenge might have changed his life badly. After I read this story, I thought I should be more brave and sincere. If I can be like him, I will be trusted better than before by everybody.

ANALYZING 7 LITERARY TERMS:

Setting: In the late 20^th century. The main character is born in Savannah, Georgia but there are many incidents all over the world.

Point of View: this story is told from the first person. The person shows his feelings frequently.

Conflict: Forrest loved a woman, Jenny, and she loved him, too. However, he had to see her go far away though he wanted her to stay with him. He got confused because of her.

Climax: The climax of this story was when Forrest met Jenny again and finally married her. He found that the boy who was with her when he met her was, in fact, his son. These 3 guys would start a new life as a family.

Symbol: The symbol of this story is “Forrest’s personality.” His personality is a little different from those of ordinary persons’. Because of his strange personality, he is able to achieve something special.

Irony: When Forrest was gotten into the army hospital after he rescued soldiers in his unit from battle field, he met Dan, his superior in the army, and Dan went back to his country earlier than him. After his foundation of his shrimping company, he met Dan again and was laughed at because hero in the Vietnam War started to shrimp unexpectedly, but Dan would finally become a crew of Forrest’s ship.

Theme: “Whether you can behave in character or not” is the theme of this story and you can read it everywhere in this novel. Forrest faced a lot of difficult and strange situations. He overcome them in character and changed the situations into better ones.

REFLECTING ON THE STORY: (h) What is something you learned from the story?

     What I learned from this story is that you should carry things which came into your mind out as soon as possible. In this novel, Forrest did what he wanted to do just when he wanted to do it and finally things went better. I usually regret not having done something I wanted to do or I had to do. He is quick about everything but I am the opposite. If I were like Forrest, my life could have been more exciting, and of course, there would have been no regret. I’m writing this report because I thought I should do soon. Maybe, I’m just carrying what I learned from him out.

     Still, I have hesitation in doing something just when I think of doing so. This hesitation may come from fear or laziness. As I showed, I’m opposite to Forrest. He is not only quick but also brave and industrious. This personality led him to some good situations though he had to face some difficulties. After reading this story, I realized that I have been avoiding difficulties in order not to suffer from something bad. I may be trying to make everything go well without doing my best. Now, I know I have to change my mind and struggle to make my life much better than my present small boring life. Forrest Gump, the strange hero, told me how to spend my life meaningfully.