Forrest Gump Analysis

Word Count: 1,124 Random Chocolates When you open a box of assorted chocolates, what do you see? Some people look, and they know that there are some chocolates mixed in that are absolutely horrid, and they do their best to escape them. Others see the candies and know that one of them will be their demise, but they eat them all anyways. However, a few people gaze into the box and see an opportunity for surprise with each morsel. In the movie Forrest Gump, the concept of destiny is viewed by the characters in various different ways. Lieutenant Dan believes in predetermined destiny, Jenny spends her entire life trying to take control of her destiny, and Forrest simply takes life one step at a time, believing that destiny is about the journey. Although each character is faced with poor circumstances, Forrest’s view about destiny leads him through the best life compared to the others. Early in the film, Jenny Curran’s character experiences horrifying abuse by the hands of her drunken father. As a little girl, Jenny prays to God asking him to make her a bird so that she can fly away from her circumstances. In many ways, Jenny got her wish that day. She first flies away from her problems in Greenbow, Alabama when she goes to an all girls’ Junior College. However, this is also the first time that she gets herself into trouble, when she gets expelled for posing nude in Playboy Magazine. On a rainy night, Jenny asks Forrest if he dreams, and she tells him of her dreams to become a famous folk singer. Jenny has hopeful goals, but even those dreams lead her to an unhealthy world when she becomes a nude singer at a strip club. She is constantly migrating—much like a bird—trying to find happiness, even though all she ever finds is trouble. The confused character of Jenny Curran continually attempts to run away from her past, and tries to find herself. Her efforts to take control of her destiny lead her into a life of drugs, abuse, possibly prostitution, and