The Struggles of Jenny from Forrest Gump

The Struggles of Jenny from "Forrest Gump" In the movie Forrest Gump, Jenny is such a misunderstood person and in no way the evil woman many make her out to be. She is just a lost soul trying to find a place in this world where she belongs and can be happy. She has a hard time thinking she deserves to be happy and loved. Although she mistreats Forrest time and time again, it is not her intention to hurt him the way she does. The way she acts and the decisions she makes all stem from the abuse she went through as a child, then just continues to snowball from there. From the time she was a little girl it all starts with her father, a man she should be able to trust, who is sexually abusive towards her. At a very young age she is primed to think that this is how it is. This is why she prays, "Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far, far far away from here". At this point, I believe that these birds flying away in the cornfield represent her will to be free. Even though she is able to escape her fathers abusive hand, she is not able to escape the memories of what he does to her. It's these memories that drive her to do things that she shouldn't. Not knowing how to out run these thoughts in her head, she turns to drugs and promiscuity. We see her living her life as a poster child for flower power and the hippie movement in the choices she's making, as well as the way she is dressed. Her always wearing white or having something white on her person is representative of her innocence stolen from her, plus the kindness and purity of her soul within. She has a good heart, and it shows when she offers Forrest a seat on the bus while everyone else is shunning him for being a little different. As Forrest puts it, "Jenny and me was like peas and carrots", and that's how they remained for the duration of their childhood as well as through college. All the way to the point when she is singing naked in a night club and Forrest wants to save her. Her suicidal thoughts