Forrest Gump is a 1986 novel by Winston Groom. The title character retells adventures ranging from shrimp boating and ping pong championships, to thinking about his childhood love, as he bumbles his way through American history, with everything from the Vietnam War to college football becoming part of the story.
Gump is portrayed as viewing the world simply and truthfully. He does not know what he wants to do in life, but despite his low IQ, he is made out to be full of wisdom. He says that he "can think things pretty good", but when he tries "sayin or writin them, it kinda come out like Jello". His mathematical abilities as a savant and feats of strength lead him into all kinds of adventures. Groom was inspired by both a 60 Minutes segment on savants, and hearing his father recall a slow-witted childhood neighbor in Alabama, he thought such a character made for a good protagonist, quickly writing an opening chapter before completing a novel in six weeks. The character's surname was taken from the Gump's store.
The novel was adapted as a film of the same name and was released in 1994 by Paramount Pictures. Forrest was played by Tom Hanks and the movie won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and numerous other awards. In 2022, the film received an Indian adaptation titled Laal Singh Chaddha, starring Bollywood actor Aamir Khan.
Plot
Forrest Gump, named after Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest, narrates the story of his life. The author uses misspellings and grammatical errors to indicate the character's Southern accent, education, and cognitive disabilities. While living in Mobile, Alabama, Forrest meets Jenny Curran in first grade and walks her home. They become the best of friends.
By the time Forrest is sixteen years old, he is 6' 6" (1.98 m), 242 pounds (110 kg), and plays high school football. Miss Henderson, with whom Forrest is infatuated, gives him reading lessons. He reads Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and two other books that he does not remember. While he enjoys the books, he does not do well on tests.
He gains popularity as a football player, making the All State team. When Forrest is called to the principal's office, he meets noted university coach Bear Bryant, who asks if he'd considered playing college football. After high school, Forrest takes a test at a local army recruitment center, and is told he is "Temporarily Deferred."
Forrest and Jenny meet again at the University of Alabama and play together in a folk music band at the student union, covering songs by such singers as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary. After one semester, Forrest flunks out of the university. He and his friend Bubba are drafted into the Army, but Bubba dies in the Vietnam War. Forrest is wounded and meets Lieutenant Dan, who has lost his legs, in the infirmary. Dan tells Forrest that he feels Forrest is destined for something great.
While recuperating, Forrest develops a talent for ping pong, eventually playing in a tournament in China and inadvertently saving the life of Mao Tse-tung and meeting President Lyndon Johnson. He reconnects with Jenny and is arrested and institutionalized after a peace demonstration. When the doctors realize he has a talent for doing math in his head, he is recruited to be an astronaut for NASA. When 'Sue,' a male orangutan on the flight, wrecks the ship, they crash land in New Guinea and end up captives of a tribe of cannibals, whose chief teaches Forrest to play chess. After returning to the US, Forrest meets President Richard Nixon and runs into Dan, who is now homeless. They travel to Indianapolis to look for Jenny, and find her working in a tire plant. Forrest begins working as a professional wrestler, fighting under the moniker 'The Dunce.' When Dan hatches a plan to rip off Forrest's manager, Jenny leaves in disgust. Forrest, who dreams of starting a shrimp business like his friend Bubba wanted to, decides to head for Louisiana. Before he can go he meets a chess champion who realizes his talents and enters him into a competition. This doesn't pan out, nor does working alongside Raquel Welch in a remake of The Creature From the Black Lagoon.