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... the end, Candide has come to learn the harsh lesson that Voltaire is putting forward (2). Having been subject to various calamities and philosophies, he finally gets it! The point is that though society, including Lady Cunegonde, may be corrupt, we (as individuals of free choice) must cultivate our garden (Voltaire 120). Garden, in this context, is a metaphor for whatever the reader considers an ideal situation.
Voltaire is trying to say that the goodness of Providence is the only asylum in which man can take refuge (Bell 2). In Forrest Gump, Robert Zemeckis used Forrest in much the same way that Voltaire used Candide. Its like Candide in the way that its an un abrasive satire of the idiocy of life manifested in various touchstone events (Baumbach 1). Zemeckis takes Forrest through a life of fairytale adventures, encountering many different people, to come to some form of enlightenment. The difference is that Forrest retains his purity in the face of corruption, while Candide participates in it. Both characters, however, travel through their lives, innocent and extremely nave.
The films opening shot follows a feather floating aimlessly through the air, which lands at the feet of our unsung hero. This is a visual metaphor which specifically ties Forrest to the feather; he too will be buffeted by the winds of postwar America (Giunti 2). Forrest's inability to comprehend the importance of his experiences is what allows Zemeckis to convey his message. For example, Forrest doesnt realize why hes playing college football, hes not even sure why he got to meet the president, hes just happy that they had lots of Dr. Pepper. Another example is illustrated when Forrest is present for the integration of his college.
When he retrieves the dropped textbook of one of the black students, and returns it, he is naturally committing an act of kindness. Though it would normally have been considered an act of bravery, he doesnt know the degree of the circumstances. He does what would normally be considered a morally courageous act, but the action loses him no social advantage (2). He earns the Medal of Honor in Vietnam for saving a platoon of men, when all he really wanted to do was find Bubba.
He did exactly what Jenny made him promise to do: run. When asked about it, Forrest attributes the honor to Jenny, saying, I only got it doing what you told me to do. Finally, one of the most evident examples of Forrest's name is in the scene when Jenny is confronted with her childhood home. Having been sexually molested as a child, she becomes angry and starts throwing rocks at the house. Forrest thinks her sadness is due to the lack of rocks to throw. As nave as it may seem, Forrest, as Jenny says, just doesnt know any better.
Throughout Forrest's life two things remain constant: the ridicule he endures from various people, and his love for Jenny. Zemeckis illustrates the corruption throughout society in the way Forrest is treated by members of that society. Evident in the very beginning, Forrest is the object of ridicule in his town. It begins with the old men leering at his leg braces, and continues with the local bullies who torment him into adolescence. Even Forrest's mother is forced to take part in the corruption seen in the film. In order to keep Forrest out of a special school, she sleeps with the school board superintendent.
Almost every time Forrest encounters someone new, and exchanges dialogue, he is met with a criticizing statement. For example, when Forrest tells Bubba's mother his plan, and again when he buys a shrimp boat, both incidences are met with an: are you stupid? The people Zemeckis is trying to illustrate cannot accept the fact that someone can be as pure of heart as Forrest. They question his intellect and assume that no rational person can sustain such values. Another illustration of society's corruption is evident in the fact that they have to have a motive behind his desire to continue running across America. No one can accept the fact the he just felt like running.
They have to ask if its for some worldly cause or divine purpose. When Forrest says, they couldnt understand why someone just wanted to run, viewers cant help but laugh at the irony. This is ironic in the sense that it illustrates society's name. Is society so disillusioned that they have to strive for a motive in someone elses life? Searching for her motive, or purpose for life, Zemeckis suffers Jenny to bear the brunt of every excess of the past three decades (Giunti 3). Jenny is consistently reuniting with, and leaving Forrest, again and again.
Zemeckis portrays Jenny in much the same way as Lady Cunegonde: an opportunist. She is confronted with many of the before mentioned corruptions in Candide. Her father subjected her to a corruption of morals at a young age, which we can discern as the source of her corruption and delinquency growing up. Her sexual activity before marriage, her participation in protests, her use of drugs, and her disregard of Forrest's true feelings, all signify her absolute corruption. However, Zemeckis uses this to illustrate the point that absolute corruption can be overcome, if you make the choice.
For example, throughout the story the viewers are meant to treat Jenny with a harsh attitude, but at the end, when she accepts Forrest, we accept her. This redemptive quality is the same thing that allows Lieutenant Dan to make his peace with God. Lieutenant Dan, who can be characterized in much the same way as Martin, is an extreme pessimist. He resents Forrest for saving his life in Vietnam. He believes that it was his duty to die on the battlefield. He appears a second time only to criticize Forrest's accomplishment for receiving the Medal of Honor.
When Lt. Dan returns for the third time, to help Forrest with his shrimp boat business, he is in a transitional state of character. The viewers are able to see that his attitude is changing from one of pessimism to one of appreciation. He is beginning to connect with Forrest and his values. Upon the fourth and final return of Lt. Dan, for Forrest's marriage, he is a new man.
Zemeckis not only brings him back with a clean look, but with new legs as well. This situation is a metaphor for the theme of the movie: that is, no matter how bleak a situation, one can overcome it if one chooses to do so. This statement underlies the essential connection between both Candide and Forrest Gump: choice. Everyone has choices to make in life; its what we make of that choice that determines our course.
Lt. Dan and Jenny, both of whom reject past lifestyles as empty share in the redemptive decency that they can now recognize in Forrest (Giunti 3). In Judith Zinsser's critique on Forrest Gump, she tries to discern the popularity of the movie. Zinsser believes that many people relate to the joyful innocence and generosity of the central character, the loving determination of his mother, and the fairy tale quality of his adventures (1). However, Zinsser believes that the characters in the movie are stereotypes playing out a simplistic, anti-intellectual fantasy that mocks our processes and institutions (1).
Yet, throughout her critique, Zinsser actually plays right into the role in which the movies popularity fed off of: I had tears in my eyes with everyone else wieland again when (1). Shes contradicting herself by giving the reason for the movies popularity: emotional content. Yet Zinsser believes that it is the touching shifts in the plot that contradict the apparent message of the film. For example, she feels the biggest contradiction of all is: you make your own destiny, Forrest and life is like a box of chocolates. However, standing on Zinsser's shoulders one could discern that it is these apparent contradictions that allow Forrest to grow and adapt to what is occurring in his life, thus enabling him to come to a deeper understanding at the end of the film. In the end, Forrest ultimately realizes his interpretation of the meaning of life.
Bombarded with different notions of the meaning of life, as Candide was, Forrest realizes that you make your own destiny. It is not until Jenny dies that he actually gets it! When he has her childhood home bulldozed to the ground we know that he understands the corruption that originated within. It is during this emotional scene that Zemeckis allows Forrest's true character to show.
He is still compassionate, kind, and reserved, yet he possesses an understanding that can hardly be described in words. Forrest has suffered through a multitude of character defining events, yet it is when he discovers his sons intelligence, and Jenny's death, that he awakens unknowingly. Character defining awakenings are all too common but not always documented. Some critics believe that the message of Forrest Gump was to show that a man doesnt have to be rich or smart to be dignified (Ryan 4).
While that may seem a fair assumption, it misses the entire message of the film. Matthew Giunti believes that the message is clear: you can do good you can do well, but to do both, simply turn off your mind and go with the flow (3). Though that also seems to be a fair assumption, both lack a connection to Voltaires Candide. Candide is a fantastic advocate for philosophical skepticism. What Voltaire and Zemeckis are trying to say in these works is that life is cruel. We are all pawns in the malicious chess game orchestrated by the almighty.
The difference however being that by exercising our choice to either fulfill our life or aimlessly float about, we in fact free ourselves from the constraints of the game. It is in this choice, and freedom associated with it, that enables us (Jenny, Lt. Dan, Forrest, Candide, Lady Cunegonde, etc) to live the rest of our lives content and fulfilled. Bibliography: Works Cited Baumbach, Jonathan. A Pretty Interesting Life. New York Times Book Review, 9 Mar. 1986.
Literature Resource Center. 10 Oct. 2000... Beck, Ervin. Voltaires Candide. Explicator 57 (Summer 99). Ebsco Academic Search Elite. 10 Oct. 2000... Bell, Ian A.
Candide: Overview. Reference Guide to World Literature 2 (1995). Literature Resource Center. 10 Oct. 2000... Forrest Gump.
Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perf. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and Gary Since. (Paramount Pictures, 1994. ) Giunti, Matthew. Forrest Gump: Ignorance is bliss. Christian Century 113 (1996).
Ebsco Academic Search Elite. 10 Oct. 2000... Kanfer, Stefan. Barnum meets Voltaire. New Leader 80 (1997). Ebsco Academic Search Elite. 10 Oct. 2000...
Ryan, Bryan. Winston Groom. Contemporary Authors (2000). Literature Resource Center. 10 Oct. 2000...
Voltaire. Candide. Trans. Lowell Bair. New York: Bantam Books, 1959.
Zinsser, Judith P. Real History, Real Education, Real Merit Or Why is Forrest Gump so Popular? Journal of Social History 29 (1995). Ebsco Academic Search Elite. 10 Oct. 2000...
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