Compare And Contrast Forrest Gump And Vietnam

In both Things and Forrest Gump the main character goes to the Vietnam War and leaves their family. In both of the stories the main character creates a strong bond with their fellow soldiers. Tim O’Brien, in Things, becomes friends with Jimmy Cross, Mitchell Sanders, Kiowa, Norman Bowker, Henry Dobbins, and Rat Kiley. In Vietnam, Forrest Gump becomes friends with Bubba and Lieutenant Dan. Both stories tell how close friends died and how the main character reacts. Along with the sad memories there are happy memories as well. O’Brien says that in their free time they played checkers and told stories to get their minds off the war. In Forrest Gump, Forrest played ping-pong and would play in front of his friends to entertain them. Him and Bubba

would also talk about shrimp and their future shrimping business. The war stays with the men even when it is over. Norman Bowker doesn’t know what to do with his life and eventually commits suicide after the war. Lieutenant Dan got his legs blown off so he also doesn’t know why he should live and thinks he should have died with his men. Vietnam was portrayed as a wet and rainy place that had both death and life.
The Vietnam War in Forrest Gump was not as grotesque as described in Things. In Tim O’Brien’s Things, the Vietnam War is described as very gruesome and told in detail, such as picking Curt Lemon’s body parts out of the tree after his death. In Forrest Gump the most gruesome parts were when Forrest was saving his men and seeing Lieutenant Dan without legs, but the movie did not show much. The point of view Vietnam is portrayed by is different too. Tim O’Brien was drafted into war and didn’t want to be in it so much that he almost left the country. While serving, O’Brien hated being in Vietnam and did not agree with the war, so his story was told with more of a negative approach. Forrest decided himself to go into the military, so he was content being in the war and seemed to be doing well. Things describes Vietnam in a much more somber and serious way than Forrest Gump who tells it seriously, but has comedic relief.