Forrest Gump Research Paper

576 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Movie analysis forrest gump

The movie Forrest Gump revolves around the life and adventures of a man society had labeled a “simpleton”. The author that created the novel this movie was based on, Winston Groom, connected the actions and travels of the character Forrest to specific memorable moments in United States history. This essay will compare three scenes in the movie Forrest Gump to historical events covered in Mr. McKay’s AP U.S history class.
In one part of the movie the character of Forrest witnesses the desegregation of the college the University of Alabama (the college in which Forrest attends). As a reporter explains the government of Alabama’s opposition towards desegregation in colleges, Forrest stumbles cluelessly around the protests, wondering why everyone is so upset about some kids wanting to go to school. At one point Forrest even breaks through the crowd of protesters to give the actress that portrayed Vivian Malone her misplaced notebook. This moment in United States history was very …show more content…

At this time the U.S. was currently involved in the Vietnam war and Forrest was sent to fight in the front line. Forrest described personal accounts he experienced during his term in Vietnam. At one point Forrest says “we was always looking for this guy named Charlie”. Following this is a scene of Forrest diving nose first into a tunnel with his gun. The “Charlie” that Forrest’s troop was always looking for was the nickname for the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong were a military group of communists that were a sub organization that was supplied and controlled by North Vietnam but active in South Vietnam. The hole that Forrest dove into with his gun was part of the Cu Chi tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels was an extensive network of more than ten thousand miles of tunnels that ran under Vietnam. The tunnels were created by the Viet Cong in order to more easily transport supplies from North Vietnam to South

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of C. Van Woodward´s The Strange Career of Jim Crow

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    C. Vann Woodward, who died in 1999 at the age of 91, was America's most Southern historian and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize, for Mary Chestnut's Civil War. He’s also a Bancroft Prize for The Origins of the New South. In honor of his long and adventurous career, Oxford is pleased to publish this special commemorative edition of Woodward's most influential work, The Strange Career of Jim Crow. The Strange Career of Jim Crow is one of the great works of Southern history. The book actually helped shape that historical curve of black liberation; it’s not slowed movement; it’s more like a rollercoaster.

    Read More

  • Hiram Hillburn Character Analysis

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    African-Americans aged 12 and up are the most victimized group in America. 41.7 over 1,000 of them are victims of violent crimes, compared with whites (36.3 over 1,000). This does not include murder. Back then during the era of the Jim Crow laws, it was even worse. However, during that time period when there were many oppressed blacks, there were many whites who courageously defied against the acts of racism, and proved that the color of your skin should not matter. This essay will compare and contrast two Caucasian characters by the names of Hiram Hillburn (The Mississippi Trial, 1955) and Celia Foote (The Help), who also went against the acts of prejudice.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Movie Glory

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    Being a United States History major, the choice for this movie review was simply a no brainer. For this paper I have chosen to review the Civil War based movie named Glory. The movie was released in 1989, just after the centennial of the Civil War ending. Glory was innovative, due to the fact that not many movies portrayed how the blacks were important to the North winning the war against the South. The movie had an all-star cast that consisted of Matthew Broderick as Col. Robert Shaw, Denzel Washington as Pvt Trip, and Morgan Freeman as Sgt Major John Rawlins (IMDB.com). Before critically reviewing this wonderful movie, I only watched the movie for the significance of it being about our nation’s history and war. As I critically watched

    Read More

  • The Central Theme of Southern History by Ulrich B. Phillips

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine a historian, author of an award-winning dissertation and several books. He is an experienced lecturer and respected scholar; he is at the forefront of his field. His research methodology sets the bar for other academicians. He is so highly esteemed, in fact, that an article he has prepared is to be presented to and discussed by the United States’ oldest and largest society of professional historians. These are precisely the circumstances in which Ulrich B. Phillips wrote his 1928 essay, “The Central Theme of Southern History.” In this treatise he set forth a thesis which on its face is not revolutionary: that the cause behind which the South stood unified was not slavery, as such, but white supremacy. Over the course of fourteen elegantly written pages, Phillips advances his thesis with evidence from a variety of primary sources gleaned from his years of research. All of his reasoning and experience add weight to his distillation of Southern history into this one fairly simple idea, an idea so deceptively simple that it invites further study.

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Malcolm X and Song of Solomon

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    The plight of the civil rights movement stands as one of the most influential and crucial elements to African-American history. We can accredit many activist, public speakers, and civil rights groups, to the equality and civil rights that African-American men and women are able to have in this country today. We see repeated evidence of these historical movements describes in fiction, plays, TV, and many other forms of media and literature. An artistic license is provided to many authors developing these concepts amongst their writing. When examining specific characters and literary works you can see an indirect comparison to the personality traits, actions, decisions, and journey to that of real-life historical figures.

    Read More

  • African-American Soldiers in World War II

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Baldwin uncovers a few misconceptions in his essay, ?Notes of a Native Son?, about the discrimination that occurred with in the American Armed Forces during World War II. These misconceptions were not unintentional?the government, to look more political, created these perceptions. The government treated the African Americans unfairly and segregation and discrimination were still not uncommon. Not only were African-Americans rarely let into the army but once in the army they were not given the same opportunities as the other soldiers. This was not only unfair to the African-American soldiers who were willing to put their lives on the line for their country but also for all American citizens who lost their lives in World War II.

    Read More

  • James Meredith and the University of Mississippi’s Integration

    2745 Words  | 6 Pages

    As a native Mississippian, James Meredith honestly lived and worked all of his life. After serving nine years in the United States Air Force, Meredith wholeheartedly absorbed John F. Kennedy’s ideals on “civil rights” and decided to apply to the University of Mississippi (Howard 1060). Upon applying, Meredith knew that if accepted, he would be the first African American student to attend the University of Mississippi. Deep in the heart of the South, the state of Mississippi prided itself on its all white campuses and resistence toward integration. Little did they know that James Meredith, an uprising civil rights activist, would pull a racial chord in the university that would change it for lifetimes to come.

    Read More

  • Baldwin and The Little Rock Nine

    2329 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined “American history” is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay “Take Me to the Water.” Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin...

    Read More

  • Racism in American Schools

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though extraordinary changes have been made in the past to achieve racial equality, America is still racist, especially in schools. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is criticized for defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. During the 1930s, the time this novel took place, America was a very segregated country. At the time when Harper Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird," America was fighting a civil rights movement. The events of racism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” reflect the time period.

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird Argumentative Essay

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    this story that causes controversy because of his skin color. Is the story’s relevance based on Mr. Robinson and his skin color? In my opinion yes, the book revolves all around his skin color and racism of the time. Tom Robinson is treated unfairly because he was black not because of what he supposedly did. The controversial subject matter in this book is immense in numbers, but out of all them, racism stands out the most. A question that has come to mind after reading this book is, today is racism still a hostile problem and as big as it was in the 1930s? Throughout this research paper I will gather information about racism from the 30s, and also today. Then I’ll compare and contrast the differences between the past and present and come to a conclusion.

    Read More

  • Fear of Communism Caused the Vietnam War

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam. Sadly, this is not what happened. The Viet Cong (VC) had far better tactics than the US. The VC was told to 'nibble at the enemy' so that he could 'neither eat or sleep'. This worked very well. Another demoralizing tactic the VC used was their landmines; they were designed to blow the limbs off the soldiers without killing them. This tied up hospital beds and meant the soldiers had to carry the wounded back to the base.

    Read More

  • Employment Discrimination Against Black Felons: The New Jim Crow Era

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South. New York: New Press, 2001. Print.

    Read More

  • Adversity In Forrest Gump

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forrest’s IQ is significantly lower than the average person’s and as a kid, it restricts him from going to a normal school. Even though it is not him who creates the opportunity to have a proper education, when he is given the chance he makes the most out of it by graduating high school, and going further to attain a college degree. Academics are not the only part of school that pose a challenge to him; Forrest has to put up with exclusion as well as verbal and physical abuse. Even though it is not easy for Forrest to get along with others, he is able to get through his social hindrances by finding someone special named Jenny. She loves him, looks out for him, and through the bullying Forrest ends up finding great happiness with his one special girl. After school, Forrest joins the military, which is one of the best solutions for him. As a result of his IQ, finding a long lasting career would be very difficult. The army is a respected job that Forrest excels at far past the ordinary person. Thus, joining the army creates many opportunities for Forrest, changing his life for the better. He wins a medal of honor and discovers ping pong which he goes on to play in the Olympics. Something far better than honor and fame that he finds in the military is friendship, and out of the friendship Forrest finds riches. There are

    Read More

  • An American War

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1960 the South Vietnamese communist organization, The National Liberation Front, more commonly known as the Vietcong, joined forces with the North Vietnamese. The American forces backed the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, which only stemmed the influence of the communist in South and proving to be very ineffective. In 1961, Maxwell Taylor sent a telegram to President Kennedy recommending the dispatch of US forces to South Vietnam so that the US forces can be called upon to engage in combat to protect themselves, their working parties, and the area in which they live (Taylor, 121-123). In 1963 the situation continued to escalate. Kennedy is trying to gain the American public’s support by being interviewed by Walter Cronkite of CBS, saying that as ...

    Read More

  • Finding Forrester Essay

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    The film “Finding Forrester” corroborates that a small action is capable of huge changes. In the movie, Jamal was dared to go to William Forrester’s house. This small prank greatly affected both of their lives. They ended up developing a close bond because of their interest in writing. William helps Jamal with writing and Jamal helps Forrester realise the importance of his life.

    Read More

More about Forrest Gump Research Paper

Open Document