Symbolism In Forrest Gump

People tend to find meaning in all aspects of life, and they rely and examine symbols to gain further insight in their life. Symbolism is prevalent in numerous films, however, in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump” by Robert Zemeckis intertwines symbolism to introduce the general themes of the film, the film focuses on the interesting life of Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is an innocent, honest man who like many, has overcome adversity to achieve success. This same adversity help Forrest and his general outlook on life. Through all these obstacles, he is an all star football, receives an honorary medal in the Vietnam war and sets up a successful shrimp business. As the film progresses, Robert Zemeckis, does an excellent job of adding important

However, the chocolates show us that life is filled with the concept of the unknown. We must take risks to grow as people, and when we take these risks we may not always achieve our desired results, however, we must still take risks to increase the possibility of growth. Even when we take a risk we might not obtain our desired chocolate, and once we have picked a chocolate, we cannot put it back for someone else to choose. Similarly, in life when you are dealt a deck of cards, you are not always going to obtain what you want, you must adapt according to your circumstances, even if we are posed with a difficult situation, we must overcome it. Sometimes, even if we are posed with a difficult situation, we can persevere through adversity, and become experienced and well equipped to tackle new challenges. For example, when the film commences, Forrest Gump’s life is full of hardships. He was dealt a bad deck of cards, and figuratively chose a less desirable chocolate. He has leg braces and is bullied constantly by kids who want to injure him. However, one day while

The feather cascades downwards onto his suitcase symbolizing the beginning of journey; while at the end of the movie the feather lifts back into the air to symbolize life, death, and new beginnings, alluding to the cycle of life. Death is inevitable and our destiny is not clear. Forrest believes that your path to destiny is not paved for you, it is instead formed by your decisions and events which occur in one’s life. Similarly, a feather when falling or rising does not directly plummet or rise without external forces, instead the wind, makes it waver, blow or steer off course. This notion directly relates to Forests outlook on life, that we are the ones who shape our destiny and it always is not clear. “I do not know if we each have a destiny, or if we are all just floating around accidental-life on a breeze.” He believes destiny is not something that is set in stone, it can be changed, and that how we respond to that change is how our destiny is defined. Reminiscent of how the path of a feather can be affected by factors such as the wind. However, only two things are inevitable, the feather landing and rising again, which is a representation of the inevitability of life and death. More so, the feather landing on