阿甘正传英语论文

Part One: Introduction

Forrest Gump is one of the most charming and one of the most disputed films of recent times. Based on a novel of the same name by Winston Groom, it is of multiple themes. This paper is just the reflection of the feminism in Forrest Gump.

Part Two: The background of the Forrest Gump

2.1 The introduction of Winston Groom

Winston Groom was born in Washington, D.C., and was raised in Mobile, Alabama where he attended University Military School (now known as UMS-Wright Preparatory School). Groom's earliest ambition was to become a lawyer like his father, but instead, while a literary editor in college, he chose to become a writer. Groom attended the University of Alabama, was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and the Army ROTC, graduating in 1965. He served in the Army from 1965 to 1969, including a tour of duty in the Vietnam War.

Upon his return from Vietnam, he worked as a reporter for the Washington Star , a Washington D. C. newspaper covering police and courtroom activities. Groom retired as a journalist at age 32, and began writing his first novel Better Times Than These which was published in 1978. Better Times Than These was about a group of patriotic soldiers in the Vietnam War whose lives and patriotism both are shattered. His next novel As Summers Die (1980) received better recognition. His novel Conversations with the Enemy (1982) follows an American Vietnam War soldier who escapes from a POW camp and takes a plane back to the United States only to be arrested fourteen years later for desertion. Conversations with the Enemy was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

In 1985, Groom moved back to Mobile, Alabama where he began to work on the novel Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump was published in 1986; however, it did not make Groom a best selling author until it was adapted into a film with the same name in 1994 starring Tom Hanks in the title role of Forrest Gump. The film propelled the novel to bestseller status and it sold 1.7 million copies worldwide.

Groom devotes his time to writing history books about American wars. He has lived most recently in Point Clear, Alabama, and Long Island, New York with his wife, Anne-Clinton and daughter, Carolina. Groom was an old friend of writer Willie Morris, dating to their days together in Bridgehampton, Long Island, New York.

2.2 The history of feminism

The history of feminism involves the story of feminist movements and of feminist thinkers. Depending on time, culture and country, feminists around the world have sometimes had different causes and goals. Most western feminist historians assert that all movements that work to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist movements, even when they did not (or do not) apply the term to themselves. Other historians assert that the term should be limited to the modern feminist movement and its descendants. Those historians use the label "protofeminist" to describe earlier movements.

The modern western feminist movement is divided into three "waves". Each is described as dealing with different aspects of the same feminist issues. The first wave refers to the movement of the 19th through early 20th centuries, which dealt mainly with suffrage, working conditions and educational rights for women and girls. The second wave (1960s-1980s) dealt with the inequality of laws, as well as cultural inequalities and the role of women in society. The third wave of feminism (late 1980s-early first decade of the 21st century), is seen as both a continuation of the second wave and a response to the perceived failures.

The efforts and accomplishments of these women and organizations throughout the women's movement inspired many authors of that time to write about their personal experiences with feminism. Jo Freeman and Sara Evans were two such authors. Both women participated in the movement and wrote about their firsthand knowledge of feminism. Freeman, American feminist and writer, wrote several feminist articles on issues such as social movements, political parties, public policy toward women and many other important pieces about women. Evans wrote her experiences in books such as "The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil Right Movement and the New Left" and "Born for

Liberty". Her works focused more on young women activists recognizing that the "personal is political" as well as showing how these women used discussion sessions to expand understanding of the social roots of personal problems and worked towards developing different practices to address those issues.

Part of what made feminism so successful was the way women in different situations developed their own variants and organized for the goals most important to them. All women - Native American women, working class women, Jewish women, Catholic women, sex workers, and women with disabilities - described what gender equality would mean for them and worked together to achieve it.

2.3 Abstract of this work

In the contention of the best picture of the 67th Oscar Award in 1995, film Have got six Grand Prizes , such as the best picture , the best actor , the best achievement in directing , adapting drama , the best achievement in film editing and the best visual effect ,etc. The film was passed to an intellectual disturbance person creates in the description of life which has reflected every aspect of U.S.A.'s life, important incidents of social political life ，representing t these decades from one unique angle. Film is adapted from Winston ·Groom’s novel of the same name. Only the original work is with a satiric flavor, but the film modifies and beautifies the story. It has abandoned the absurdity of the original work and revealed that satirical meaning, has added a kind of tender feeling for the film. This undoubtedly makes the film suit audience and judging panel's taste even more, but has sacrificed the struggling spirit of the rebel of the original work, making the film become one kind and idealized ethical symbol.

Part Three: Plot of Forrest Gump

As Forrest Gump sits at a bus stop, he begins telling his life story to strangers nearby. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, who he immediately falls in love with and whose life is followed parallel to his. Despite his below average intelligence quotient (IQ), his ability to run very fast gets him into the University of

Alabama on a football scholarship. He ultimately becomes an All American star and meets President John F. Kennedy. While attending college he witnesses George Wallace's attempt to prevent integration at the school.

After graduation, Forrest enlists in the army. He makes friends with Benjamin Buford Blue, nicknamed Bubba, who convinces him to be his partner in the shrimping business when the Vietnam War is over. He also meets Jenny again, who is now part of the counterculture movement and working as a stripper. In 1967, he and Bubba are sent to Vietnam, and after several months of patrolling with the 9th Infantry Division, their platoon is ambushed. Forrest is shot in the buttocks but rescues many of the men in his unit, although Bubba is fatally wounded and dies. Lt. Dan Taylor, the platoon's commanding officer, is also seriously wounded and loses both legs. He chastises Forrest for saving him, insisting that he would rather have died honorably on the battlefield than become a cripple. For Forrest's actions, he is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson. While in Washington, he becomes swept up in an anti-war rally. Unexpectedly he again meets Jenny. They spend the evening walking around Washington, but when the morning comes she leaves with her abusive boyfriend.

Whilst in hospital, Forrest discovered an uncanny ability for ping pong. He begins playing for the U.S. Army team, eventually competing against Chinese teams on a goodwill tour, sometimes referred to as Ping Pong Diplomacy. He goes to the White House for a third time to meet President Richard Nixon who provides him a room at the Watergate hotel. While there, Forrest witnesses a burglary and calls security, inadvertently exposing the Watergate scandal. He also goes on the Dick Cavett Show in New York City and talks with John Lennon, presumably inspiring the song "Imagine". When leaving, he meets Lt. Dan, now an embittered drunk living on welfare.

Forrest is discharged, and uses money from an endorsement for ping pong paddles to buy a shrimping boat, fulfilling his wartime promise to Bubba. Later, Lt. Dan joins him as first mate. They initially have little success, but after Hurricane Carmen hits the Gulf States, their boat is the only one to survive. Business now booms and Forrest buys an entire fleet of

shrimping boats; the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company becomes a household name. As a result, Forrest gains a lot of money; he donates much of this to the local Gospel Church, and gives Bubba's family a share of the profits. He leaves the company in the hands of Lt. Dan, who invests a portion of their wealth in shares from Apple. This provides Forrest with even more money whilst Lt. Dan, after having had an epiphany on the boat, forgives Forrest and thanks him for saving his life. Forrest returns home when his mother falls ill and she dies soon afterward.

In 1976, Jenny returns to visit Forrest, and he eventually proposes to her. Although she declines she tells him that she does love him. They sleep together but she leaves the next day. On a whim, Forrest elects to go for a run and simply decides not to stop. Over the next three years, two months, fourteen days and sixteen hours, he runs coast to coast across the country several times, gathering a small following. Realizing that he had been running to try and make sense of his feelings for Jenny and the deaths of his mother and Bubba, he abruptly stops and returns home.

While finishing his story, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because Jenny has contacted him and asked him to visit her. Once they are reunited, he discovers they have a young son together, also named Forrest. She also tells him that she is dying from an unknown virus. She proposes to him and he accepts. The three move back to Green bow where they marry but Jenny dies soon afterward. On his son's first day of school, Forrest Sr. sits with his son at the bus stop. As the bus picks Forrest Jr. up and drives away, Forrest Sr. sits on the same tree stump that his mother did, watching a feather float into the air.

Part Four: Analysis of the feminism in Forrest Gump

4.1 Two main lines in this work

Forrest Gump, an American film which won the 1995 Oscar for best picture, obviously had two clues one bright and one dark. As a man, Gump pursued his life and love seriously, but he was indifferent to the desire which was different from others. However, he

almost took part in all the political events from 1950s to 1990s in America. He was a hero in Vietnam War; as a sportsman, he took part in the famous ping-pong game between America and China and followed the mission to China; he called the police in the famous Watergate Event. Why did the writer take these coincidences and combined with this retarded man? Just because the writer wanted to reflect the sense of America history, which is the main line of this film. Though Gump himself can reflect the American history after the Second World War, which was the history of male. Male chauvinism was located in the dominant position in politics; on the playground, American football was owned by men; of course, no women on the battlefield. Therefore, the writer made another clue to reflect the big influence of the feminist movement, which increased the charm of the film and enriched the image of Gump. Imagine, without the love, Gump’s destiny will be difficult; without solicitude for the women, that film will be pitiful.

The dark clue of Forrest Gump is the history of revolt and re-version of the contemporary American women. There are two main female images. One is Gump’s mother, who loves him most and gives him most; another is Jenny, whom Gump loves most but fights for her many times. Gump’s mother has big influence on the formation of Gump’s faith. She has undoubtedly succeeded in building up the image of a woman who has the courage to fight against the unfair reality and pursue the equality in life. During the whole story, Gump’s mother serves as a positive character. She stands for the return of maternity. Another character is Jenny. Throughout the film， the male，Forrest ，is portrayed as the incarnation of virtue who overcomes the hardships of life and makes a glorious achievement in fame and wealth，while the female，Jenny ，who is supposed the smarter of the two ，has become the degenerate symbol ．In the patriarchal society ，the dependent housewife is accepted by the male．Once the female character rejects this role and seeks for her own independence，the male quickly “dubs her a monster, a freakish anomaly who is obviously sexually fallen”(Bressler,186)．Jenny is described as this kind of woman．She spends the entire movie trying to be independent but unfortunately she ends up being a drug addict ，a sex object of her abusive father and the hippie boyfriend.

4.2 The most important person to Forrest Gump: his mother

How can we find the value of women in postwar period from these two women? The editor showed us it by setting up the plots that Gump's mother led him to the town's school in flashback. Gump's mother was a great woman in the society which belongs to men, where she calmly accepted the oppression not only in body, but also in spirit. She was so kind as a mother and it seems that such quality can help her to defeat anything. Absurdly, editor compared the schoolmaster as savage, which may also adapt to the men-leading society of that time. The biggest wish of the women in 1950s is to be a housewife, so did Gump's mother. Men can do anything they want to in their society, but Gump's mother can be seen as a flag in their society. what’s more, Gump’s mother was filled with human's kindness and brilliance, which can be found in "mother said”: “life likes a box of chocolate” men need not much legend, which is only used to flatter “death is a part of life".Gump was influenced by these philosophy during his lifetime and it's just what a mother who loves her child can give. Mother's love is the deepest emotion in the world.

4.3 Jenny, whom Gump loved deeply

If Gump's mother symbolizes the return of female, Jenny herself can be seen as the insurgent from a men-lead society.

Jenny lost her mother at a very early age, and her father rarely looked after her. For one thing, he is a drunker; and for anther, he was obscene in front of her daughter. Jenny prayed frequently and hoped to be a little free bird. What did her want to get rid of? At the latter part of the film, Jenny always slept. Once she saw the old house she had lived with her father for the past time, she threw stones to her father's house until she fell down. Did she really throw stones to the house? I was so doubtful when I saw this scene. Her father's old house is just like a symbol of the men-lead society which Jenny fought with during her life time.

Some people said that Jenny reflected the bad part of the whole movie while I said no. She took sexy photos for the Playboy magazine and played guitar at the stage of naked

show, and these were thus considered as the beginning of Jenny's fall. Undoubtedly, it sacrificed not only Jenny, but also the whole society. If bold behaviors to women can be seen as a kind of fall, how can we explain the prostitution to men? Jenny’s dream could never be realized in such a society and she began to fly away freely .Thanks to Gump's beat, she was waked, but the society was not. All efforts and fight are in vain. She joined in the activism and adored her leader ideally. She stood by her boyfriend beating her again and again, in spite of Gump's hearty advice. In exchange of fighting against the world, Jenny got hurt and suppressed. She was addicted to drug and sex. At the sight of it, could you say she chose for self –abandonment? Even in such a situation, she still wanted to be a bird, which led her to balcony and found a kind of freedom by death. Her self-protecting consciousness frightened her finally and called up her heart. Jenny found herself again and went back to Gump's house in the end.

Part Five: Conclusion

In short, Forrest Gump is a very significant film which helps audiences know the turbulent events in America from the late 1950s to the 1980s，gives audiences enlightment on love，career and friendship and indeed deserves the six Academy award including best picture ，best director and best actor．However, although the director presents a very new screen image，Forrest, in this fable–like story，the female characters and the mainstream ideology are typically traditional and conventional. The purpose of this article is to unfold the masculine ideology behind the newly funny film by analyzing two stereotyped female characters ，its narrative structure and the symbolic ending．In face of the dominant culture，the man is the mainstay who is superior to the woman．However ，the images of the two female characters express their own attitudes towards the society. The whole work fully reflects the women's desire for freedom and equality, which really prompts us to think about the meaning of the history and the future of the feminism

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A t the point of finishing this paper, I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all those who have lent me hands in the course of my writing this paper. First of all, I'd like to take this opportunity to show my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Sun baoheng , who has given me so much useful advices on my writing, and has tried her best to improve my paper. Secondly, I’d like to express my gratitude to my classmates who offered me references and information on time. Last but not the least, I’d like to th ank those leaders, teachers and working staff especially those in the School of Foreign Languages. Without their help, it would be much harder for me to finish my study and this paper.