Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Forrest Gump

Actions

You can tell a lot about a person by their actions (as well as their shoes). While everyone around him is on the make to succeed, Forrest surpasses them all just by trying to lead a kind and honest life. He wins the Medal of Honor, for example, by doing what he thinks is right and putting himself at risk to save others; he becomes a multimillionaire by buying a shrimping boat to fulfill a promise to his best friend.

Other people like Jenny get so caught up in their dreams of being famous and important that they end up with nothing. Remember how Forrest's mom always says "stupid is as stupid does"? If you're only looking at the way people act, you just might conclude that Forrest is the smartest one of them all.

Family Life

Apart from Jenny, the most important person in Forrest's life is his mother, even when he doesn't realize it—like when his momma has sex with the principal just to get Forrest into the local public school.

Jenny, on the other hand, has the opposite experience with her family. While Forrest's father is gone, it's Jenny's mom who's not in the picture. Meanwhile, Jenny's father sexually abuses Jenny and her sisters, which leaves emotional scars that stay with Jenny for the rest of her life.

The end result? Forrest's life works out, and Jenny's … doesn't. So, yep, we'll say that family life tells us a lot about how a person is going to turn out.

Occupation

Forrest wears a lot of hats over the course of his life, including Army private, shrimp boat captain, company CEO, and landscaper. He never really knows what he's doing at first, but by simply following instructions and being patient, Forrest aces every performance evaluation.

Sex and Love

It's safe to say that sex education wasn't a priority during Forrest's childhood. The first time he's ever in a sexual situation with Jenny, he gets a little too excited a little too quickly—and has no idea what's happening. When an Army dude shows him a pornographic magazine, he doesn't understand what that is, either.

But, who needs to be a sexpert when you know what love is? That's something Forrest has down. He loves his mother and he loves Jenny, and those two principles carry him through every sticky situation.

Now, contrast that with Jenny. She had a tragic introduction to sex education because her father molested her and her sisters when they were children, and those early experiences leave scars that follow her the rest of her life. She constantly gets herself into bad situations, posing naked, having sex in druggie flophouses, and then acquiring AIDS as a consequence of all of these bad (but maybe inevitable) choices. As far as Forrest Gump is concerned, there's one right way to do sex and love—and Jenny, whether it's her fault or not, has it all backward.

Thoughts and Opinions

Forrest has a lot of opinions, but he tends to keep these opinions simple and straightforward. In fact, he has a way of making anyone with complicated political opinions look like a jerk.

Compared to Jenny's boyfriend Wesley, for example, Forrest comes across looking like a prince. Sure, it doesn't help Wesley's cause that he abuses Jenny. But honestly, we probably stopped liking him the moment he opened his mouth and started talking.

That's the thing about Forrest, though. He isn't smart enough to care about political issues, and the movie uses this naivety to suggest that anyone with strong political opinions is childish or self-obsessed.