Compare and contrast the book Forrest Gump and the movie - Essay Example

Many of the characters within the movie version of Forrest Gump maintain certain aspects of themselves from the book, but also exhibit a few key differences. This is especially true for the main character. The main character, Forrest Gump, is characterized as a person with less intelligence than most. In the book, Forrest states, “I been a idiot since I was born . My IQ is near 70, which qualifies me, so they say”(Groom, 1). In the movie, Forrest Gump does not come out and say this about himself like he does in the book.

Instead, his lack of intelligence is illustrated in a scene where Forrest’s mother tries to convince the principal of a school to allow Forrest to be educated there. The principal states “Mrs. Gump, he’s going to have to go to a special school” to which Mrs. Gump replies “He might be a bit on the slow side, but my boy Forrest will get the same opportunities as everyone else”(Forrest Gump). In this respect, both the movie and the book are similar in how they characterize Forrest Gump’s personality. . I do not know how well you can reason with it…but I have never seen anything quite like this before””(Groom, 112).

This discovery leads Forrest to a brief stint at NASA. In the film, Forrest Gump does not display any particular type of savant intelligence. Instead, everything that happens to Forrest is mainly due to luck or being at the right place at the right time. Finally, the film and book differ in terms of how they showcase Forrest physically. In the book, Forrest is described as rather large: “By the time I was sixteen I was six foot six an weighed two-hundred forty-two pounds”(Groom, 5). In the movie, Forrest Gump is portrayed by Tom Hanks who is a man of average size.

Additionally, in the film version, Forrest is shown to have a problem with his legs and spine which causes him to have to wear leg braces as a child(Forrest Gump). In the book, however, Forrest doesn’t have this problem. It is also important to note that the book version of Forrest Gump dabbles in drugs and curses like a sailor(Groom). In the movie, however, Forrest does not do either of these things, and he comes across far more innocent and childlike to the audience. The friendship between Forrest Gump and Jenny Curran is another aspect that has key differences between the book and the movie.

In both the movie and the book, Forrest and Jenny meet as young children; however, the movie version shows Jenny and Forrest to be best friends. At one point Forrest states “From that day on, we was always together. Jenny and me was like peas and carrots”(Forrest Gump). Both the movie and book show Jenny as a nice person who is not mean to Forrest, unlike other people, but in the novel, Forrest and Jenny are not shown to be as close and do not spend as