Gump Gump

Gump as allegory. How is this story and this character an allegory?



"Why are you running Forrest Gump?"
"Just because I want to."


A great changes, surely all the significant upheavals are depicted in the movie Forrest gump within one person's lifetime. The American society went through lots of highs and lows in late 20th century. People could never settle down nor enjoy peaceful life. The Second World War, Civil Rights Movements, Assasinations of presidents, and many more events should be terrifying the people in that era.

When people ask Forrest Gump about the reason he is running all around the United States, he just answers shortly to them: he is running just because he wants to. How stupid is that? He does not have any reason for any particular actions but merely follows whtat he is told to do. He runs away from the battle field because Jenny told him to do so, and starts the Shrimp business to keep the stupid promise that he made with Bubba. But guess what happens to him: everything just goes perfect. He is the one who does not care about anything around, but who just follows his own path, doing what he should do. Probably Forrest Gump was the model citizen in the late 20th century of America.

But is his life desirable? I 100% do not want to follow the path of Gump. He may be the one whom the society needs to easily control people; however, he is never the adventurer. Looking only one woman in his whole life whom he just gets to marry before she dies, never having a dream to achieve, I doubt that his life can be viewed as successful. He is just the lucky one.

The stupid boy who just folllows what he is told to do so, Gump, is exactly what the society wants in those disastrous world. However, I do not want to be the one of these people who will become the future casualties, the victims of the world.

Everything Must Go

A seemingly very dry without any twists or clear plots, first I thought. The original story itself is only twenty pages and there aren't any significant happenings but predictable story from the start point. The movie ends when Will Ferrell finally gets rid of all his stuffs.

Matbe that is what happens in one's mind when one should have a new start in one's life. All the good days, glories, or even pains from the past, they better remain as past and not hinder one's life anymore. Will Ferrell was quite successful, had family, but he just collapses. He opens a garage sale for all his stuffs in front of his yard and start selling his things where his good memories are incarcerated.

Soon, my result for my early college application is coming out. I might be happy or desasperated. If the latter, I shouldn't be one of the foolish people to just become hindered by one's past. What is gone is gone and I should find a new way that is better for myself as soon as possible. Whatever happens, I won't be too happy or too sad, but stay cool and take a next step to my future!

Yeah, the movie provided me with a not so great, but meaningful lesson : everything must go.

Journal 1 Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

The truth of Andy's story

Reading about the prisoners in Shawshank, I became to think of a famous experiment conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram. As shown in the experiment, under authority, people reacted in the way they wouldn't in their normal states. Over 90 percent of the experimentists turned the extreme high voltage switch button, when given the instructions to do so.

Shawshank prisoners are under similar circumstances. It is true that they are prisoners whether or not their convictions were unfair; however, their basic human rights were ignored inside the prison. Prison officers use, abused, or even killed prisoners as they are authorized to do so. Shawshank was full of corruptions; however, no one even bothered to accuse it but absorbed in it.

Then, our revolutionary hero Andy appears. Well believe it or not, he is basically innocent. Surely, he would have been guilty if the book was written in another person's perspective. Moreover, he spends  30 years digging a hole on the back of the picture of Rita Hayworth, made up a whole new person, and later charges Shawshank with all its corruptions. Thanks to him, the corruption in Shawshank meets the end.

However, Stephen King is not the happy ending story writer. He is not the typical hero's journey writer. Considering this fact, I became to think of the story in a whole new perspective: the ending itself is actually tragic. (it was my bold interpretation)

I have gone through this conclusion on the fact that Stephen King emphasized the Rita Hayworth too much in his novel. The picture of Rita Hayworth, surely a minor thing inside the novel just a tool to hide a pathway to freedom, is mentioned even in his title. Why is that?

Maybe Andy did not break away from the prison, but merely daydreamed, looking at the picture of Rita Hayworth. Rita Hayworth was the portal for Andy as well as other prisoners, to have a glimpse of the world they dream of out of Shawshank, in their dreams.

Andy spent 30 years digging a pathway our of Shawshank. He never got caught while he disposed all that rocks. He even made up a new person and prepared all his money. Well... Is it possible! Even Stephen King does not explain clearly how he did this. Even if he did, no one will be able to do the same following directions given by King. Basically, what Andy did was impossible.

Well it was my own interpretation. The novel itself is actually a horror that no one can escape from this Shawshank, and telling a story of a man who broke away and achieved freedom but indeed, was merely a reverie. Isn't it scary?

Hero's journey : The incredibles

 Hero's Journey
The Incredibles

Group: Group Four (Wonji, Seewan, Heegu, Min)

Our Film: The Incredibles

Why we chose it: Almost everybody our age watched it.

ACT I

1. Ordinary World:
The ordinary world for Mr. Incredible was the world where his family lived, a world in which a lot of superheroes exist and occasionally save the world from burglars. His son Dash and his daughter Violet, who are also superheroes, go to school. His wife is an ordinary housewife. He is an ordinary salary man.

2. Call to Adventure:
Mirage sends Mr. Incredible an electronic device containing a summons to an island to fight a runaway robot.

3. Refusal of the Call:
He worries about his family and is reluctant of going back to his superhero days and putting his family at risk.

4. Meeting the Mentor:
He meets Mirage, who informs him about the robot and its abilities.

5. Crossing the Threshold:
He rides a very modern jet and goes to the island to find the robot.

ACT II

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies:
His first test comes when he first fights the robot, which can learn while battling. He almost gets drowned and melted in lava but finally finds a way to kill it. His one ally is Edna Mode, the woman who designs superhero clothes. She provides him and his family members each a suit that suits individual abilities. His family members, Elastigirl, Dash, and Violet are also allies. His real enemy is the rich weapons producer Syndrome, who used to be a fan of Mr. Incredible in his youth.

Another test comes when he encounters a new, upgraded robot powered by Syndrome. He is powerless in front of Syndrome.

7. Approach to the Innermost Cave:
He uses a statue and breaks through a fake lava-clad door to approach the central system. He looks up heroes’ and heroines’ names to see if they had been killed or not. He finds out that Syndrome is trying to conquer the world by launching a rocket. He gets caught.

8. Ordeal:
His family (his wife, son, and daughter) come to rescue him and are eventually caught.

9. Reward:
Violet uses her ability of shielding to escape from the electric bounds, and goes to save the world. Mirage tells them the password, and they fly to the city to fight the robot.

ACT III

10. The Road Back:
They fly back to the city.

11. Resurrection:
While the Incredibles are going home after destroying the robot, they find out that Syndrome has got Jackjack, the little baby. The other four are caught by Syndrome and then the baby is taken away by him. But surprisingly the baby had a great ability, and Syndrome is killed. Basically the baby resurrects the family.

12. Return With the Elixir:
Violet becomes more competent with boys, and Dash enjoys the races. The family becomes happier and more intimate.

Points of contention (ifs/ands/buts):

Perhaps Mirage is not a perfect mentor, because she worked for Syndrome and then changed into a good woman.