Forrest Gump

Narrator and protagonist Forrest Gump describes his life as an idiot as not "like a box of chocolates" but also not at all hum-drum. He has an IQ of about 70, making him, he figures, an imbecile or a moron rather than idiot. He prefers the term "halfwit." He is named for a Confederate Army general, Nathan Bedford Forrest, who also founds the Ku Klux Klan. Young Forrest is brought up sheltered by his widowed mother, and often threatened with being "sent away" if he misbehaves. He attends only first grade in public school in Mobile, AL, before being put in a special school. He is the brightest of the children but shunned and mistreated. At age 16 Forrest stands 6'6" and weighs 242 lbs., however, and is a fast runner. He is recruited by a high school football team. He excels there and at the University of Alabama, despite...