Forrest Gump: Outline of Ch. 11-14

Outline by Laurie Epps

Forrest Gump was a very popular movie starring Tom Hanks, but it is also a very different book by Winston Groom. In the Fall of 2013, we will be covering this book/movie for English 365 at Anderson University. This is a wonderful addition to my Fiction to Film column that's genesis is from the course. If you need to purchase the book, click here.

I would encourage students to check in for my outlines and class notes every Friday, but I also encourage those not in the class to read along. This will spin off into my own column at the conclusion of the course to exist on it's own.

To my faithful readers, I do apologize for getting the column up late. I wasn't feeling well, and I hope to put my outlines up earlier in the future.

Forrest Gump Ch. 11

• Forrest doesn't get along so well with Jenny's Harvard professor, and stops doing plays with his group in a spectacular manner (fire, etc) pp. 96-99
• Forrest and Jenny make love all day, and play in the band at night pp.99-100
• Forrest starts smoking dope, Jenny asks him to stop p. 100
• Forrest goes to the alley after a set one night to smoke a joint, and two girls rub up on Forrest. Jenny sees them and leaves Boston to get away from Forrest (pp. 101-102)
• Forrest misses Jenny and tracks her down in Washington D.C.
• Jenny gets Forrest to protest against the war in uniform, and Forrest is arrested (pp. 103-104)
• Forrest goes to jail, and then the judge decides to have him put away in a mental institution p.105

Forrest Gump Ch. 12

• Forrest gets sent to the nut house p. 106
• His doctor, Dr. Walton, ran all kinds of tests and decided he has a brain like a computer 
• Dr. Walton brings in other doctors to test Forrest pp. 107-108
• Forrest is sent off to the space program in Houston pp. 108-109
• Set to launch into space with a woman and and orangutan 
• Letter from his momma says "she's upset with him" p. 110
• Launched into space with a male ape pp. 110-112

Forrest Gump Ch. 13

• Forrest, Major Fritsch (a.k.a. dumb broad), and the male ape are launched   into space with nothing but bananas and granola bars to eat     pp. 113-114
• The ape  made funny faces at Major Fritsch--- all she did was complain and call him a "filthy animal" ppl 113-114
• Forrest figured out that the ape needed to pee and unbuckled his seat pp. 114-115
• After the ape relieved himself, Forrest flung the container of pee which hit Major Fritsch in the face p. 116
• Forrest kept pushing buttons for an emergency landing to land in the Indian Ocean, but missed. The parachute was released, but they weren't sure where they were until they began to land with natives holding spears were running towards the ship. They believe they are in Papua New Guinea. pp. 117-119

Forrest Gump Ch. 14

• They landed ant the natives came to knock on the spaceship door. Afraid to open the door, the big ape welcomed them in-- which caused the native people to pass out pp. 120-122
• The one of the natives spok to Forrest in plain English (Which goes to show you it doesn't pay to pre-judge  pp. 122-123
• This "native" named Sam offers to serve them tea They were served by topless women, and learned that Sam was a "Yale" man pp. 123-124
• Major Fritsch isn't pleased with the situation and Forrest admitted to going to Harvard for a while pp. 123-124
• A couple of natives show them to their quarters. Each was given a little grass hut with a dirt floor p. 124
• Outside they were boiling a big pot of water, and chanting "boola boola". These natives intended on eating Forrest and Major Fritsch. But Big Sam stopped them. Big Sam asks the crew if they'd give up the ape as a diplomatic gesture to the cannibals to save their very skins. pp. 124-126
• Big Sam further contends that they are surrounded by pygmies that they are head hunters. There is no means of escape. That they could give the natives something that they need more.... agriculture. Big Sam proposes they farm cotton so it can make them a more relevant producer in the global marketplace. pp. 126-127

Laurie Epps is a senior at Anderson University majoring in Creative Writing. Already Laurie is most published as a feature article writer, essayist, and poet. A seeker of beauty and world traveler, Laurie hopes to grow into a career in travel writing illuminating the many stories that make us human despite our differences. Currently, Laurie also has a Monday Morning Book Club column dedicated to writers everywhere, and a Thoughtful Thursday column dedicated to the fine art of poetry.