Forrest Gumps Language Characteristics in Forrest Gump.docx

Forrest Gumps Language Characteristics in Forrest Gump.docx

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ForrestGumpsLanguageCharacteristicsinForrestGump

ForrestGump'sLanguageCharacteristicsinForrestGump

Author:

LiGuangyunSupervisor:

QiJun

Ⅰ.Introduction

It'swellknownthatEnglishisplayingamoreandmoreimportantroleintheworld.TherearemanywaystolearnEnglish,besidesschoollearning,thebestwaytolearnitiswatchingEnglishmovies.Becausethesoundandpicturesfromthemoviecancreateaconcreteandrealenvironmentfortheaudience.Whenpeoplewatchamovietheymaypaymoreattentiontotheplotofthemovie,butiftheywanttohaveafullyunderstandingofamovietheyshouldpaymoreattentiontothemovielines.Theyarethemediathatmoviescommunicateswithaudience;theyarelikeamirrorofthecountry’speopleandtheirculture.ManypeoplemayhavewatchedthemovieForrestGump,atleasttheymayhaveheardaboutthemovie.ThemovieForrestGumpisagreatsuccess,andastheheroisaspecialpersonwhoseIQisonly75,sohislanguagehashisspecialfeatures.Beforewatchingthemovieoneshouldfirstknowthebackgroundofthemovieandshouldalsoknowwhatkindofpersontheherois.Onlythenthemoviecanbefullyunderstood.BecauseofthepopularityofForrestGump,theauthorchooseitasarepresentativeoftheimportanceofthelearningofmovielines.ThispapertriestomakeananalysisofthelanguagefeaturesofGump,itwillshowthatapeople'slanguagecanreflecthischaracter.Besides,theanalysisonthelinesinmoviemayguidetheaudiencetohaveabetterappreciationinmoviewatching,andavoidmisunderstandingintheprocessofwatchingmovie.

Ⅱ.ABriefViewontheForrestGump

A.GlimpseofForrestGump

1.AsummaryofForrestGump

Thefilmtellsagenuineandmovingstoryaboutanamazingcharacter.Theplotisrelativelysimplebutremarkable.AnAlabamamannamedGumpwho,despiteanIQof75,alwaysseemstoachievegreatsuccess.Forrest’samazingachievementsareplayedoutasahumorousgimmick,buttheyarealsopartofhisinvolvinglifestory.Thestory,astoldbyForresthimself,opensinhischildhood.Forrestisnotonlystigmatizedbyhislowintelligence,buthealsomustwearlegbracesbecauseofacrookedback.Hiscaringmothertriedtoteachhimthatdespitehisproblems,heisnodifferentthananybodyelse.ForrestisbefriendedbyalittlegirlnamedJennywhoisabusedbyherfatherwhensheislittle.AsequenceofeventsthrustsForrestintothespotlight.Literallyshatteringhislegbraces,Forrestfindsheisanamazingrunner,whichtakeshimthroughcollegeasafootballplayer.Soonafter,heenlistsinthemilitary,andissenttotheVietnamWar.Inthearmy,hemeetsayoungblackmannamedBubba,whosegoalinlifeistobeashrimpboatcaptain.HealsomeetsLieutenantDan,whoeventuallybecomesleglessthroughawarinjuryandissavedbyForrest.

ThefourcharactersofMrs.Gump,Jenny,BubbaandLieutenantDanfigurethemostinForrest’slifedirection.Butthrougheverything,theinborndesiretodorightandhislovetoJennyareForrest’smotivations.BeyondtheVietnamWar,thereismoretoForrest’sadventures,buttorevealmorewouldruintheexperienceofwatchingtheeventsofhislifeunfoldinfrontofoureyes.Toexperiencesuchanemotionalandinvolvingstoryisspecial.ThefilmisanAmericanclassic.Themessagesthefilmtransferstousareextensive,includingpolitics,economy,culture,history,education,war,popmusic,etc.

2.BackgroundofForrestGump

ForrestGumpistheBabyBoomgeneration'stributetoitself,apanoramaofAmericanculturefromthesleepySouthofthe1950stotheAIDSepidemicofthe1980s.Thefilmisatechnicalmasterpiece,skillfullyweavingtogethernumerousculturalreferencepoints,allwithoutevercausingtheaudiencetopauseforthought.ThefilmchroniclesGump’saccidentalexperienceswithsomeofthemostimportantpeopleandeventsinAmericafromthe1970’sincludingameetingwithElvisPresley,JFK,LyndonJohnson,RichardNixon,fightinginVietnam,etc.Themovie,ForrestGump,presentssomeveryaccuratehistoricaleventsthatreallyhappened.ThreeeventsinthemovieForrestGumpthatreallyhappenedinreallifeare:

theVietnamWar,theintegrationattheUniversityofAlabama,andHurricaneCarmen.TherearealotofsmallerhistoricaleventsinForrestGump,butthesearethemajorones.

B.TheCharactersofGump

ForrestGump,althoughamentallyretardedperson,hasledaremarkablysuccessfullife,fromfootballstartoawarhero,fromPing-Pangchampiontobusinessmagnate.Forresthashisspecialquality.OneofthemostobviousandimportantcharacteristicsofGumpishispersistentattitudetowardslife.Nomatterwhathedoes,hedoesitwithhisbest,andnevereasilygiveitup.HisloveforJennyneverstoppedevenshehadlefthimforseveraltimes.IntheVietnamWar,heriskedhislifeandpersistedinfindinghisfriendevenwhentheforestwasgoingtobeboomed.Afterthewar,heinsistedonpurchasingasmallboatandcatchingshrimpstorealizehisfriend’sdreams.Moreover,Forrestcouldconcentrateonparticularthingandtryhisbesttoachieveit.Forexample,whenhewasfoundtobeafastrunnerandwaschosentojointhecollegefootballteam,nothingdidhethinkandjusttriedhisbesttorunasfastaspossibleatthematch.InVietnam,whenhewashavingmilitarytraining,hecarefullylistenedtoeverywordtheofficersaidandcouldfocusonhistask.Andjustbecauseofthisgoodquality,hehadmadegreatsuccessinhislife.Healsohadanothergoodquality.Hedideverythingwithasimplemind.Thingslikemoney,power,andsocialstatusinhispuremindseemedmeaninglessorunimportant.AfterbecomingafamousPing-Pangplayer,somecompanieswantedhimtobetheirbrandspokesman,fromwhichForrestearnedalotofmoney.However,toeveryone’ssurprisehegavepartofittohisfriendBubba’smothertomakehernottobeservantanymore.Andheusedanotherpartofittobuyaboatandsetabouttodoshrimpbusiness.Afterunexpectedlyhebecameamillionaire,ignoringwealthandreputation,hereturnedhomeanddonatedalotofmoneytothechurchathishometown.TheseareGump’scharacteristics.

Ⅲ.ForrestGump'sLanguageCharacteristicsinForrestGump

A.TheLanguageFeaturesofGump

Filmisanarttothepublic，andisthereflectionofcommonlife.Thistraitdecidesthatthelinesinamoviemustbesimpleandaccessible,sothatmostoftheaudiencescanknowthethemeofthemovie.Besideslinesareextractedfromthewriter’sdailyobservationandaccumulation,andarethereproductionsofthesociality.Inmovielinesyoucanseealotofslang,idiomsandCustomaryexpressionswhichcanbefoundinAmericanpeople’sdailyuse.Thisfriendlinessoflinessurelywouldhelptheaudiencegetclosertothethemeofthemovieandgettouched.

Sometimes,inordertocreatanervecircumstance,orportrayacharacter’sbraveryandwisdom,thescreenwriterwoulddeftlyusethecombinationofthewords’rhythm,phrase,andsimplesentencestomakethelinesbecomerhythmed.Thiskindoflinesiseasytoberemembered,andwillincreasetheArtisticappealofthemovie.

Nodoubtthatthepurposeofmakingmoviesistoamusepeople.ThesenseofhumoralwaystakesupaveryimportantpartinAmericanpeople’slife.Sothesenseofhumorwillgreatlyincreasethefunofmovies.Thescreenwritersaddjokes,ironyandotherfunstoriesthathegotfromdailylifeintothescript,combiningtheperfectactingoftheactors,makesthemoviesvividandfunny.

Languageisthereflectionofaperson’ssoulandthought.Youcantellone’spersonalityfromhisspeech.Themainfunctionofmovielinesistoshapeacharacter,makingeachcharacterbevividandaccessibletotheaudiences.Forthisreason,indifferenttypeofmovies,differentstoriesanddifferentoccasions,thescreenwriterwilldesigndifferentlinesfordifferentcharacters.Fromthosewell-chosenlineswecanreadtheuniquepersonalityofdifferentroles.

1.TheNon-metaphoricallanguage

Peopleliveinthekingdomoflanguage,whichgovernstheirwayofthinkingandbehavior.Manypeoplemaythinkthatmetaphorisformostpeopleadeviceofthepoeticimaginationandtherhetoricalflourish—amatterofextraordinaryratherthanordinarylanguage.Moreover,metaphoristypieullyviewedascharacteristicoflanguagealone,amatterofwordsratherthanthoughtoraction.However,thefactisthatmetaphorispervasiveineverydaylife,notjustinlanguagebutinthoughtandaction.Ourordinaryconceptualsystem,intermsofwhichweboththinkandact,isfundamentallymetaphoricalinnature.WhilethatofForrestGump,theheroofthefilmForrestGump,isnot.He,withlowerthanaverageintelligence,ispeculiarbecauseofhisuniquelanguagesystemHislanguageisnon-metaphoricalwhichcanbereflectedinthedialoguehemadewithothers.ThefollowingaresomeexamplesofGump’snon-metaphoricallanguagefeatures.

Theblackstudents’enteringoftheschool

F:

Earl,what’sgoingon?

E:

Coonsaretryingtogetintoschool.

F:

Coons?

Whenraccoonstriedgettingonourbackporch,Mama

justchasedthemoffwithabroom.

E:

Notraccoons,youidiot.Niggers.Andtheywanttogotoschool

withus.

F:

Withus?

Theydo?

（ThemovieForrestGump00:

22:

48）

TheabovearetheconversationsbetweenForrestandEarl.Thereadersallknowthatthecoonsarereferredtotheniggers.However,it’shardforForresttounderstand.Forhim,coonsarejustcoons,theycan’trefertoniggers.Becauseofhislowerintelligence,hislanguagesystemisdifferentfromnormalpeople.Hecan’tunderstandthemetaphoricallanguage.Theconversationsreflectedhischaracter