Forrest Gump: The Vietnam War Through The Eyes Of A Child
Forrest Gump
The Vietnam War Through the Eyes of a Child
In Winston Groom's Forrest Gump, the main character, Forrest Gump is involved in the Vietnam War. In the novel, he is mentally challenged and he sees everything somewhat differently then another individual might. His point of view of the events of the Vietnam War are child-like and different then what most people would see.
The Vietnam War was a very tragic war. The events took place from 1954-1975 (Brigham). The Second Indochina War resulted from a long conflict between France and Vietnam. After 100 years of colonial rule, in July of 1954, France was forced to leave Vietnam. Nationalist forces defeated French troops at Dien Bien Phu in the northwest corner of Vietnam. This battle proved to the French that they were no longer able to keep their Indochinese colonies and they quickly moved for peace.
The Geneva Peace Accords were signed by France and Vietnam in the summer of 1954 (Brigham). The Peace Accords reflected the strains of the international cold war. They represented the worst of all possible futures for war-torn Vietnam. According the the Accords, Vietnam would hold national elections in 1956 to reunify the country. With the election, the division at the seventeenth parallel, a temporary separation without cultural precedent would vanish. The United States did not agree with the Geneva Accords because they thought it granted too much power to the Communist Party Of Vietnam. President Dwight D. Eisenhower instead
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supported the creation of a counter revolutionary alternative south of the seventeenth parallel. The United States supported the nation-building effort through a series of multilateral agreements that created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
The Eisenhower administration created a new nation in southern Vietnam using SEATO as its political cover. In 1955 with much American aid, the Government of the...
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