What did Forrest Gump's run represent?

Answer 1

The movie does not tell us definitively how many times Forrest crossed America. When he set out from his home in Alabama, he headed west - the first coast he reached was the west coast (as evidenced by his arrival at the Santa Monica pier.) He was then shown arriving at what is presumed to be the east coast. From there, the journey is shown in a musical montage. At one point, a TV news anchor introduces a story saying that "for more than two years now, a man named Forrest Gump…has been running across America." The reporter covering the story goes on to say, "for the fourth time on his journey across America, Forrest Gump…is about to cross the Mississippi Riveragain today." Forrest kept on running after that crossing, eventually stopping in the desert. At that point he stated, "I had run for three years, two months, fourteen days and sixteen hours."

Answer 2

Running for Forrest represents and few different things. At first it seems to represent his freedom from being constricted by the braces on his legs. Then once he realizes he can run it begins to represent escapism and the ability to escape his problems. He runs any time that he has some kind of issue or conflict, like when he is being bullied. There is a time when the war is over where he runs towards good things, like Jenny, but that's just a short time. At the end he runs to clear his mind. He runs for ages until finally he just stops and begins to walk back. Running is his escape for everything that he doesn't truly want to face or doesn't really know how to.

Answer 3

I think it just shows the simplicity of Forrest's character; he runs simply because it's what he wants to do. Everyone else assumes there's an alterior motive behind his running - that he must be trying to make some kind of point or raise awareness for something - but he's honestly just runing because he enjoys it.