“Life (is) like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”. Even though people don’t choose the box, people get choose what to do with the chocolates inside it. The hidden meaning of this simile comes to life as Forrest Gump rescues Lieutenant Dan and helps him find peace with his new life. Similar to Gump, Elroy Berdahl in The Things They Carried acts as a silent mentor and helps Tim O’ Brien confront the reality of going to war.
Before Lieutenant Dan found peace with his life, he wanted to find peace through his death. His dream was to die with honor in the battlefield similar to his forefathers. Lieutenant Dan’s fantasy crumples under Gump’s fast running feet when Gump rescues Dan from his valiant death. Now, as a double amputee, Dan’s life quickly turns to shambles; he becomes a homeless man in a wheelchair living off welfare. Forrest invites Dan to go shrimping. On the shrimping boat, Forrest doesn’t talk much; as a result, Dan figures out that life dealt him a bad hand, but he can still overcome that. Dan is able to swallow his pride as he finds new meaning in life. Later, he tells Forrest he “never thanked [Forest] for saving him.” He overcomes his initial disappointment of not dying honorably into an opportunity to find harmony from his time he spent in war and continue on in life.
Similar to Mr. Gump, Elroy Berhald acts as a quiet guardian for Tim. The draft forces Tim to fight in a war he opposes. He wants to run away to Canada to escape fighting in the war. On his way to Canada, he stops at Elroy’s inn, The Tip Top Lodge. Elroy escorts Tim to the Canadian border, forcing Tim to confront reality: running away is a choice he just cannot face. Tim realizes that he must go fight in the war. He can not run away because everyone will think less of him and he has to accept his fate. Tim understands he has to face his unfortunate destiny, but he comes to peace with it and moves.
Both Tim and Dan learn from their silent mentors. They come to identical conclusions that lead to different paths. Tim finds peace going into war, and Dan finds peace after war. “Even though you are pinned down by a war you have never felt more at peace,” (31). The divergent point of war is ironic because war should cause terror and confusion, but not peace. They both come to peace with the box of chocolates presented as they choose which chocolates they want to take out of the box. They can choose to hate life and throw the box of chocolates away, or accept that they have been given a box of chocolates they didn’t like, but taste the chocolates anyway. Thankfully, they both choose the latter. Doing so, Lieutenant Dan gets his life on track with the help of his fiancée, and Tim makes his way to Vietnam bravely.
Tim and Dan wouldn’t have been able to come to their realizations without their voiceless mentors. Similar to a father allowing his son to learn the world by himself, Forrest and Elroy help guide Dan and Tim. The parallel between Dan and Tim’s experiences of accepting what life has given to them show how effective it is to guide rather than to teach. With the proper voiceless guidance, people can understand whatever life throws at them, and they will still be able to move forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqAbjHKO5jM
I like how you connected a box of chocolates to real life. We are all dealt a hand in life that we don't decided, and we have to accept that hand and try to make it better, or we can accept defeat and not move on. Both Tim and Dan were dealt a bad hand but they both persevered and made it better.
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected the box of chocolate analogy, Forrest Gump, and The Things They Carried. This is a very well-written blog post and this post makes me think about my silent mentors. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you talked about the silent mentors, because it is almost counterintuitive to think of someone who doesn't talk as giving advice, but in a way they are showing not telling the person what to do, and as a result it is a lot more powerful. I also really liked how you said that it's not basically how lucky you are, and what you're dealt, but rather how you respond to it, because I think that that is definitely true, and things don't always work out the way we want them to, but they do work out.
ReplyDeleteI definitely can relate to the idea of thinking your best while in a silent atmosphere. I think that silence is good for people to have every so often. I think that it calms your mind and really helps the ideas that are in the back of your head come out. I like how you emphasized the silent mentor in your writing, and I especially like how you connected it with "Forest Gump" because I think that it fits perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected The Things They Carried and Forrest Gump. The analogy, life is like a box of chocolates, fits perfectly for both Forrest Gump and The Things They Carried. This was a very interesting blog post and I enjoyed it a lot!
ReplyDeleteI think that your comparison between Gump and Berdahl makes a lot of sense. Their methods of mentorship are quite unique in that they are not directly telling their "disciples" what to do, but instead are encouraging them to make their own decisions. That is how true mentorship works. A true teacher does not tell their student the answer, and allows them to think and work it out on their own. Don't get me wrong, teachers do help, but the best, help in such a way that their students are able to solve their problems with minimal help. For this reason, Gump and Berdahl are examples of the quintessential mentor.
ReplyDeleteThis analogy really helped me come to a realization of what this chapter was saying. The analogy of the box of chocolates with Forrest Gump and "The Things They Carried" really spoke to me in that it helped me understand what each situation had to do with the other, and also coming back to the story, helped me understand the chapter itself.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Arjun! In the last paragraph, I love how you compare a father letting his son learn alone in the world to the role of the silent mentor in both stories. I think it is valuable to note the importance a mentor plays in the life of a mentee; even though the mentor may not say much, their presence and actions both aid the person being advised to make their own decisions. Even though in the examples you mentioned the role each character played in the advisor-advisee relationship was not overtly mentioned by the narrator or author, the influence one character has in the life of another comes to represent the part they played.
ReplyDeleteThis was awesome! “Life (is) like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get” is a useful quote to help understand the situations that both Dan and O'Brien are going through. What really makes it easier to understand is how you explained how the chapter ties in with the quote. You said "even though people don’t choose the box, people get choose what to do with the chocolates inside it", and this could not be more true. What determines your happiness is how you handle what you are given. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you used this famous quote and connected it to both of the stories. It made me realize how much the two stories and the two characters are alike. I also thought the 'silent mentor' idea was interesting, because I had never thought of it that way, but now I see what you mean by it. Great job on your blog post!
ReplyDeleteThe comparison of the two character duos was something I never would have thought of. It helped me further understand and grasp the relationship between Tim and Berdahl and why Berdahl had such a significant impact. Comparing the two mentors was a very smart way to execute your blog post! Great job! The idea of a silent mentor was interesting because the mentees probably did not see their counterparts as mentors but this characterization fits both situations. Awesome job Arjun!
ReplyDeleteThe comparison between Cross and Dan is very good. It was very clever to think of "silent motivators" and the role they play in both stories. I hand't realized how similar the two stories were until now. Good job Arjun!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you mentioned the phrase "silent mentors", I never thought of it in that form. It's also ironic, because a mentor usually is suppose to speak to their peer, lend them a helping hand, but instead it's a "silent mentor", where they let their peer take more control and say very little to them. Very creative Arjun!
ReplyDeleteThis was clever, you did a good job comparing the two. You made me want to watch the movie and I have never seen the movie. That being said, you still were able to make it understandable for me.
ReplyDeleteArjun's quote goes almost perfectly with Tim's situation. I liked how he said "Even though people don’t choose the box, people get choose what to do with the chocolates inside it." People have don't have a say on what situations they are put in, but they do have an input on how they are going to handle that situation. For instance, the boys and men did not have a choice rather they were picked for the draft or not. They do have a choice on what they are going to do about it. He can try to avoid and sneak away from going to war, or he can stand up to the plate of being drafted to the army.
ReplyDeleteArjun, this was a truly amazing analysis. You nailed it. The similarities and differences of the book and the movie that you informed us on were amazing. Great Job!!
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