Love is a strong emotion. Love is an emotion strong enough to carry a man through warfare. Small artifacts that remind a person of love from back home hold the ability to have an escape mechanism for a soldier. In the film Forrest Gump, Forrest signs up to fight in the Vietnam War. Every time Forrest gets scared, he thinks about the love of his life, Jenny. In O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross would carry around letters from a girl that Jimmy was in love with, Martha. These are two examples of how powerful emotions can be to get people through tough times. The love connections that the audience experiences through the characters in both “The Things They Carried” and the movie Forrest Gump can be related to the relationship between the citizens of the United States of America, and the government that ran the United States of America. By looking at the allusion, distance, and historical sense of the relationships between Forrest and Jenny, and Jimmy and Martha, the audience can conclude that the citizens of the United States of America had distraught emotions toward the government during the Vietnam War.

Many times, love is shown as an allusion. Forrest’s relationship with Jenny, and Jimmy’s relationship with Martha both have times where love is an allusion between them. Forrest is in love with Jenny the entire movie, and Jenny shows some strong emotions toward Forrest at times. However, at times when Forrest tries to protect the love of his life, Jenny, she often gets upset with Forrest. Forrest is keeping Jenny grounded in the world that she lives in. The relationship between Jimmy and Martha is different. Martha sends letters to Jimmy while he is in Vietnam, and Jimmy knows they are not signs of love, however he wishes they were. The letters that Martha would send Jimmy would keep Jimmy grounded while he was on the battlefield. Where allusion comes into play with the relationships is that Martha doesn’t even know that Jimmy is in love with her. Jenny is aware that Forrest is in love with her, however they never discuss it. These relationships between two characters in these scenarios are complex. Two people that are as close as Jenny and Forrest, and Jimmy and Martha, should have the allusion of love. Citizens that are as involved in government as much as the citizens of America are, should have the allusion of approval/love. However, there is a turning point. When Forrest is deployed to Vietnam and is not there to ground Jenny in real life, only through letters, she gets a little out of control and even contemplates suicide. When Jimmy loses his optimism with his relationship with Martha, he starts to lose control, and even finds himself crying on the battlefield. These turning points in relationships are critical to the outcome of the relationship. Sadly, for Jimmy, it was the sobering realization of the fact that Martha will never love him the way that Jimmy loves her. Luckily, for Forrest, the turning point was Jenny’s sudden realization that she needed to have a change in lifestyle after a heroin high almost ended in her suicide. This change in lifestyle involved more contact with Forrest. The turning point in the relationship of the government and the citizens of the United States is like the turning point between Forrest and Jenny. The rioting of the citizens, about the Vietnam War, creates a turning point, and a realization of the government that action needs to be taken in context of the people.   When the complexity of a relationship is not acknowledged, distraught emotions occur. The allusion of love between the government and the citizens of the United States of America was complex during the Vietnam War and was not acknowledged until after the war, leading to distraught emotions between the two. 

Distance also often leads to distraught feelings in relationships. Forrest and Jenny have always been close location wise, and emotionally. They both grew up in the same neighborhood, with Forrest keeping her away from her alcoholic and abusive father. As they grew in distance, Forrest kept her close in his mind, but Jenny grows apart from Forrest as his deployment continues. In the relation of Jimmy and Martha, the reader must assume that Jimmy and Martha were close before Jimmy left for Vietnam. The two of them were close enough for Martha to consistently write to Jimmy during his time in Vietnam. The distance has a negative effect on the relationships between Forrest and Jenny, and Jimmy and Martha. Jimmy is away from home and is unable to see Martha, so he is forced to lay staring at the stars, wondering multiple questions that he would like to know about Martha. Then, as the distance keeps them separated, and the realization of Martha’s lack of love for Jimmy increases, he stops wondering the questions and gets upset at the thought of Martha. When Forrest is away from home he constantly writes Jenny, similar to how Jimmy would write Martha. However, Forrest does not receive any of Jenny’s responses, but that does not stop him from writing her. Forrest knew that Jenny was receiving the letters and that is all that mattered to him. He just wanted to keep Jenny grounded the best he could from Vietnam. Laura Stafford claimed that the biggest worry for long distance relationships is the ability to keep close contact. (Stafford 274) With the lack of first person guarding by Forrest, Jenny takes a turn for a more negative aspect to life. The distance caused a lack of sincere communication, leading to negative consequences in the relationships. The same can be said about the government and the citizens of the United States. The government had grown in distance from the citizens with the more power that was given to it. This lead to a lack of communication between the citizens and the government, which as history shows, left citizens distraught with their government. To keep close relationships, distance should be minimalized as best as possible, to keep communication at a maximum level. 

Characters having historical sense for the audience/reader is important in a work. Reading into the historical sense of a relationship between characters bridges the gap between audience and character. It gives the audience something to relate to the characters about. By reading into the historical sense of Forrest Gump, the audience feels like it is one of the people sitting on the park bench, listening in on the fascinating tales of Forrest’s life. By reading into the historical sense of Jimmy and Martha, the reader feels like they are reading the diary of a soldier who knew Jimmy well. According to Page, many people had strong emotions about Vietnam, but the citizens only had about two percent of influence on the final decision (Page 1). If the government had read into the historical sense of the citizens of the United States, and how as a country the citizens tend to side with peace, the government may have come to a different conclusion on the decision to enroll in the warfare in Vietnam, and would not have lost the trust and love from some of the citizens. 

By regarding allusion, distance, and historical sense, the audience can conclude that the relationships between Forrest and Jenny, and Jimmy and Martha, serve as a metaphor for the relationships between the United States government and the citizens of the United States. Close communications are profitable for a relationship at any level. Forrest kept Jenny in check by constantly writing her, and making sure she was doing alright. Martha kept Jimmy in check by writing him and giving him hope on the battlefield. The citizens kept the government in check by rioting when they disagreed with a decision made by the government. Without communication, the distance between two aspects of a relationship increases, and the allusion of what once was a relationship, diminishes. 
