Transformative Power of Love and Hope BY TASHA CARoDINE

The power of love is one of our greatest life strengths. Love is a part of the human conscience that convicts us for our actions and thoughts. Love is also an inherent human trait. The way someone will experience or show love will depend specifically on that individual. In Dorothy Parker’s poem “Penelope, ” Tim O’Brien’s “ The Things The Carried” (short story), and “Forrest Gump” (novel by Winston Groom; film directed by Robert Zemeckis) the transformative power of love and hope transforms the protagonists and the people around them. In Dorothy Parker’s “Penelope,” Penelope’s power of love and hope kept her faithful for twenty years while awaiting the return of her husband, Odysseus. The love any wife has for her spouse can sometimes be quite challenging. However, the love Penelope had for her husband and the hope of his return was so strong that it kept her faithful to only him for twenty long years while he fought the Trojan War and while he made his home. Penelope was so determined to stay faithful and protect the reputation of her husband; she delayed suitors pursuing her with the promise that she would choose a new husband once she completed a burial shroud (Book XIX). The power of Penelope’s love never changed, even though during those twenty years she raised a child alone, her hope may have sometimes been shaken when she didn’t know where her husband was, and she didn’t really know if he was dead or alive. She stayed loyal to him by maintaining a good reputation and never compromising her role as a wife. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s love for a girl and for his men transformed him for the better, and he didn’t even know it was happening. Because of love, Cross went from daydreamer to a leader of men. Lieutenant Cross was the platoon leader, but he was always preoccupied with his thoughts and fantasies of a girl name Martha. Martha was Cross’s greatest distraction from reality. Cross’s mind always wandered, keeping his attention from the war. Martha would send Cross letters that always ended with, “Love Martha” (O’Brien 95). Cross knew that Martha didn’t love him, but in his mind he pretends she might. He sits and daydreams while looking at the two pictures of her and re-reading the letters she wrote. He wonders if is she is a virgin, while reminiscing on their date at Mount Sebastian College (O’Brien 96). Although Martha was Cross’s fantasy world, the reality of loosing one of his troops results in a major transformation. Cross transformed after Ted Lavender’s death. This event was so traumatic it changed his internal environment while making him aware of his external environment. The devastation Cross experienced following Lavender’s death caused him to become a better leader. This new commitment to his troops - his love for Martha exchanged for a love of his men - enabled him to lead his troops more effectively - while Cross was consumed with his thoughts of Martha, in an instant, Ted Lavender was shot in the head (O’Brien 99). The detrimental effect of losing a troop gave Cross a major reality check. Drastic measures caused Cross to take drastic actions. Cross’s burdens now begin to weigh more heavily on him. Cross decides to burn the letters and pictures of Martha (O’Brien 104). He thinks about swallowing the good-luck pebble kept under his tongue given to him by Martha (O’Brien 105). Even after Cross burned the letters and the pictures of Martha he still carried the guilt of her memory, and the self-blame that could never be burned away. The guilt and burden Cross feels give him the strength he needs to get his platoon through the Vietnam War. The burdens Cross carries help him to transform from daydreamer to leader. Cross turns his focus from Martha and places it on his platoon. Lt. Cross found himself in a situation by a terrible circumstance, but the circumstance allowed for the transformation and the hope he needed to survive the War. Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead (O’Brien 105). This obligation was the result of the transformative power of love that Cross and his troops needed. Love and hope fills the places in the heart, but it’s the willingness to trust that moves an individual to change. Just like Penelope and Lt. Cross, Forrest Gump also went through a transformation process. The people in Forrest’s life were sometimes internally and externally inflicted with pain, yet Forrest had no expectations of them. Forrest had his own affliction, being a little slower than others and also having to wear braces on his legs. Forrest’s mother always told him “Not to let anyone tell him they were better than him, that he was no different from anyone else.” His mother also told him “You have to do the best with what God gave you.” The power of her words allowed Forrest to never stop sharing love and hope with others. Forrest’s mother died from cancer - this was her internal illness that ate away at her until she died. Jenny carried the pain of her father molesting her, and later died from an internal illness that could not be cured. Externally Jenny seemed fine, but internally she was dying inside. Jenny showed no physical signs of any type of affliction, but she was always running from the things she felt inside. Lt. Dan, Forrest’s platoon leader in Vietnam, was externally fine until his legs were blown off in the Vietnam War. The devastation from losing his legs ate him away internally. Lt. Dan didn’t want to be called crippled, and Forrest didn’t want to be called stupid. Jenny and Lt. Dan each had a different connection to Forrest, but love was a common denominator. Jenny was Forrest’s girl and his one true love. Jenny was always in and out of Forrest’s life. Forrest would always try to rescue Jenny from something or somebody. Jenny explained to Forrest on many occasions that he shouldn’t keep trying to rescue her. One night Jenny decided to come back to Greenbow, Alabama for an unknown reason. The reason Jenny came back didn’t concern Forrest. He was just happy to have her there. To Forrest, spending time walking and talking with Jenny was the best thing; this was indeed the happiest and most memorable time of his life. One night while Jenny was visiting, Forrest asked Jenny to marry him. Jenny tells Forrest “You don’t want to marry me.” Forrest tells her “I’m not a smart man Jenny, but I know what love is.” Later in the scene Jenny comes to Forrest and tells him she does love him. But when Forrest wakes up Jenny has left him again. But, you know, that Forrest never gives up hope. After years have passed, Jenny sends Forrest a letter and invites him to Savannah. Forrest is then told that he is a father and has a son “Little Forrest.” Jenny also tells Forrest that she is ill. With the strong love Forrest has always felt for Jenny, he asks her to move back to Greenbow so that he can care for her and “Little Forrest.” Jenny breaks down and finally makes Forrest happy by asking him to marry her. Forrest, Jenny, and Little Forrest never had the chance to spend much time together due to Jenny’s illness. However, Forrest never failed to take care of her, as he always tried to do in the past. After Jenny died, Forrest buried her under their favorite tree, where they spent time as children. Forrest ends this chapter of his life understanding his purpose and destiny. In the movie, Forrest wonders if his mother was right about people making their own destiny, or if Lt. Dan was right about his description of life as floating around like a breeze. He comes to the conclusion that it may be both at the same time. The film ends with Forrest seeing his son “Little Forrest” off to school, telling him he loves him and will be right there when he returns. Little Forrest tells his father Forrest that he loves him too, and is off to school to share the book “Curious George” with his class for show and tell, because this is the book that his grandmother use to read to his father. Forrest transformed the people around him for the better with the power of his love and hope. Forrest’s mother and Jenny were the few who could accept Forrest for who he was. Although the decisions Jenny made set her life on a self-destructive path, she found her way back to Forrest. It took Jenny a while to finally let the love manifest that she had for Forrest and he had for her. As far as Lt. Dan, with the help of Forrest he finally made peace with God, and although he never really thanked Forrest for saving his life in Vietnam, Forrest knew Lt. Dan valued life once again. Lt. Dan was happy. That was enough for Forrest. The characters all fold into Forrest in some way at the end. There were many different types of love displayed in this movie: mother-son, son-father, friendship, family, and a romantic love. The love and hope Forrest had for the ones he loved transformed them in their own time. Forrest’s genuine love and hope was so strong it gave him the power to never give up on the ones he loved - love was the common denominator among them all; Forrest was love’s vehicle. Penelope, Lt. Cross, and Forrest Gump would each sit and daydream and think about the ones they loved. They hoped for the time they would see them and spend time with them again. Each protagonist embodied different types of love; each of their journeys demonstrated the power of love. The power of love can cause someone to lose focus of what’s going on around them. The power of love can cause people to revaluate what is really important in life. The power of a mother’s love can move a mountain if she thinks that her child is in danger. The power of love can astonish you. And while love serves as a foundation, it is actually the hope love brings to life that transforms. The power of love helps heal the things that have been beaten into you for so long. It is an amazing transformation that takes place through love. It is not a therapy counselor or a prescription drug. The power of love is plain and simple. Love and hope work hand and hand. It is comprised of compassion, care, security, and a leap of faith and hope. The power of love and hope can transform anybody and any circumstance. Real hope is the kind that holds dear to knowing that things can and will turn out for the better. Real hope will seize the moment. I believe in the power of love and hope to heal the heart of all afflictions. This is something given to us by God. We should use it wisely. Tasha Carodine was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida the oldest of three girls. She has spent the last thirteen years traveling the world with her military spouse, Samuel Carodine, from Okinawa, Japan to Kailua, Hawaii. Tasha and Samuel share two wonderful sons together, Artavia and Anthony. Tasha is a very private person who enjoys reading and spending time with her family. Work Cited O’Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th ed. New York: Person Longman 2009. 95-105 Parker, Dorothy. “Penelope”. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 9th ed. New York: Person Longman 2009. 993. Homer. The Odyssey. Search, Read, Study, Discuss. The Literature Network. Book XIX. 30March2009. <http://www.on-line-literature.com/homer/odyssey/19/>.