Forrest Gump : Do they ever explain why Jenny left Forest after she slept with him?

Do they ever explain why Jenny left Forest after she slept with him?

It seemed like she kind of had her life back on track at that point.

Why take off like that?

She had his child, I would think she would want him to know that and he certainly could've helped financially.

Can't imagine she could make enough money to raise little Forest.

Re: Do they ever explain why Jenny left Forest after she slept with him?

After re-watching Forrest Gump on AMC I focused on Jenny's character. Jenny came back to Forrest after she'd had a string of bad relationships and doping out in California, like when she almost slipped off that ledge. Remember that she slept for a long time after she first got back. And her throwing rocks at her old house and wailing showed that the wounds were resurfacing and that she was nowhere near recovering from them.

That last night she was in his house he asked her to marry him and she said "You don't want to marry me," and Forrest said "I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is." And then during the night she comes into his room, the same room she probably stayed with him in when they were young kids. And she offers herself to him.

It was a downer, but it made perfect sense to me even the first time I saw the movie why she was getting in the cab and leaving. The cabbie leered at her and said "What are you running from?" and she told him "I'm not running."

When Forrest wakes up later and discovers she is gone, he literally runs for three years.

Jenny probably didn't feel as though Forrest deserved her arriving on his doorstep as damaged goods. That's why she said "You don't want to marry me," and leaving in the cab the next morning would make sure the situation didn't come up again.

It's those little things that make the movie so great. As for Robin Wright, she seems like she has always been sort of low-key as an actress. In an interview around the time the movie was getting so famous, she said she thought it was a fluke. While casting directors came with all sorts of high-profile offers, the next movie she did was the forgettable Moll Flanders. She has worked steadily since then, but other than possibly Message in a Bottle and House of Cards, nothing too spectacular.

It must have been difficult, of course to have been married to Sean Penn.
Top