Life-Part Two (Rebirth)

Automatically while reading this chapter, I thought of Forrest Gump. When Foster brings up the idea of rebirth, it reminded me of Forrest saving Lt. Dan. Foster includes the story of two brothers and surprisingly, the stronger one dies. The weak brother is then  upset and wants to commit suicide because he feels that it should've been him that had to die, not his brother. But at that moment, when he comes up from the water, it appears he has been baptized. Conrad, the weaker brother, takes on life with a new perspective because the near death experience allowed him to be born again. He can't really understand his new position in life, but he slowly accepts it. When he talks with a professional therapist, it becomes clear to Conrad that he has always been strong because he had the strength to hold on to the boat while his brother didn't have the strength. In Forrest Gump, Forrest is sent to the Vietnam war as a soldier. One day in combat, he sees Lt. Dan near his death so Forrest decides to save him since he knows it's the right thing to do. Lt. Dan gets so mad at him because he was supposed to die in the battlefield with honor like the rest of his family had. He had his whole life planned out: he goes to war, fights in combat, and dies with honor. Forrest saves him and that wasn't in the script. Lt. Dan later finds Forrest after a couple of years since the incident. He thanked Forrest for saving him since he never did and Forrest didn't recognize him since he was in a wheelchair without any legs. During the middle of the movie, I feel like Lt. Dan was reborn because Lt.Dan swims away to make peace with God and later goes to Forrest's wedding with a new pair of legs and a fiancee. It makes sense because in the movie, he specifically states he's making peace with God while swimming in WATER. The symbolic scene of him swimming away to be with God was when he was getting baptized which is why he comes back a new man with a new life.

Something I didn't really pay attention to was how many times something specific can happen. Foster uses an example from "Song of Solomon" and points out how Milkman got wet three times. Three is a holy number in baptism because it signifies the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In his last swim, he's more happy with himself. He is reborn. This chapter has shown me that I have to pay attention to things like water, clean or dirty, similar actions to being born, if there's a change in behavior, and maybe the number of times it happens. When I said clean or dirty water, I was referring back to the example that Foster used from "The Horse Dealer's Daughter." A young woman nearly drowns herself and a doctor saves her. She's covered in slimy and smelly fluid, but is later cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket. The scene itself is birth. However in this case, it's rebirth. Everything is described similar to a birth and the fact that the young woman nearly drowns portrays that she would've actually died if it wasn't for the doctor being nearby to save her. The young woman's life sounds like she was lost because before she was going to kill herself, she cleaned her mother's grave wanting to be with her again. A mother being taken away is just as unfortunate as the feeling afterwards. After being reborn thanks to the doctor, hopefully she has the strength to continue and find a new and better life. I don't really know how the story ends because I haven't read the book, but that's my guess. I understand the title of the chapter because if the character doesn't come up, obviously the character dies. But if the character does come up, there's a chance they'll be reborn and have a new beginning to their life with a different perspective.