When I was in 6th grade, I tried to eat mango Rita's Water Ice even though I'm allergic to mango. They ran out of every flavor before I got my turn, so Mango was the only thing left. Well, I wasn't about to just shuffle solemnly back to my table and watch everyone else eat their Rita's. Nope. I took that mango flavor and was fully prepared to eat it. Of course, though, my friend just had to be the hero and steal it away from me. I don't know how often people get annoyed when you try to save them from having an allergic reaction, but I definitely was very annoyed! And even worse, he'll still bring this moment up today. I am being 100% honest that just this Spring Break he brought it up for like the 100th time and he said, "since I saved your life, you are indebted to be my friend forever." I wouldn't have eaten it if I knew these consequences.
I since have learned to not just eat foods I'm allergic to now. But the hardest time to resist eating food came by brother's hand. My grandparents bought a massive chocolate box and asked my brother to get it. Well, in all of his glory, he manages to fall and drop the box. While my parents laughed at him, my grandparents helped him, I-the only responsible one in this situation-checked to make sure the chocolates were okay. Well, they weren't. All of the chocolates were mixed up. I'm allergic to nuts. All of the chocolate nuts were now contaminating all of the beautiful, edible chocolates. I'm not sure, but I think I may have cried.
This week's quote comes from Forrest Gump and it's the quote, believe it or not, about chocolates.
"Momma always said, 'life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.'"
Before we actually get to the intended meaning of the quote, I have to say two things here. First, I will NEVER misquote this line. A lot of people will say "life is like" instead of "life was like." But my 9th grade English teacher used this specific quote to drill into us that we need to check what we're quoting even if we think we know what is it is exactly. She was absolutely nuts about plagiarism, but in hindsight, it was probably for the best.
Second, before I started writing this blog, I don't know if I really thought about the actual simile. Because when I started writing about it, I realize it just literally doesn't make sense. The boxes of chocolates all come with a very straightforward guide about which chocolate is in which location, so you know exactly what you're gonna get. Just imagine if you didn't! It would've been game over for me and my allergies right from the start. But I mean, I guess you could buy chocolates that don't have a guide, but I'm not even sure if those are made, because really unless you like all chocolates, it's not a great idea. But whatever, this quote is super famous and it's quoted all the time (incorrectly), so it's worth looking at because who hasn't seen Forrest Gump?
So the quote is essentially saying that we're gonna eat the chocolate. I mean, even if we don't know what it is, it's still chocolate. So you know I'm gonna eat it. Even if you're on a diet, chocolate is chocolate. But in a box of chocolates (in this movie's world), you don't know what chocolate it is. It could be that incredible caramel filled chocolate or something abominable like raspberry-filled chocolate. So even though it's a risk, and even though we might get something bad, we still eat the chocolate for that good stuff. And that's life. Even though there are some pretty bad experiences we have, we keep going and we keep on living so that we can get to those good experiences.
Ok, to be fair, that's not exactly what the quote is saying. It's a pretty neutral quote that just says life can be good or bad. It's very simple. But I like to look at it the positive way. It's inspiring to think that when we're at our lowest points, our raspberry-filled chocolate points, the only thing left to do now is for us to go up in life, to get a better chocolate. So even though the quote doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it too much, it's about chocolate so it's immediately a good quote and it's motivational when you spin it in a positive manner.
Literary Equivalent: The Book Theif has a quote that sort-of encapsulates the neutrality of Forrest quote to show two-sides of life.
"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant"
If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. It's a pretty easy read and it's pretty engrossing. But warning: it's sad. It's really, truly sad. It takes place right around WWII in Germany, so it's not hard to imagine why it's sad. But the quote here relies on paradox rather than simile for figurative language, but a similar message is conveyed about life throwing so many different types of experiences at you. Isn't it pretty cool how such different language is used but similar ideas are conveyed? But which one do resonate with more? Which one leaves a greater impact?
As for me, I have to go with the book this time. This book is just too good. Also, I have to admit that while I like Forrest Gump, I don't know if I'd ever watch it again... but shh! Anyway, I wish I had some chocolate to eat right now but I already ate all of it. Luckily, I think I have some ice cream so I'll probably go eat that now.
Second, before I started writing this blog, I don't know if I really thought about the actual simile. Because when I started writing about it, I realize it just literally doesn't make sense. The boxes of chocolates all come with a very straightforward guide about which chocolate is in which location, so you know exactly what you're gonna get. Just imagine if you didn't! It would've been game over for me and my allergies right from the start. But I mean, I guess you could buy chocolates that don't have a guide, but I'm not even sure if those are made, because really unless you like all chocolates, it's not a great idea. But whatever, this quote is super famous and it's quoted all the time (incorrectly), so it's worth looking at because who hasn't seen Forrest Gump?
So the quote is essentially saying that we're gonna eat the chocolate. I mean, even if we don't know what it is, it's still chocolate. So you know I'm gonna eat it. Even if you're on a diet, chocolate is chocolate. But in a box of chocolates (in this movie's world), you don't know what chocolate it is. It could be that incredible caramel filled chocolate or something abominable like raspberry-filled chocolate. So even though it's a risk, and even though we might get something bad, we still eat the chocolate for that good stuff. And that's life. Even though there are some pretty bad experiences we have, we keep going and we keep on living so that we can get to those good experiences.
Ok, to be fair, that's not exactly what the quote is saying. It's a pretty neutral quote that just says life can be good or bad. It's very simple. But I like to look at it the positive way. It's inspiring to think that when we're at our lowest points, our raspberry-filled chocolate points, the only thing left to do now is for us to go up in life, to get a better chocolate. So even though the quote doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it too much, it's about chocolate so it's immediately a good quote and it's motivational when you spin it in a positive manner.
Literary Equivalent: The Book Theif has a quote that sort-of encapsulates the neutrality of Forrest quote to show two-sides of life.
"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant"
If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. It's a pretty easy read and it's pretty engrossing. But warning: it's sad. It's really, truly sad. It takes place right around WWII in Germany, so it's not hard to imagine why it's sad. But the quote here relies on paradox rather than simile for figurative language, but a similar message is conveyed about life throwing so many different types of experiences at you. Isn't it pretty cool how such different language is used but similar ideas are conveyed? But which one do resonate with more? Which one leaves a greater impact?
As for me, I have to go with the book this time. This book is just too good. Also, I have to admit that while I like Forrest Gump, I don't know if I'd ever watch it again... but shh! Anyway, I wish I had some chocolate to eat right now but I already ate all of it. Luckily, I think I have some ice cream so I'll probably go eat that now.
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