Jenny in Forrest Gump died from an illness that the movie never explicitly names, but it is widely believed to be HIV/AIDS. This is implied in the film due to the time period and her lifestyle and was confirmed by the film's screenwriter, Eric Roth, in later comments. The movie keeps her illness deliberately vague, but it is generally accepted that she died of AIDS-related complications. In contrast, in the original Forrest Gump novel by Winston Groom and its sequel, Jenny dies of hepatitis C, a disease that was unknown until 1989 and is consistent with her history of drug abuse. The difference between the book and the film is notable. The film portrays Jenny as dying in the early 1980s, and her death is linked to the early years of the AIDS pandemic. Forrest's love for Jenny remains a central emotional theme, even as the film does not dwell on specifics about her illness. In summary:
- In the movie, Jenny's cause of death is widely understood as AIDS (HIV).
- In the novel and its sequel, she dies of hepatitis C.
- The movie retains ambiguity but leans toward HIV/AIDS as the cause.
This explanation accounts for the different sources and interpretations related to Jenny's death in Forrest Gump. The movie's choice to be ambiguous contrasts with the clarity given in the book and in the screenwriter's later statements. Jenny's death is portrayed as a tragic consequence of her troubled life and the historical context of the early 1980s disease crises.
