Chapter 13
What instrument does Forrest play to calm the ape?
A harmonica
Where does the spaceship land after coming down from orbit?
In a small lake in New Guinea
What crop does Big Sam force the crew to grow?
Cotton
What headline appears in the newspaper held up for the crew to see?
"Idiot Plays Space Music to Soothe Ape"
What is the name of the tribe leader who speaks English and went to Yale?
Big Sam
What game does Big Sam teach Forrest during their evenings in the village?
Chess
What emergency program does Forrest manually insert into the starboard computer, and what is it designed to do?
The D-six program, designed to land the spaceship in the Indian Ocean
What do the natives plan to do with Forrest, Major Fritch, and Sue when they first arrive?
Cook and eat them — the tribe are cannibals who expected gifts and planned to treat the crew as the gift
Who does Major Fritch take as a companion in the village, and how does the relationship begin?
Grurck — he reaches out from a bush and pulls her in; she later introduces him to Forrest voluntarily
What three songs does Forrest play on his harmonica to calm the ape, and in what order are they mentioned?
What group of enemies surrounds Big Sam's tribe, and why are the two peoples at war?
Pygmies; the war started because someone stole a pig long ago, though no one remembers who
What is Big Sam's secret motive for keeping Forrest alive, and what would happen if Forrest lost a chess game?
Big Sam wants to beat Forrest at chess; it is implied he would then eat Forrest for supper
Major Fritch tells Forrest to skip the D-six program. What two specific geographic landmarks does she use to orient their position as she guides him toward a new landing zone?
The South Pole (off to their left) and Australia (up ahead) — she uses these to judge they are over the South Pacific
Big Sam explains the concept of the Cargo Cult to the crew. What specific wartime action created the cult, and what physical evidence of it is visible on the ground near the lake?
During WWII, the Americans dropped packages of candy and supplies on the natives to keep them allied; the natives interpreted this as divine. On the ground there are crude runways and large round black markers they built while waiting for the Americans to return
Big Sam describes his agricultural vision in formal economic terms before revealing his true shopping list. What does he actually plan to buy with the cotton money, and what does this list reveal about the contradiction in his character?
He plans to buy beads, trinkets, mirrors, a portable radio, Cuban cigars, and alcohol — a trivial list that contradicts his grand rhetoric about lifting his people out of poverty and entering the world marketplace, exposing him as self-serving despite his Yale education