Forrest’s introduction to harmonica is the first indication he is gifted.He takes to it instantly. The harmonica travels with him through the gigs with The Cracked Eggs, through the Vietnam War, and finally is still there with him in New Orleans as he and Dan and Sue travel together. Music is an easy to way make people happy. Every time Forrest plays, it has a soothing effect on him and others. It is also significant that the harmonica was a gift. It was through the giving of the gift that Forrest was able to begin discovering and nurturing his own talents. 

Games are made of rules and dependent on patterns. In this way, something with a rigid structure like chess or ping pong is the opposite of life’s chaos. Forrest is naturally and immediately good at all games. He is able to make former masters play like children. However, by the novel’s ends, Forrest has achieved so much, it is almost as if he treated life like a game, without quite understanding the rules. This is because he did know the most important rule, which is evident in the book’s final paragraph: “I tried to do the right thing” (227).