РефератыИностранный языкThThe Shawshank Redemption Essay Research Paper The

The Shawshank Redemption Essay Research Paper The

The Shawshank Redemption Essay, Research Paper


The Shawshank Redemption


The Shawshank Redemption is a very unique movie which involves many


different personalities and underlying themes. The personalities of the inmates


are very interesting and when they are combined they create a very fascinating


plot which looks at prison life in a interesting and different perspective than


one normally thinks. The main characters are Andy Dufrense (Tim Robbins) and


Eliss “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman). These characters are well complimented by


the wise and simple old man, Brooks (James Whitmore), and the evil warden. The


personalities of the Shawshank prison combined to form a sort of community. One


never really thinks of a prison as such, but it seems to hold true. This movie


showed a prison not only as a place where murderers and thieves live, but as a


community of people who have had problems and may or may not be rehabilitating.


It seems that some prisoners go in and accept what they have done and try to


make something of an already disastrous life while others give up and really


don’t care if they commit other crimes (inside and outside of the prison). But


in all reality, the prison was home for the inmates and they made it into what


it was. The demeanor of the characters creates a very unique atmosphere.


The story revolves around Andy who is convicted of murdering his wife


and her lover in 1946 and is sentenced to life in prison. He is sent to the


Shawshank prison, the state prison in Maine which is known for its harshness.


At the beginning of the movie, one does not know if Andy committed the


horrible crime of murder. But what is known is that he is not ready for prison


and honestly doesn’t seem like a man who would survive. His thinking going in is


just to survive and blend in. He knows that sticking out would not be good for


him. Throughout the movie, Andy undergoes several changes in his personality.


But overall, he seems like a wise man who will deal with what the justice system


has served him. He is normal on the outside but seems full of emotion. His


emotional side is best put by the 4/14/95 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle


which reads, “?Dufrense, a soft-spoken banker with emotions bubbling under the


surface.” Andy is a very complex character but one can see that he holds his


feelings inside of him and tries not to let people know how he feels.


Andy’s friendship with Red begins in a peculiar way because neither of them


have anything in common. Andy asks for a rock hammer which Red gets for him. Red,


knowing that Andy is vulnerable, gets him on the tar duty and seems to take him


under his wing. The friendship is very unique and they both are very energetic


with emotion. Bill Dupre of the News and Observer writes of their emotion


together, “This is a graceful, quiet characterization, and Robbins’ scenes with


Freeman are wrought with depth, delicacy, and precision.”


This is where the opportunistic side of Andy begins to be evident. After


overhearing the guards talking, he almost risks his life to tell the guard that


he will help him keep the $30,000 that he inherited. This shows that Andy had


guts and that he wanted to survive. In return for his favor of helping the guard,


he gets his fellow workers ice cold beers on the last day. It is ironic because


he has quit drinking himself. Andy then begins to work in the library because


the warden hears of his talents in finance. This is where Andy first meets


Brooks. He use this opportunity to ask the state for more money to build a


larger library. And finally, the way Andy escapes is almost genius. Knowing that


he is on the good side of the warden, he devises a very interesting and


successful plan of escape.


Overall, Andy blends in with the prison community through the good times


and the bad (the sisters, a group of homosexual rapists). His personality is one


of a person who makes the most of

what he has. But he never loses hope that he


will be free one day.


Red is a very unique character in his own right. The prison’s sole black


inmate, he is the man who smuggles contraband into the prison. He is also a


“lifer” and he says that he is the only man in the prison who is guilty. He has


accepted his fate and is dealing with the prison as his life but still tries to


make his life on the inside the best he can. Red really doesn’t think much about


being paroled (he is rejected several times during the movie). He just takes one


day at a time. He is determined not to let the jail system get to him. His


friendship with Andy becomes stronger throughout the movie from when they first


meet until Red joins Andy in Mexico. Red is a man who knows the rights and


wrongs of the prison and it seems that Andy becomes his apprentice during the


movie.


Overall, Red is a subtle man who tries not to be noticed. His personality


is one of perseverance and he is ready to accept what the system may deal him.


Talking about the warden is difficult just for the reason that he is a


cruel man who represents evil and unfairness in the movie. The reason the warden


takes a liking to Andy is because Andy is an accomplished accountant who can


help him cheat the state. The opportunistic Andy takes advantage of this by


reading the Bible (to impress the warden) and basically doing what he is told.


This leads to the warden’s demise (trusting Andy too much) and Andy’s escape.


The personality of the warden does not change much throughout the movie.


Even if he does something nice (letting Andy help fellow inmates), his sole


purpose is to profit and be in charge. He shows off his power many times and in


the cruelest way. For example, his power and cruelty can be best seen when he


discovers that the young inmate’s testimony may free Andy. The warden’s solution


is to kill the young inmate and get the matter out of the way. Losing Andy would


be devastating to him. The warden basically adds the bad guy dimension to the


movie.


The prison had people of all ages and backgrounds (non racial). Brooks is a


real old timer who had been in the prison for a very long time. He exemplified a


man who had just made prison his life and he was very content with his life. He


never foresaw leaving and knew this would be his life. He didn’t expect anything


out of the ordinary to happen. He seems to be a lost soul not knowing what he


wants or what is right for him. His death signified his confusion.


The movie gives us a perspective of a prison not really shown before.


Though the movie may seem unrealistic in some ways, it is very moving and makes


one think deeper about who the inmates are and what they are really like. In the


4/14/95 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle it reads, “As preposterous as it is


appealing, ?The Shawshank Redemption’ takes a straightforward, soul stirring


novel by Stephen King and turns it into a somber, bloated prison drama designed


to pump you with inspiration.” This inspiration is created by the actions and


words of various characters. It is actually an inspiration to the viewer to


always have hope and pursue your goals. Red said, “Hope is dangerous on the


inside.” He was saying that having hope could drive a man crazy but in all


reality he had hope in himself. This was untrue because Brooks’ death signified


a lack of hope. He really had no one and the inmates were his family. Leaving


the prison was devastating and he just thought nothing of life. Red was contradi


ctory to his own words because he ended up surviving and succeeding all because


of the hope that he had.


The personalities of the characters create an almost unreal setting where


you see things you may not expect to see. A community of people is what the


movie is about. A community which goes through good times and bad ones. But the


characters are what makes this film so unique and so great.

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