Although Andy’s story is the main focus of narration, yet Red’s role as the internal focalizer who adopts the viewpoint of the experiencing ‘I’, functions as a rhetorical device to create immediacy and suspense (Dan Shen 2003, 85). King succeeds in representing a close; quick paced and condensed portrayal of prison life with all its grim details. Through Red’s eyes, readers follow up Andy’s struggle against penal coercion, in which they themselves play a crucial part. Red acknowledges the presence of the reader throughout his retrospective narration, as he admits:
Well, you weren’t writing about yourself, I hear someone in the peanut-gallery saying. You were writing about Andy Dufresne. You’re nothing but a minor character in your own story. But you know, that’s just no so. It’s all about me, every damned word of it. Andy was part me of me they could never lock up, the part of me that will rejoice when the gates finally open
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Mark Kermode highlights the transformative power of art and its “crucial import to understanding Andy’s ultimate escape, in which he will literally step through a movie poster to freedom, suggesting that the escapist possibilities of the medium [the cinema] are powerful enough to transcend physical reality” (2003, 38). Through the movie poster, which covers his tracks, he burrows his way out of his cell and his redemption is achieved, “as [his] dreams take flight, and miracles become a reality rather than an abstraction” (Kermode 2003, 36). Andy’s success in escaping from Shawshank represents the materialization of his long imagined freedom. Zihuatanejo, his destination dream, is not just a town, but as Kermode describes, it a “state of mind toward which King‘s … narrative has been inexorably leading us – a state of hope” (2003,
Andy’s hope of escaping Shawshank prison to Mexico is used by King to show the reader how hope can be a positive quality to have, such as Andy who uses hope as motivation to not become institutionalized. Andy is persistent writing letters to the state, asking for more money for building a better library. This shows that Andy is hopeful for additional funds for his library, which not only gets him on better ground with the
But before he escapes Andy’s been doing the wardens taxes and he has made the warden rich with dirty money that Andy made clean. One day Andy tells Red about his dream of getting out of prison and moving to Mexico and living by the ocean and fixing up a boat. This shows the subject of happiness because that's Andy’s dream believing in it makes Andy happy. This connects to the theme through happiness Andy found happiness with friends and his dream, later when he escapes, he becomes rich and accomplishes his dream and achieves true happiness when Red gets out he moves in with
In 1994, Frank Darabont’s film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ received a poor reception when released; it only made a $0.3m profit. More recently the film has become known as one of the greatest movies of all time, it has inspired hope in many people, helping them to lose weight, leave abusive marriages and such like. The film is based mainly upon two convicts, and the idea of hope. Andy Dufresne is a ‘Hot Shot Banker’ imprisoned with two life sentences, for the suspected murder of his wife and her lover and ‘Red’ (Morgan Freeman) whom Andy redeems hope in, along with the other convicts, saving them from institutionalisation.
Freedom is such a vital theme in both the book and film because it reflects how desperately Andy was willing to sacrifice the bit of freedom he had left. It also reflects on Andy’s time spent at Shawshank and how he managed to overcome the feeling of imprisonment. Andy wants freedom more than Red. Andy escaping showed watchers his crave and sacrifice for freedom.
At first, he has a difficult time making friends thanks to his reputation of being “a snob and a coldfish” (King 27). He is very different from the other prisoners, partly because he knows he is not guilty and thus wears this confidence on his sleeve. It is the memory of his former freedom which provokes this seemingly arrogant attitude that both helps and hinders him. Nevertheless, this behavior serves as the very thing that first attracts the narrator, Red, to Andy. Not a man to be easily impressed nor persuaded, it comes as quite a shock to the reader that these two polar opposites form a bond. Red is able to see past what the other inmates label as “snobbishness” and instead takes comfort in Andy’s nonchalant approach to life and the tone of confidence that consumes him. Red views Andy as a much needed breath of fresh air to his musty routine within the Shank. However, it seems that their budding friendship is initially a greater asset to Red than it is to Andy. Although it may help Andy begin to find his place, he is primarily concerned with his own well-being, which is sustained only by his memories and not by the companionship of a stranger. An addition to this list of survival tools is Andy’s ability to keep his mind on the outside rather than focusing on the finality of prison life. His capacity to do so separates him from his peers, in that he becomes one of the few “long timers” able to avoid the characteristic walk, that in a
Directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption tells the Story of Andy Dufrane, a man who has been wrongly convicted of murder and must endure life inside the harsh and corrupt Shawshank prison, but despite this he never loses hope of finding freedom. Hope is an important inspiring idea in this film, as it is what sustains him during the long and difficult years within the prison, and it is the result of this enduring hope that Andy finally finds freedom. There are many visual and oral techniques used throughout the film to portray the idea of hope. This includes the hope that Andy holds, and
The Shawshank Redemption movie is about a man named Andy Dufresne who was falsely accused of murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover. Being in jail, Andy faced many problems of being abused, but he also gained a strong friendship with a man named Red. Many of the things that the prisoners had to face showed a sociological perspective on how life was in jail and how it affected the prisoners. In Shawshank prison, the functionalism theory, the conflict perspective, and the control theory shows the life and adjustments a prisoner has to make in order to survive going into a new world.
It also demonstrates the same security King creates for Red in his hotel room in the novella, whilst also demonstrating a sense of freedom and solitude of being out in the open. It effectively mirrors Andy’s isolation which Red describes in previous scenes, and how this has naturally influenced his character. This connection is something which has a greater impact being demonstrated rather than narrated, despite it changing the narrative structure.
Holding onto one’s humanity is a skill that takes constant practice and the conscious decision to do so. The protagonist of the film, Andy, is very different from the rest on his inmates at Shawshank in that he manages to hold onto his humanity throughout his time in prison despite many trying situations. This trait is first expressed when Andy asks if anyone knows the name of man who was beaten to death by the guards on his first night in prison. By simply having some human emotion Andy has proven that he is not willing to let prison change who he is as a human being. Again, Andy leaps out of his comfort zone during his confrontation with the guard on the roof. Perched on the edge of the roof, Andy spreads his wings and risks the fall in order to grant his inmates a taste of the outside world through the simple luxury of a few beers for his friends to enjoy. The great beauty of a man who not only has the courage to hold onto his own humanity but also has the boldness to help others do the same is what makes Andy such a captivating protagonist. His courage and determination are the only thing keeping him human and moreso, keeping him sane.
'Shawshank Redemption' directed by Frank Darabont is a compelling film about the life of one of its prisoners, Andy. many film techniques were used through out the film as a clever way of conveying main themes. This essay is going to examine how Darabont used camera angles and colour effectively in this film to portray the idea of power.
Forty years is a long time, long enough to deprive a person of any connection to the real world. I mean those cars, machines, children crying… I just couldn’t get used to them. Sometime I feel I’m standing in the eye of hurricane, the noises whipping around me like a gale. It’s a terrible thing to live in fear. All I’m doing is just lying here, smoking, unable to sleep. I look up and see old Brooks’s world from the beam, he gave up. That makes me more scared. He couldn’t cope with the real world, so he decided to release himself totally. Well, I guess I have become institutionalized like Brooks as, I can’t feel
Moreover another production aspect used to show us this idea is music. Music is used to create mood and help us understand what a character is going through. We hear violin and string instruments as Andy arrives to Shawshank Prison. Violin and string instruments are used in movies a lot to make the viewer feel sad about something happening or about to happen. We first hear Orchestral Music when we are shown Shawshank Prison we hear it playing in the background low volume and slow tempo and this increases in volume and tempo to create a sad mood for Andy’s arrival and emphasise that the prison is a dark and depressing place to end up. It suggests to the viewer that the prison is a sad place to end up in and that it is a corrupted place too. It makes us worried for Andy who seems like a good guy.
You can be imprisoned physically, but mentally you’re free. Andy was in prison and his freedom was taken away from him, but he didn’t let that imprison his mind and thoughts. It’s like when Andy was walking in the yard as if he was walking in a party, as Norton told him. Andy was always “wearing” his freedom. He never built up a jail mindset and his eyes never got that dull look in them. A symbol is something which has a meaning beyond itself. In The Shawshank Redemption, Stephen King brought up freedom in several different ways. Freedom is symbolized in the book pin-ups, rock sculptures, and Jake.
A man by the name of Andy Dufresne was convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in Shawshank prison. He was an obvious black sheep among the prisoners, but as time went on he grew relationships with the crooks and realized the injustice in the justice system. In the creation of friendship between Red and Andy, hope was spread throughout the prison. While many themes are present in the film The Shawshank Redemption, hope, friendship, and injustice are also relevant in the world today.
“The Shawshank redemption” is a film in which Andy Dufresne is wrongfully given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover and is sent to the Shawshank prison where Andy is subjected to a variety of different beatings by the guards and other inmates, even being raped by other inmates. After getting involved with doing the guards taxes the crooked warden forces him to hide his many untaxed revenues. After Andy escapes he leaves the jail in scandal by giving evidence to the press surrounding the warden’s dodgy dealings. This paper will be analysing how the director, Frank Darabont uses stylistic features to present the idea of hope in the film. The primary features used in this film was symbolism but there is the use of lighting