Distinguishing Between Right And Evil In Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption

The movie the Shawshank Redemption, based on the book by Steven King, I believe is one of the best movies ever made. The portrayal of prison life in the movie is the best I have seen and a star-studded cast including Morgan Freeman supports the characters and brings to life the everyday struggles of life behind bars. In this paper I will relate topics from class to the movie and discuss information we have learned through out the semester.

Hope in The Shawshank Redemption helps to keep Andy alive and allows Andy to anticipate the next sunrise with happiness rather than sorrow. Hope is created by Andy and his knowledge of his awful situation. Hope allows Andy to think of a time where everything will be better, even if it seems that Andy is stuck in a never-ending hell. The opening of The Shawshank Redemption introduces the audience to the main character, Andy Dufresne. He has just been accused and convicted of the death of his ex-wife, and her lover. This opening seeks to arouse curiosity by bringing the audience into a series of actions that have already started thus creating slight confusion for the audience (Bordwell and Thompson 85).

The Shawshank Redemption is a high quality film with many themes, that are going to be explored. There are themes in any form of entertainment. But, the Shawshank Redemption is much different, in that is so packed full of them, that there is no good place to start looking for them. For that matter, there also is no right answer in which themes are the most important. Therefore, the Shawshank Redemption’s most important themes are freedom and confinement, transformation, and hope.

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

In the novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King, banker Andy Dufresne is wrongfully convicted of murder and sent to Shawshank Prison. Andy’s shrewd nature and sense of self-worth become valuable tools that allow him to thrive in prison under the harsh authority of the warden, Samuel Norton. King uses Norton to demonstrate that corruption is present throughout society and that the perception of good and evil can be altered depending on who presents a story.

Adversity is an inevitable component of human’s lives. Without it, individuals would glide through their existences without any mishappenings along the way and life would be nearly perfect. While this situation seems ideal, it is unrealistic and actually detrimental to personal development. The obstacles people face play a key role in shaping who they become. Without difficulties, individuals will not be exposed to real, purposeful problem solving skills. They will not receive the opportunity to face adversity head on and potentially come out victorious, all while learning a lesson and improving themselves along the way. If people become apathetic to their troubles, they are actually admitting a defeat. They will not get the chance to experience the satisfaction that is a result of besting misfortunes. In order to do this, individuals must use the pressure that these troubling times cause to their advantage by holding onto hope and the value of life. In The Shawshank Redemption, the text creator develops the idea that anyone can overcome the most terrible of situations if they remain patient, optimistic and logical. When Andy Dufresne is imprisoned as a result of false accusations, he uses his fortitude to inspire hope within other prisoners and eventually escape the harsh confinement. On the other hand, Red is transformed from a spiteful convict to an optimistic man upon meeting Andy. When individuals are placed under immense pressure over a long period of time, then they

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.

In the novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the reader follows the life of Andy Dufresne, who was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and a golf pro. Author Stephen King, who is known for his simpler, conversation esque writing, describes Andy’s experiences and attempt to escape from Shawshank Prison where he is being held. Red, Andy’s most valuable friend while in prison, is also in prison for killing his wife, but in contrast to Andy, he actually did it. Andy is constantly denied his freedom for parole or when evidence arises proving his innocence because of his role running the illegal money laundering scheme for Warden Norton. Throughout the novella, both characters display moments of similar, but also at times vastly different, levels of hope. King uses the way characters, such as Red and Andy, view hope as either a means of escape or simply futile in the novella to show how the circumstances surrounding a tragedy or difficult situation change a character’s mindset on hope and in turn dictates the actions they use to cope.

Growing up happens during the magical times of freedom given to children in their early years. Wise parents discern when freedom is necessary for their children, are very clear about their expectations, and determine fitting consequences for actions out of line. Harper Lee personifies this role of a wise and caring parent in the father figure of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, a character made to mirror the author’s own father, is a lawyer and a well-respected citizen of his Southern Alabama town. Through Atticus, Harper Lee establishes a standard of good and evil, developing the theme of morality during his interactions. Atticus establishes right from wrong in most every relationship, especially with his children, his

The movie, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), is based on a character Andy Dufresne. Andy is a young and successful banker who is sent to Shawshank Prison for murdering his wife and her secret lover. His life is changed drastically upon being convicted and being sent to prison. He is sent to prison to serve a life term. Over the 20-years in prison, Andy retains optimism and eventually earns the respect of his fellow inmates. He becomes friends with Red, and they both comfort and empathize with each other while in prison. The story has a strong message of hope, spirit, determination, courage, and desire.

As briefly learned in lecture, corruption can transpire in any agency, including prisons. A lot of corruption took place within the walls of Shawshank State Penitentiary. The warden is making money by forcing the inmates to do labor work, while displaying the image of rehabilitating the prisoners. Andy is money laundering for the warden, as a means to protect himself. The warden goes to great lengths to keep Dufresne in the prison, such as the killing of Tommy. As a warden, he is supposed to differentiate right from

In the film, the story of fallen banker Andy Dufresne (portrayed by Tim Robins) is told. After being wrongfully convicted of the

Andy Dufresne arrives at Shawshank Prison in 1947. He has been given a life sentence for murdering his wife and her lover in cold blood. After having lived a straight and narrow life as a successful banker before imprisonment, Andy maintains his innocence throughout the movie. Red describes Andy as having a quite way about him. “He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world.” When Andy first approaches Red, it’s to acquire a rock hammer that he can use to carve the stones in the yard to make chess pieces. Andy understands that in Shawshank, Red is the man that can get you things. Red agrees and over the next few years they become close friends.

Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont and published in 1994 centres around a man by the name of Andy Dufresne who is sentenced to two consecutive life sentence for the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy serves his time in Shawshank Prison where he struggles to persevere and maintain hope even under appalling conditions. Hope and perseverance are some of the most important themes in the film and are central to the storyline. These themes are portrayed through the use of a variety of film techniques such as the lighting, the music and the colour scheme.

Prior to us watching “Shawshank Redemption” as a class, I have seen the movie before and never really thought about the legal aspects of it prior to this class, but now it has opened my eyes and my perspective to what goes on ethically and most importantly legally. In the movie, “Shawshank Redemption”, Tim Robbins who played Andy Dufresne was accused of a murder in which he did not commit. Andy, is an accountant who was convicted of murdering his own wife. The court found the defendant guilty and was sentenced to two-life sentences in Shawshank prison. Andy Dufresne was just an innocent banker that was just sentenced to basically life in prison. Andy a well-educated man and probably has never had any other altercations with the law besides unpaid parking tickets or violations. While entering to Shawshank, Andy did not really get intimidated like the other new inmates did when they got off the bus, Andy was calm, cool, and collected when entering the prison. Andy mostly kept everything to himself until he encounter “Red”. Andy would eventually make friends inside the prison walls, and his main friend was Ellis Boyd Redding where he was better known as “Red”. During his time in prison he kept to himself and was very calm about everything, to a point where he was introduced to his new hobby of shaping stones/rocks into chess pieces. Andy would do this activity just to