Humanity In The Shawshank Redemption

"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God. "Certainly," said man. "Then I leave you to think of one for all this," said God, and he went away" (265).

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 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.

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

As humans, it’s in our nature to look for the meaning in our lives. Our minds are very complex and allow us the gift but also the despair of contemplating our existence and purpose in this world. Nowadays, it’s common for us to go on journeys to find the purpose of one’s life and to discover themselves and find direction for their future. In the article “Authentic purpose: the spiritual infrastructure of life” by Corey L.M. Keyes, Keyes explores the reason on why finding a purpose has become so key to one’s health and the different ways that we find purpose in our lives.

Imagine not having any purpose, or at least so far as you can see. This would be quite depressing, since everyone wants a purpose and a reason to go through trials. This theory is illustrated in the book, “The Alloy of Law”, by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson uses third person point of view and diction to reveal how self-discovery brings happiness.

There is a great injustice in putting a man in prison to rot; not giving him a purpose or letting him use his skills. So easily, he will lose his courage and ability to hold onto his integrity and humanity. So quickly, he will lose himself. Holding onto one’s humanity is a skill that takes constant practice and the conscious decision to do so. It takes great courage to cling to one’s humanity when he is faced with trying and troublesome situations. At points, one’s integrity might be compromised but if he has grit he can hold onto his humanity all the same. Director Frank Darabont uses the film, the Shawshank Redemption, to prove that the ability to hold onto one’s humanity is a practice that is nurtured and developed through acts of valor.

The purpose of man is to praise and worship God, proclaim his glory, and to accomplish his will."… And whom I have created for My glory, …” (Isaiah 43:7 New International Version). God created all things in harmony. He established a perfect creation that he loves and over which he rules. The highest honor is given to mankind as the only part of creation made in God’s image. Humanity was created to love as God loves, to worship and praise his glory and commune with him as he does with us.

Society tends to live day to day without much question of their own existence. Humans are born into the world and without second thought begin to live their lives, but there comes a time when individuals begin to question the reason for their being. In Richard Taylor’s, “The Meaning of Life”, Taylor explores the thought that our existence, when viewed externally without our prejudices, is fundamentally pointless. A thorough analysis of Taylor’s ideas will be given to understand the reasoning behind his thoughts, his argument will then be defended from counter arguments that state that the meaning behind any entity’s life could have any alternative meaning.

Freedom is a right that many individuals strive to maintain even in the worst of circumstances.When an individual is in a new circumstance, he will try to adapt to the new world around him. However, an individual may cling to a part of his old life and instead influence the change of perspective of the people around him. In Shawshank Redemption, Andy becomes condemned to spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. During his time as a prisoner, Andy uses his personality to challenge the people around him and show them that there is more to life than prison. Through the character of Andy, Stephen King suggests an individual's personality can influence people and create a new form of freedom in an otherwise constrained environment.

Why are we here? What is our purpose? If man is looking for a purpose, then is he saying

I believe we exist for one purpose. That purpose is to worship and reflect our Heavenly Father. He has given His instructions to us in the Bible. The Bible tells of how we are to administer the church, how we are to worship in the church and who is to have roles in the church.

Shawshank Redemption; a movie comprised of many concepts from our current correctional system. The main character, Andy Dufresne was sentenced to prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. He was to serve a consecutive sentence of two life terms. Dufresne is an educated man and was employed as a banker. His fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd Redding, nicknamed as Red, was serving three life sentences for murder. The ole wise man helped Dufresne endure his days behind bars and a friendship developed. Red was known as the go to man for items within the prison. Andy fascinated by rocks asked Red for a rock hammer. Later to find out, Andy had used the very same hammer to dig a hole in the wall and escape. Andy Dufresne was forced to be at Shawshank State Penitentiary for 19 years as an innocent man. Dufresne endured assault, harassment and blackmail in the period of his stay. The advantages to his stay were the friendships he built and helping fellow inmates get their General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Red was finally paroled after serving 40 years of his sentence. Red had a hard time adapting to society after being institutionalized, as he called it, for such a long time. In the end, both Dufresne and Red were reunited in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Shawshank Redemption explored many areas of the correctional system such as, punishment, prison rape, corruption, institutionalization, rehabilitation, reintegration and parole.

Throughout human existence, people have often contemplated about the meaning of life. Why do we exist? What purpose do we serve as human beings? Who created us? Is there a mission that humans are supposed to complete while alive? Richard Taylor sought out to answer these questions through his paper The Meaning of Life. He particularly uses the myth on Sisyphus and his life throughout the paper to help prove his point.

Furthermore, everything that occurs in life is a random process and it is not permanent. Hence, it rejects the idea of finding that one purpose that someone is meant to do. Life will throw many events and circumstances that may be beneficial and some that will make a person learn or grow from. Every human being has their own task to do on this planet. Therefore, individuals cannot have one common purpose in life. The most significant thought is to seek for it in oneself, rather than merely agreeing with someone else’s notion of it.