Shawshank Redemption Analysis

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.

The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King is both a wonderful film and a brilliantly written short story. There are many themes represented in each form of The Shawshank Redemption. The one major theme that interests me in both the film and the story is freedom. Freedom serves a large purpose for both the story's writer and the filmmaker. Both use similar examples to signify freedom, not only in the jail, but also in a larger context about life. There are many events and examples in both the film and the short story that signifies the theme of freedom. The one main difference is when the film uses the director’s technique to portray a feel of freedom for the inmates. The overall three issues used in this essay are all linked to the

In prison there are different levels of confinement and this was shown to play a big part in the prisoners life at Shawshank. If you were caught in the act of doing something against the rules or in Andy’s case, standing up to the warden, you were sent to solitarily confinement for a period of time. In the movie Andy spent two months in solitary with only bread and water to survive. This to me is a hell of a way to get what you want out of the inmates but some have nothing to lose so even solitary does not break them.

There is a staggering amount of corruption in the prison system that is caused by pressure on the inmates as well as the employees in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. The aforementioned corruption contributes greatly to many of the main plot points in the story such as; the harassment of the prisoners, the smuggling of contraband items into Shawshank, and the prisoners making their own lives easier by using the corruption for their own purposes.

Based on the novel “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank” by Stephen King; Shawshank Redemption is about two prison inmates that form a friendship and their experience in the prison for 19 years. There was a heartwarming scene where Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding finally made it out of parole and is finally viewing life as a second chance of hope, with the help of his partner Andy Dufresne. In the speech, Red finally got out of jail and took a bus to Texas to cross over the border to Mexico. There are ethos, pathos and logos towards Red’s new view in hope and reconnects to what Andy has told him, “Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying.”

But systems of power may fail for other reasons as well. Those who are in charge may not be willing to exert their power. There may be some corruption among the custodians. Custodians are in close proximity to the prisoners so there may be some blackmail involved in not taking action when supposed to. “In the second place, the guard’s position as a strict enforcer of the rules is undermined by the fact that he finds it almost impossible to avoid the claims of reciprocity” (Sykes, 1958, 56). Third reason is the constant infringement of the guards’ dominance by prisoners. Some of the inadequacies of prison officials have been said to be linked to the fact more than fifty percent of the guards are temporary employees. There is also the low salary for the guards. The job is not seen as very glamorous or worthwhile as well (Sykes,

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.

Inmates at Shawshank were often beat within an inch of their lives by the administration at Shawshank in order to instill a sense of obedience and to keep enforcing routine. Head Guard Captain Hadley would on occasion hurt the prisoners so much they would die of injury’s they sustained from him. “Black man, white man, red man, yellow man, it doesn’t matter because we’ve got our own brand of equality. In Prison every con’s a nigger and you have to get used to the idea if you intend to survive men like Hadley and Greg Stammas who really would kill you just as soon as look at you. When you’re in stir you belong to the state and if you forget it woe is you. I’ve known men who have lost eyes, men who have lost toes, Men who have lost fingers, I knew a man who lost the tip of his penis and counted himself lucky” (44) this shows the lack of moral judgment

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.

However, the Shawshank Redemption is no jail-brake film, to me it is rather more a parable of the side effects when imprisoning a human being until institutionalized and unable to function when outside the “protection” of the prison walls. As Red quoted; “These walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time

This paper is about the book 'Behind a Convict's Eyes' by K.C. Cerceral. This book was written by a young man who enters prison on a life sentence and describes the world around him. Life in prison is a subculture of its own, this subculture has its own society, language and cast system. The book describes incidents that have happen in prison to inmates. With this paper I will attempt to explain the way of life in a prison from an inmate's view.

At the beginning of the Shawshank Redemption, Andy gets framed for the murder of his cheating wife. Which makes his life take a darker turn with him going to Shawshank prison. Shawshank prison is one of the worst prisons ever, the prison guards abuse the prisoners, and the warden orders them to do so and will do anything for money. The prison uses fear as a way to keep the prisoners in line. When you first show up to Shawshank they take you in, strip you down, and spray you with water. After that, they throw this powder on you then give you your clothes and walk you to your cell naked. The prisoners have a game to see who breaks down first, so they yell at the new prisoners until one breaks. Their goal is to break the person they bet on this shows fear because when a new prisoners break they cry and become very scared and the one who broke in the film was murdered by a guard.

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.

The area of the criminal justice system that is showcased in the Shawshank Redemption is the prison system. By following the story of the main character Andy, both the problems and realities of the system are highlighted. Throughout the film, the characters are portrayed in many ways. The most alarming ways that the prisoners in the film is as lower class citizens. By making this point, the writers are eluding to the fact that the system is corrupt because of the subculture that exist within it.

Survival is the key struggle in The Shawshank Redemption. This film takes place in the corrupt Shawshank State Penitentiary where mental and physical abuses inflicted upon prisoners are the hard realities of the system. For the prisoners of Shawshank, life is often bleak and violent. However, the will to survive is what keeps the characters motivated to retain their humanity and challenge the institutionalization of Shawshank. In particular, the film’s main protagonists, Andy Dufresne and Ellis “Red” Redding, exemplify the struggle for survival in the face of a corrupt, frightening, and oppressive prison system. In order to survive the harsh realities of the world, people adapt with personal traits like courage and resourcefulness in addition to forming community with other people.