Shawshank Redemption, The Feel Good Do Good Phenomenon

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

     What is groupthink? There is a simple definition for it, but is it truly that simple? The term groupthink refers to the inclination of group members to have the same opinions and beliefs; it frequently leads to mistakes. It often occurs without an individual being aware of it. Conflict is considered to be a harmful element when related to groups, but conflict is good when considering groupthink because it helps to eliminate the existence of a groupthink. The explanation sounds simple enough, but it is more complex than the description given.

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.

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.

Prisoners like Brooks were trained to like routine for so long, that they became used to the way they were treated. Andy became subject to extortion when the administrator used him to do their tax returns ; “By April of 1951, Andy was doing the tax returns for half the screws at Shawshank , and by 1952, he was doing almost all of them” (51) This quotation shows that lack of empathy , and morals used by the administration at Shawshank. Shawshank as a prison was highly corrupt and the prisoners suffered from mental abuse by use of extortion and punishment.

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

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.

Shawshank redemption was a prison which was horribly ran by a strict, corrupt warden who beat the prisoners whenever he pleased. However, some prisoners held onto hope throughout their sentence while others just didn’t care. 3 Characters in the film who portrayed the most hope were Andy, Tommy, and Red. Andy had hope of breaking free while Tommy had hope of getting his high school diploma and Red

What is motivation? As manager’s, motivation is one of the most vital and crucial assets to possess in managing a business. This drive is a critical tool to use in the work place and determine the success or failure of an organization. Motivation is a driving force that initiates and directs behavior. In other words, motivation is an internal energy that drives an individual to do something in order to achieve a certain goal. Therefore, creating a motivating environment in the workplace will lead to happy employees. Creating a work environment like this, managers can expect low staff turnovers, improved productivity, happy customers, and better financial performance. Therefore, the input of motivation use towards employees determines the output efficiency of the company. However, everyone involved in an organization is motivated differently. Everybody has their own individual needs in regards to motivation. Depending on how motivated a person is, determines the effort that individual puts into the work and therefore, how productive they are.

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 term groupthink in this report is defined as, the social psychological phenomenon that results in groups during pressure situations. This social psychology theory is broken down into eight signs. Illusion of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality, Stereotyped views of out-groups, Direct pressure on dissenters, Self-censorship, Illusion of unanimity, Self-appointed “mindguards”. According to research conducted by Irving Janis, there are three conditions to groupthink. The first, "high group cohesiveness" which is the direction for a group to be in unity while working towards a goal, or to satisfy the emotional needs of its members. Secondly, the structural faults such as insulation of the group, lack

Groupthink theory often occurs without the group’s realization. Irving Janis formed 8 different symptoms that indicate groupthink. The first of these symptoms is illusions of vulnerability. This occurs when members of the group are overly optimistic and believe that nothing negative will arise from their decision. Janis describes it as taking great risks and acquiring the attitude of “everything is going to be OK, because we are a special group”. Secondly we have belief in inherent morality. This symptom is characterized as the groups thought that they could do no wrong. They believe that they have high morality, that they are right in all situations and they ignore the ethical consequences that could arise because of their decisions. As the third

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.

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.

The movie “Shawshank Redemption” shows what goes on in a prison. The movie depicts the part of a prison that most people are not aware of. People think of a prison as a place a person is tortured physically as well mentally. However, all that being said true, friendship, hope, and loyalty exists in prison. The movie shows how the main characters Red and Andy build a friendship that lasts in life after prison and loyalty among the inmates. Besides the development of friendship, the movie clearly shows the everyday routine of a prisoner’s life. The movie focus on the main characters Andy, who used to be the vice president of Portland bank before entering prison convicted with a double murder of his cheating wife and a man she was with and