Shawshank and the Fantastic Redemption for the Innocent Man

Yes, I may have altered the title, but it was out of respect for a movie which greatly captures the meaning of it's original story, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." The movie and novella by Stephen King go hand in hand.


POINT OF VIEW
Similarly, both the movie and short story depict Andy's story through the eyes of Red. However, the film allows a clearer picture on life at Shawshank, thus contributing to the comprehension of the overall struggle both in the prison and outside the prison. While Red narrated the story, the movie gave a more realistic overall view of life in prison: the food, the violence, the cursing, and the shady behavior. We were able to see situations where Red was not present, like Andy's court appearance and work with Warden Norton. Also, the movie portrays Brooks's struggles with having to leave prison and the structured life. We see Brooks at his grocery job trying to maintain a normal life, until the normalcy is in fact an anomaly which leads Brooks to death. A lot of focus centers around Brooks' life after prison for the effect of showing what prison does to a man.


PLOT
The plot of the movie was easier to follow, for it didn't jump around from date to date like Red's telling in the short story. The sequence of events were more consistent; therefore, the plot could better be analyzed. A few key differences occurred in the movie: Tommy Williams, while posing as Andy's ticket out of prison, was killed by Norton in the movie. This violent scene added hatred to Norton for his shady behavior; it was also a very Hollywood twist on the story that Williams was killed not transferred to another prison. Norton also shoots himself, portraying the poetic defeat of the villain. Upon Red's parole, Andy leaves the same letter under the volcanic rock, but in the movie there's a subtle change. In the box are Andy's carvings of chess pieces. To me the chess pieces symbolized the playing of a game, where Andy strategically outplayed the warden, guards, and prisoners at Shawshank. At the end of the movie, Andy and Red find each other, taking away from the ambiguous ending of the novella where "hope" is greatly focused on.

Overall, the novella and movie had few major differences.

SETTING
Consistently, the stories take place at Shawshank prison. This is important to the overall comparison of the two because it keeps both accounts of events accurate. The setting affects the audiences view of prison and the men found in it. These men have to constantly look out for themselves and their friends. The prison setting contributes to this bond of brotherhood, uniting the lowest of society to the innocent of society. Crucial that the places traveled matched up, we follow Red through his adventure to find Andy's hidden box in Buxton. Also, the time era was accurately portrayed as was the advancement of society in both accounts of "Shawshank Redemption."



CHARACTERIZATION
In the film, Andy comes off as more witty and intelligent than in the story. A major reason for this is because we see his plan taking shape. He steals Norton's clothes, is shown crawling through 5 football fields of sewage, and winds up in a stream outside the prison. Here, the rain comes down hard to add emphasis and drama to Andy's clean escape. Andy brings with him the paperwork condoning Norton's financial crimes. A difference from the book that is in the movie is Andy is clever enough to set up his own false identity and manage his account from within Shawshank. Red and Andy are still foils, bad guy shows the good guy the ropes. However, in the film there is more of a brotherhood as Red tells the story and we see his interactions with Andy. I especially liked when Red leads the audience to believe that Andy is going to hang himself, creating suspense when Andy doesn't leave his cell that morning in 1969. This shows the care Red felt for Andy.



THEME
From the movie, I took religious references to mean something. The bible held Andy's salvation tool. I first thought that Andy meant freedom lie within his cell when he said "salvation lies within;" however, I realized by the end of the story that salvation literally lie within the texts of his Bible where the rock hammer was kept. What a clever, ironic pun! This episode depicts how easily men in charge are fooled as they are masked by their own self-worth. Religion does not necessarily mean a person is good, as seen in Warden Norton. Unmistakably, both the movie and the story showed the power of freedom. Andy, the innocent man, seeks and works years for his unforeseen freedom. Brooks is granted parole, but can't handle the freedom in the real world. The movie and novella show the fast pace progression of society, and the yearning in each man's heart for freedom from feeling abused and powerless. Andy's innocence drove him forward; his imprisonment "made him a crook." Both accounts reflect on the innocent mind. Furthermore, by encapsulating all different dates and memories, the stories tell to take one day at a time working patiently and fervently to obtain what is rightly ones' own.