Text Review: The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most impressive and beloved films of all time. It tells a story of a banker Andy Dufresne who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and other prisoners’ life at the Shawshank State Penitentiary. In fact, Andy is innocent. With his accounting skills, Andy begins helping Warden Norton and the guards with their taxes and other financial issues. As a stone collector, he asks Ellie Redding (Red) to get him a rock hammer to collect rocks. This tool is the one that helps Andy get out of prison at the end, but it’s not the only one.

The process of life is a process of getting rid of institutionalization. Brooks finally gained freedom after being imprisoned for most of his life. However, he was at a loss in the free world. He always wanted to go back to the Shawshank prison that deprived him of his freedom but made him accustomed to it. In the end, he finally hanged himself. Prison is an institutionalized place where you hate it at first as it deprives you of your freedom; then you will slowly get used to it and become familiar with it; in the end, you will be inseparable from it. Unlike Brooks, Andy has great strength of will and a strong yearning for freedom, which makes him different from other people in the prison. He also inspires his friend Red and makes him gain freedom both mentally and physically.

In Shawshank, people have different races and socioeconomic classes especially Andy Dufresne. People other than Andy are mostly from the lower class, while Andy is in the upper class. Andy’s appearance greatly influences everyone. He sets up a library and provides tutor service for people who want to be educated. I would say that Andy is the “others” in Shawshank because he is the unique one. However, unlike “others” we talk about in class, Andy is not discriminated against because of his different identity and socioeconomic class. Instead, he has a great positive influence on his surroundings.

From my perspective, the author wants audiences to take away the ideas that how important hope and persistence is. Power is not only decided by society, but it is the one that you give to yourself. Everyone is powerful to change his/her life

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