Shawshank Redemption Book and Movie: A Comparison - Essay Example

Shawshank Redemption book and movie: A comparison Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is the of a book by Stephen King. The story tells of the psychological torture of living in a prison or in a confined space. In the book, the narrator, Red, tells the story of how he planned and executed the murder of his wife. He disabled the brakes on her car, which ended up killing her as well as a neighbor and a child. In telling the story, Red recalls the arrival of another inmate called Andy Dufresne who is in prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy however insists on his innocence despite the evidence against him that places him at the murder scene. Red even comes to believe in Andy’s innocence. In the initial days of his prison life, Andy has difficulties adjusting. Most of the prisoners think of him as a snob. As a result, he undergoes many tribulations including rape from a prison gang that refers to themselves as the sisters. Red is the prison smuggler from whom you can get anything you need from the outside. After a while in prison, Andy begins to work for the guards, filling their tax returns (King 56). This makes him a hero in the prison community. He also helps to set up a prison library. In the process of working for them, he begins to launder money for them, reducing his chances of getting out of prison. Andy admits to Red that he had friend set up a false identity through which he now has a lot of money. He dreams of an escape from prison and he dreams of Red going with him to Mexico. One day he manages to escape and his escape signifies hope for the other prisoners. Eventually, Red gets out of jail and finds the rock that Andy had described to him, underneath which the keys to the bank’s safety deposit box were to be. He instead find a letter inviting him to join Andy in Mexico and a $100 0 gift. Red feels a sense of renewed hope as he plans to join Andy in Mexico. The movie ‘Shawshank Redemption’ is based on Stephen King’s book. It was adapted screen directed by Frank Darabont. Just like the book, the movie takes one through the journey of despair that inmates can go through, and the importance of having hope and a strong spirit. Unlike the book however, the movies uses film language to bring forth its theme of despair and hope. Film language includes lighting effects, music, and different camera angles (The Shawshank Redemption, Dir Frank Darabont). In the movie, most scenes do not have background music to represent the lack of life that is characteristic of life in prison. There is only one scene that has music when Andy has locked himself in the warden’s office. This is to show that Andy is different from other prisoners, and unlike them, he has not let his spirit be broken. In the translations from book to film, the work of literature is not usually reproduced in its original form. When the story line usually remains unchanged, there may be some changes and some additional characters. There are also a lot of similarities between the book and the movie version. In both the movie and the book, the thesis remains the same, that good can overcome evil, and it is possible to remain hopeful even in dire situations. The biggest similarity between the book and the movie is the setting. Both are set in a prison in which the prisoners are exposed to hopelessness and their spirit is broken. The themes are also not changed in the movie adaptation of the story. The basic plot is also similar in both the book and the film, and the main characters remain unchanged. The story in both cases is told from Red’s perspective. The turning point in Andy is clear in the film when he broadcasts Mozart over the PA. This shows that he has discovered something within himself that cannot be broken by prison, and this is hope. He is therefore breaking out of the mental prison where he will not accept rules. This represents a transition for Andy. There are some scenes that are added to the movie that are not found in the book. One such scene is where Tommy is murdered by a guard so as to silence him. He is shot by the guard from the watchtower. This is done so that Andy does not find a way to redeem himself. The film also adds some excessive violence that cannot be found in the book. This makes the rough conditions in prison even more evident. In the book, Tommy was transferred to a different prison to keep him quiet (King 39). The movie also adds the process of the arrival of the new prisoners. In the movie, those who have been in prison for a longer time bet on the new prisoners, on who would be the first to cry among them. This is not found in the book, which only has a passing mention of ‘cry baby’ prisoners (King 189). Other scenes added in the movie include the part where Andy keeps a second set of books for the warden, which are kept hidden in a safe in the wall. There are also some changes that can be seen to the storyline in the movie. An example is where the warden Norton in the movie commits suicide in his office after Andy hands over paperwork detailing his criminal activities to the press. Andy also channels some of the money to his own account which is under an assumed name. In the book however, Warden Norton resigns from his job and does not commit suicide. The money that Andy plans to use in Mexico is also his own in the book version. The accounts of the discovery of the escape route also vary in the book and in the movie. In the book, Warden Norton tears down the poster that covers the escape route and discovers the whole while in the movie he throws rocks at it, and one rock goes through the poster thus the discovery of the hole. It is also important to note that in the movie, Red’s crime was not disclosed unlike in the book where he is said to have committed murder. Changes in characters include the number of wardens where the book has one Warden who is Norton, the movie has three. The ending is also different in the movie and in the book. In the movie, the story ends as Red walks down a beach in Mexico towards a boat in which Andy is working. The book ends when Red finds a note and money from Andy and is preparing to go to Mexico to meet Andy. Despite the differences, the book and the movie manage to tell the same story in which hope triumphs and it is possible for one to be imprisoned without his spirit being broken. Works cited Stephen King Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Viking Press, 1982. Print The Shawshank Redemption, Dir Frank Darabont, Castle Rock Entertainment, 1994. Film. Read More