For Socioligical Prespective for SHawshank Redemption - Movie Review Example

During his stay in the prison, he would ask Red Redding to get him a rock hammer and later various posters of glamorous women – from Rita Hayworth to Raquel Welch. As a skilled accountant, he assisted one of the guards in resolving some tax issues. He would eventually go on to assist various guards and inmates in their tax and other investment issues. The jail warden Samuel Norton soon after procured his services in embezzling and corrupting prison funds. At close to 20 years in the prison, an inmate by the name of Tommy Williams would narrate how a previous jail term had him imprisoned with another inmate who confessed how he murdered a woman and her lover and how the husband was sent to jail for the crime.

Andy narrated this confession to the warden who would later throw Andy into solitary confinement. Not wanting to have Andy’s case be reopened and fearing that Andy would expose the warden’s corrupt activities, he had Tommy shot by a prison guard while apparently trying to escape. After Andy was released from solitary confinement, he displayed a very glum demeanor which worried his friend Redding. Andy tells Red to do him a favor, that if he would ever be released, to retrieve a package for him at a hayfield in Buxton.

He also expressed that he dreamed of living in a Mexican village called Zihuatanejo. The following day, Andy was nowhere to be found. Further search of his cell revealed a passageway which led up to the sewers and out of the prison. It appears that during Andy’s stay in the prison, he was gradually scraping out his concrete wall with his rock hammer and covering up the wall with the posters of the glamorous Hollywood women. By the time the guards pieced together what Andy did, Andy had already escaped and had closed out the bogus bank accounts which the jail warden used to hide his embezzlements.

He also sent a letter, along with evidence of corruption in Shawshank to the media. In the wake of the Andy’s escape, the warden would later commit suicide and the abusive and murderous prison guard would be arrested by the authorities. Redding would later be released, would later find the package which contained money and a letter from Andy telling him where he might be found. Redding would soon pack up his things and follow his friend to Zihuatanejo. Analysis The plot of the movie supports the conflict sociological perspective.

This conflict theory is supported in the story by the constant struggles between the different groups and characters in the movie. There are various groups which represented themes or elements present in society – the poor, the powerless, the guilty, the innocent, and the rich. The correctional institution represents a society by itself and this society is made up of diverse groups with conflicting interests. In this movie we see the representations of these diverse groups – very much present in the larger society as well.

The rich and powerful are represented by the jail warden. He is powerful because of his position as jail warden; he is also powerful because he uses his influence and position to impose his power over the prison guards, the prisoners, and Andy Dufresne himself. He even uses his position to impose lesser wages for the inmates with the work contractors, making it possible for him to embezzle more funds. He used his power to control Andy and to manipulate one of the prison guards into