The Shawshank Redemption - Movie Review Example

Download file to see previous pages... Despite Andy’s declaration of innocence he is retained in the prison guided by circumstantial evidence. The movie uses the character of Andy Dufrense to reflect the resilience of human spirit and how one can retain his humanity against all odds under penitence. Andy Dufresne in his late 40s has no reason to be apprehensive about life unless things changes a little too fast for him. The corpses of his wife and her previous lover are found strewn with bullets after Andy comes to know of his wife’s illicit relationship. The circumstance goes against him when he visits his house with whisky and bullets. Though he admits to these incidents, he declares his innocence but all he receives form the court of justice is to life sentences to serve and undergo the tough penitence of the jail at Shawshank which is known to be the most atrocious one in New England. When Eliss “Red” Redding befriends Andy, he foretells that the lanky and out of place Andy would not be able to sustain here for long. His prediction seems strong given that Andy is surrounded by hostile inmates and strong tough and aggressive head guard like Hadley and personalities like Warden Norton (enacted by Bob Grunton) who made their dominance clearly felt throughout. Later when Andy narrates his story to Red, he says, “Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. It's got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the tornado. I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has”. This is complemented by the harassment of the group of troublemakers and sexual assaulters named “The Sisters” under the leadership of Bogs. Despite being tormented Andy does not give in. This surrounding is ideal to prove the Prison to live up to its name and reputation of atrocity and violence and abrupt instances of abuse occur frequently. With brutality on one hand, corruption also prevails on the other. For instance, the Warden Norton uses Andy to assist him in his operation of laundering money under the fake name of Randall Stevens. This opportunity comes when by his luck his discovers Hadley is in a problem related to tax on an inheritance and renders his fruitful advice on the same. He is then asked to look after the library and also renders financial counseling to the other guards. Hadley also beats up the group of ‘Sisters’ who refrains from bothering Andy henceforth. Things were comfortable for Andy since his talents are being exploited by the Warden who uses the inmates for supplying labor force instead of skilled labor for which he receives incentives. Andy knows his corruption but has little way out. He takes a big risk by playing The Marriage of Figago for his inmates to hear despite knowing that he would be confined to solitary cell for this offense of rendering one pleasant moment. He carries on his good work by expanding the library after several attempts and with the help of the warden. He dedicates the library to Brookes the old librarian who commits suicide after being released on parole since he could not adjust to the outside world. The movie set over a wide space of two decades joins different strands of stories taking place in the prison. This shows how Andy retains ...Download file to see next pagesRead More