In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, the main characters Andy and Red overcome the hardships of prison and move on to a new life through their desire for freedom. Andy’s hope improves his situation in prison through education, while Red overcomes his suicidal thoughts through a promise to Andy. Hope also resonates with audiences by delivering a positive and hopeful message.
In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, “hope” is an important theme in that it drives the main characters to improve their circumstances and overcome difficulties. First, the main character, Andy Dufresne, is able to break free from Shawshank Prison because of his desire to be free. Although Andy was sentenced to two life terms for the murder of his wife and her secret lover, he never lost his desire for freedom, which helped him overcome many of the hardships he faced in Shawshank.
In the early days, Andy was friendless and lonely in prison. He mostly kept to himself, which made him an easy target for the prison bully, Boggs, and his gang. They physically and sexually abused him, and the warden, Norton, a former banker, used him as a tool to make his fortune. He pushed him to increase his wealth through illegal means, causing him mental anguish.
Despite all of this, Andy refused to give up on his desire for freedom, and asked Red to bring him a “rock hammer” (a stone breaker). This was the tool he used to escape from prison, and his desire for freedom motivated him to keep digging holes for his escape. If Andy had lost hope of freedom and despaired of his life sentence, he would have died in prison. But his desire to live happily in Zihuatanejo and fulfill his dreams helped him overcome his difficulties.
Andy’s hope helped him through the hard times he spent in solitary confinement. After the library at Shawshank was expanded, Andy found a donated gramophone for the library and connected it to speakers in the prison so that all inmates could listen to music. For a brief moment, the prisoners felt a sense of freedom, which angered the warden, who sent Andy to solitary confinement for two weeks. After his release from solitary confinement, when his friends asked him, “How did you survive there?” he replied, “I had hope in my heart, and that was something the guards couldn’t take away, so I was able to endure.”
Andy also had a desire to improve the education level of prisoners in the prison. He saw the library as a place to fulfill that dream, so he wrote weekly letters to the state senate asking for library expansion. Eventually, he wrote two letters per week, making the prison library the best it could be. Andy’s desire to educate prisoners led him to work hard to create the right environment for education. As a result, Tommy, a prisoner who initially struggled to read a word, passed his exams and received his high school diploma, and many other prisoners were able to gain wisdom and knowledge from the books in the library. Andy’s desire for education improved conditions at Shawshank, and 12 prisoners were able to earn high school diplomas.
Red, the film’s narrator, was also able to find hope for life outside of prison and overcome suicidal thoughts because of his desire to fulfill his promise to Andy. Red was paroled after 40 years in prison, but he was so accustomed to prison life that he feared the world outside. Another paroled inmate, Brooks, was so acclimatized to prison that he was unable to adjust to society and chose suicide. Red felt the same fear and thought about killing himself or returning to prison to reoffend. However, Red delayed suicide because he wanted to fulfill his promise to find what Andy had left for him under the big oak tree in the Buxton pasture. Andy’s gift to him was “Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best thing you can have, and good things never die.” The letter he left behind was a letter with the message, ”Hope is a good thing. The letter reminded Red that he could have hope outside of prison.
Red adjusted to life outside of prison by dreaming of crossing the border to see his friend Andy and spending the rest of his life with him in Zihuatanejo, watching the Pacific Ocean.
Hope was an important element not only for the characters in the movie, but also for audiences outside of it. When the movie was first released, the ending ended with Red leaving to meet Andy. In response to this open ending, audiences wanted to know for sure whether Red had met Andy or not, and they wanted closure. The director gave in to audience demand and added a scene where the two meet in Zihuatanejo. This allowed the audience to feel the catharsis of the movie and receive a positive message that their wishes can be fulfilled.
Just as hope was an important element in the movie for both the characters and the audience, it is also important to me. The wishes I had in the past have shaped who I am today. Last year, I had a desire to become a writer, and that desire drove me to do my best every day. Whenever I struggled with my writing, I would remind myself of my desire by saying, “I want to be a writer!” Thanks to this fervent desire, I am a blogger today. Just as the hopes I had in the past made me who I am today, the hopes I have today will make me who I will be in the future. Today, I want my blog to be read by the 7 billion people in the world.
