 | Baptism
 |
Andy Dufresne crawls through the sewer and emerges a free man. |
|
| Bible
| Andy Dufresne hides his rock hammer in his Bible.
"Freedom is found within." |
| The warden quotes from the Bible as a Pharisee - using the
words as a Law which binds people to his own benefit. |
|
| Covenant
| Andy and Red's covenant for Red to find the box under the
tree. "If you ever get out of here, do me a favor...promise me,
Red, you'll find that oak." |
|
| Decision
| Red's conscious decision "for life" at the place where
Brooks had killed himself. |
| When Red gets out of jail and he is on parole he
walks by the store and he sees a gun and a compass. two ways one way
is death (the gun) another way, the right direction (the compass)
Red said the only thing that kept me from going the way Brooks went
was Andy's promise that he kept. (Patrick W. Memphis TN) |
|
| Determination
| Andy uses a rock hammer to break out of prison. |
|
| Entry into Jerusalem/Palm Sunday
| The protagonist is accepted by the Warden when he
needs him but has a fall from grace in the Wardens eyes when he
challenges the status quo. (Chandler) |
|
| Exodus/Moses
| Andy as Moses figure -
murderer/prisoner who finds freedom and shows his friend the way to
the promised land. |
|
| Fate
| Andy Dufresne: "It floats
around. It's gotta land somewhere. I was in the path of the
tornado." (speaking of his fate of being falsely accused of his
wife's murder) |
|
| Freedom/Liberation
| Andy Dufresne standing in the rain after his escape. |
|
| Friendship
| The friendship
between Red and Andy. |
|
| Greed
| The publicly devout Warden is
laundering money with Andy Dufresne's help. When there is a chance
for Andy to be free, the warden has the inmate who has the
information killed. |
|
| Guilt/Regret
| Andy feeling guilty
for his wife's death even though he didn't pull the trigger. Red's
reply. |
| Red stands before parole board and
talks about his regrets. Start cue: bars slide open, doors open to
parole board. End cue: "I gotta live with that" (Luke Whiteside, Youth
Alpha Australia) |
|
| Healing
| In the Shawshank Redemption, the narrator (Morgan
Freeman's character) is healed from his despair by Tim
Robbins'character's hope in the face of suffering. This is also the
"redemption" of the title (I think), that one man is
redeemed by the suffering of an innocent man who takes on the
suffering of prison anyway, seeing life within and beyond it, and
living fully, and freely, even in his captivity, and can still seize
the opportunity for freedom. (Edie Bird, Fayetteville,
Arkansas) |
|
| Hope
| Red's hope for a
life after prison. " I hope I can make it across the border. I hope
to see my friend. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it is in my
dreams. I hope....." |
| Andy's motivating hope. |
|
| Institutional Evil
| Cruelty of guards
and of other prisoners as institutional evil within corrupt system. |
|
| Overcoming Obstacles
| Andy survives and pursues his goal of freedom despite the
obstacles. |
|
| Rebirth
| The scene when Andy was in solitary confinement for
telling the warrden that he could have a chance to have another
trial. The warrden goes to talk to Andy after a month had passed and
when the officer opens the door Andy shuns his eyes, (allegory of
the cave). The warrden tells Andy that Tommy Williams has died. Then
the warrden gets up tells the officer that he is to give him another
month in the confinement, and leaves. (Patrick W., Memphis TN) |
|
| Redemption
| In the Shawshank Redemption, the narrator (Morgan
Freeman's character) is healed from his despair by Tim
Robbins'character's hope in the face of suffering. This is also the
"redemption" of the title (I think), that one man is
redeemed by the suffering of an innocent man who takes on the
suffering of prison anyway, seeing life within and beyond it, and
living fully, and freely, even in his captivity, and can still seize
the opportunity for freedom. (Edie Bird, Fayetteville,
Arkansas) |
|
| Sin
| The publicly devout Warden is
laundering money with Andy Dufresne's help. When there is a chance
for Andy to be free, the warden has the inmate who has the
information killed. |
|
| Suffering of the Innocent
| Andy's conversation with Red after
Red discovers that Andy is in prison unjustly. |
|
| Wilderness
| Prison as the wilderness where people are tested,
and their True Identity becomes known. |
|
| Wrongly Accused
| Andy is imprisoned for a crime he
didn't commit. |
|
