Andy Dufresne In The Shawshank Redemption

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The film, The Shawshank Redemption, was directed by Frank Darabont. It explores the themes of hope, freedom, injustice and suffering through the Christian allegory of the protagonist, Andy Dufresne, who was wrongfully arraigned and incarcerated. In the film The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne may be perceived as someone who, through the progression of the film, is a Christlike figure. This is demonstrated as Andy commits Christlike acts; early in the film, in the middle of the film, and towards the end of the film. Early on in the film, Andy is incarcerated then mistreated and betrayed by the prisoners, however, the way in which this unfolds can be compared to the events that happened to Jesus. Andy gets accused of being responsible for …show more content…

In His life, Jesus was always entirely selfless by continually risking life in a multitude of occasions to help those who needed it - Andy demonstrates this clear characteristic of Jesus by being entirely selfless when he risked his life in order to supply his fellow inmates with “three bottles of beer each,” allowing them to feel ‘human’ again. Andy attempts to establish a library for his prisoners at one point - where he is majorly successful, again, in comparison with what Jesus did to help his people, but when he receives books, he also gets a record and is ordered that the books must be “out of [his (the warden’s)] sight when he comes back”. Andy plays this over the PA system so that all the prisoners can hear it, ‘freeing’ them from their ‘sin’ by taking them away from reality for a period of time, he does this knowing that Warden Norton, a ‘modern day pharisee’, will get angry and punishment. Again, in comparison, Jesus also suffered to get the end result of salvation - to free his people from sin. Jesus was someone who suffered greatly in order to help his people enter salvation and to allow them to live like normal humans, that is, when he heals lepers, allowing them to rejoin society. Andy was also punished and he also suffered in order for his fellow inmates to ‘enter salvation’ for just a moment and to feel human

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