Hope Springs Eternal: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
A wise man once said, “Memory is the library of the mind.” All of the events in one’s life, ranging from birth to the present, are stored in this complex catalog of experience. There they remain untouched and collecting dust until a time of need, much like the scores of books found in today’s libraries. No matter how obscure, their topics represent the various trials of life that build one’s character and forever serve as the most reliable source of the human psyche. The novella, “Hope Springs Eternal: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”, is part of a collection of stories that comprise Stephen King’s book Different Seasons which was first published in 1983. It is the story of Andy Dufresne, a successful banker incarcerated, despite his innocence, for the murder of his wife and her lover. Leaving behind not only his status, but every known aspect of his life up until this point, Andy is submerged in a culture he knows nothing about. However, he manages to adapt to these unfamiliar surroundings through the use of his former knowledge and keen intellect. King uses Andy’s character as a liaison to convey the concept of memory within the novella. He outlines the stages in Andy’s journey throughout his time in Shawshank Federal Prison by highlighting the many channels in which his wisdom aids him. Furthermore, King shows the reader how this passage develops Andy as a person through the different ways he utilizes this remembrance, both for his benefit and that of others. Andy’s heroic metamorphosis provides a template for the different perceptions of memory within the text; such as that of a self-fulfilling resource, liberating gift to othe...
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...ins the reader in experiencing the transformation of Andy as a character and the unavoidable sentiments that ingrain themselves into the human psyche. By delving into this unique harmony between the feelings of both author and reader, one can come to further comprehend the questions King is bringing to the table and his premeditated goal for this work. What does it mean to truly become a legend and why does Andy Dufresne so beautifully embody this definition? These are queries that we can only begin to answer and are an active ingredient of what makes Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption the literary marvel that it is.
Works Consulted
Cormier, Robert. I am the Cheese. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1991.
King, Stephen. “Hope Springs Eternal: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.” Different Seasons. New York: New American Library, 1983. (15-107).
The Shawshank Redemption is an inspiring story about Andy Dufreine and his efforts to maintain hope in horrible situations. The directors used many effective methods that displayed signs of hope in such a horrible place. Andy maintained hope by distracting his mind and always staying occupied. Andy was also inspired to survive by helping others find hope in life.
Through this short story we are taken through one of Vic Lang’s memories narrated by his wife struggling to figure out why a memory of Strawberry Alison is effecting their marriage and why she won’t give up on their relationship. Winton’s perspective of the theme memory is that even as you get older your past will follow you good, bad or ugly, you can’t always forget. E.g. “He didn’t just rattle these memories off.” (page 55) and ( I always assumed Vic’s infatuation with Strawberry Alison was all in the past, a mortifying memory.” (page 57). Memories are relevant to today’s society because it is our past, things or previous events that have happened to you in which we remembered them as good, bad, sad, angry etc. memories that you can’t forget. Winton has communicated this to his audience by sharing with us how a memory from your past if it is good or bad can still have an effect on you even as you get older. From the description of Vic’s memory being the major theme is that it just goes to show that that your past can haunt or follow you but it’s spur choice whether you chose to let it affect you in the
The book , The Help by Kathryn Stockett, is about a women named Aibileen who is a black maid. She is taking care of her 17th white baby now. She works for a woman named Miss Leefolt. Aibileen has never disobeyed an order in her life and never intends to do so. Her friend Minny is the exact opposite. When she is around her boss, she has to hold herself back from sassing them all the time. Skeeter Phelan is different than the rest of the white ladies. She thinks that blacks aren’t all that bad. She decides to write a book about the lives of maids for white ladies. Otherwise known as the Help. She with the help of Aibileen and Minny hope to create a book that starts a revolution about what white people think about blacks.
“Keep hope alive!” “Yes! We can.” All of these are slogans of inspiration that define the human spirit. Without hope life would be dull with nothing to work toward in a positive fashion. In the movie The Shawshank Redemption (1994), the director, Frank Darabot, uses time and space to slowly unfold author, Stephen King’s, short story entitled, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Time serves as a dual reference of torture as well as the locale for the slow, eventual achievement of Andy’s escape, his seemingly impossible goal for nearly twenty-eight years. Shawshank redefines the lapse of time for the inmates, especially for the “lifers” like Andy and Red, who can only look forward to death. The implementation of hours can seem like an eternity, and every day seems fuzzy from the next, adding to the seclusion and affliction of imprisonment. Ironically, however, time also verifies the means of Andy’s escape and redemption and gives him optimism throughout his quarter-century in Shawshank.
Toni Morrisons novel 'Beloved' demonstrates how the African American people, oppressed by marginalization and racism, endure the strain of slavery even after they are liberated from it. The establishment of slavery’s horrific dehumanizing, through the estrangement of families and destitution of fundamental human rights is distinctly existent in the novel. Opposite from this setting, Morrison moves us from one location to another; with movements in time through the memories of the central characters. These characters yearn to repress the painful memories of their pasts and are often driven out from a character’s mind or contained securely within; Paul D functions by locking his memories and emotions away in his imagined “tobacco tin”. The case
The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, is a story set in the early 1960 's about three women in Jacksonville, Mississippi, Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter. The story shows how these characters progress and face their inner demons as they struggle to make a statement in a world of hate and segregation and give voice to the black maids of Mississippi. Aibileen, a sweet kind hearted women, works for the Leefolt 's as a maid and has been for many years. She creates a strong mother like bond with their baby girl Mae Mobley whom she considers to be her "special baby" (Stockett. 6). Her inner demon is dealing with the death of her young son and although it is not the focus of her
...onal connection with each other that enables the feeling of empathy. Through each narrative the differences, as well as the similarities, establish the beginning of what is in today’s world and how people have changed. Each of the narratives were created for a purpose and as the themes, differences, and faith is established the purposes are expressed as the author allows each and every person reading to dive into their trials and afflictions. Through the captivation of the reading audience, there is the question of what is our own faith, hope, and view of self vs. other? Though captors and slaves or not prevalent in today’s day and age, there is still other items that can capture our thoughts and mind and lead us into a captivity that brings about trials and afflictions. Is faith and hope the answer to these afflictions? Does faith and hope make afflictions easier?
The book uses fictional documents, such as book excerpts, news reports, and hearing transcripts, to frame the story of Carietta "Carrie" White, a 17-year-old girl from Chamberlain, Maine. Carrie's mother, Margaret, a fanatical Christian fundamentalist, has a vindictive and unstable personality, and over the years has ruled Carrie with an iron rod and repeated threats of damnation, as well as occasional physical abuse. Carrie does not fare much better at her school where her frumpy looks, lack of friends and lack of popularity with boys make her the butt of ridicule, embarrassment, and public humiliation by her fellow teenage peers.
“If the human race didn’t remember anything it would be perfectly happy" (44). Thus runs one of the early musings of Jack Burden, the protagonist of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men. Throughout the story, however, as Jack gradually opens his eyes to the realities of his own nature and his world, he realizes that the human race cannot forget the past and survive. Man must not only remember, but also embrace the past, because it teaches him the truth about himself and enables him to face the future.
Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” is an Author’s telling of societal beliefs that encompass the stereotypical gender roles and the pursuit of love in the middle class with dreams of romance and marriage. Atwood writes about the predictable ways in which many life stories are concluded for the middle class; talking about the typical everyday existence of the average, ordinary person and how they live their lives. Atwood provides the framework for several possibilities regarding her characters’ lives and how each character eventually completes their life with their respective “happy ending”.
Ida Fink’s work, “The Table”, is an example of how old or disturbing memories may not contain the factual details required for legal documentation. The purpose of her writing is to show us that people remember traumatic events not through images, sounds, and details, but through feelings and emotions. To break that down into two parts, Fink uses vague characters to speak aloud about their experiences to prove their inconsistencies, while using their actions and manners to show their emotions as they dig through their memories in search of answers in order to show that though their spoken stories may differ, they each feel the same pain and fear.
Most people are very convinced that they have memories of past experiences because of the event itself or the bigger picture of the experience. According to Ulric Neisser, memories focus on the fact that the events outlined at one level of analysis may be components of other, larger events (Rubin 1). For instance, one will only remember receiving the letter of admission as their memory of being accepted into the University of Virginia. However, people do not realize that it is actually the small details that make up their memories. What make up the memory of being accepted into the University of Virginia are the hours spent on writing essays, the anxiety faced due to fear of not making into the university and the happiness upon hearing your admission into the school; these small details are very important in creating memories of this experience. If people’s minds are preset on merely thinking that memories are the general idea of their experiences, memories become very superficial and people will miss out on what matters most in life. Therefore, in “The Amityville Horror”, Jay Anson deliberately includes small details that are unnecessary in the story to prove that only memory can give meaning to life.
The importance of memory is shown in how essential it is to each character. Without their memories, it is arguable that none of the characters would have a “self”. They use their memories so often to form opinions of each other, remember feelings they had towards each other and to
...ia heat. There are heavy hangovers to be slept off, liaisons, wacky mishaps, deaths both accidental and intentional, marital spats and racial tensions. We meet the lovelorn, the war torn, the evangelical, and the righteous. “Each character, in his-or-her-own way, searches for answers about life from the one man in town who can't articulate them. Talking to John Singer is as good as talking to your own ghost or your own God. Behind her words, you can feel McCullers living the kaleidoscopic movements of this town. You can feel her fall in love with her eclectic band of misfits, fashioned after people she knew as sure as she knew her own blood. For all their lonely hearts, you can't help but fall for them too.”(Oprah Winfrey)
In The Shawshank Redemption, a film directed by Frank Darabont, Friendship is a prominent theme that is explored throughout the story of Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding and their imprisonment and subsequent friendship. Darabont uses a range of techniques in this film to convey that theme of friendship, such as lighting, dialogue, music/score, Camera angles, mise-en-scene and camera shots.