Symbols Of Redemption In Frank Darabone's The Shawshank Redemption

Throughout The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont, the screenwriter, helps guide the audience through Andy Dufresne’s fight for freedom with the use of foreshadowing and imagery. He often analogizes Andy and his friends to religious figures or uses links to the outside world as symbols of hope. The audience, however, is unaware of the greater role these symbols will eventually play in the final scenes of this screenplay. Darabont treats his readers to small, seemingly fun, details throughout this entire script. Andy’s love of posters depicting beautiful women, his want of a small rock hammer to shape a chess set, and his reading of the bible come off as quirks or simple character traits. Nevertheless, Darabont expertly weaves each aspect

He gets rid of the warden and thus the rot that had spread throughout the prison for years. He specifically helps Red, who was in danger of becoming institutionalized himself. While earlier in the screenplay, the audience sees Red scared of authority and, for the most part, falling in line, in this seen he “laughed [himself] right into solitary” (100). Andy has managed to share some of his humanity, and therefore his freedom, with the rest of the prison. If they refuse to be scared by the unfair, overused solitary or brutality, they can no longer be controlled. Red’s outbursts manifests one of the good that comes with Andy going to prison. Andy learns to fights because he suddenly cares about more than himself. He keeps his connections to the “real” world and he helps others do the same. The friendships created throughout The Shawshank Redemption are some of the best parts of the story. They show the beauty in struggle, and how pain and a common enemy can bring two people together and allow them to flourish. Andy and Red allow each other to flourish, though they may not always be able to see it. Without each other they would be stagnate characters. Instead Darabont gives us Red, another link to the outside world for Andy, and Andy, a guiding shepherd for Red and all the other inmates. With his escape, Andy leaves a lasting impression among all the inmates, most importantly his unwavering faith in himself. While Red “curses [Andy] for the dreams he left behind,” he truly does want him to feel free (111). At first, Red has a difficult time finding that faith, and he desperately misses his old friend. Nonetheless, Red becomes once Red becomes disillusioned with this faulty system, even more so than before, he can finally join Andy in his unequivocal