The Shawshank Redemption

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The Shawshank Redemption is a prison movie that is based on a book by Stephen King and directed by Frank Darabont. The movie is not the average bloody horror movie; instead, it takes you to a place where your worst nightmares come alive. The tremendous performance by Morgan Freeman and other actors has truly brought this film to life. The emotions characters portrayed were so real that every one could feel compassion toward them. The Shawshank Redemption, a contribution to the working man, illustrates the dark side of the prison and the power of hope within that helps a prisoner to survive.
The Shawshank Redemption depicts the working class man that shares qualities of a hero. Andy Dufresne is an average character on to whom other characters can depend. According to Richard Armstrong, Andy is the “traditional American hero” (80). Andy uses his resources of intelligence and “resilience” to survive the harsh prison life. Similar to every other movie or life situation, each man has to prove his innocence. The hero has to use his qualities not only to survive, but also to restore his reputation (Armstrong 80). From the beginning, the viewers are not sure if Andy is truly guilty. He declares his innocence, but so does every one else in prison (Steyn 35). Every task that Andy overcomes leads him closer to his master plan that will eventually free him (Armstrong 79).
His first plan is to initiate protection from other inmates, such as a gang of rapists, and to build up trustful relationships. When Andy first arrives to the prison, escape is not the first thing on his mind. In fact, the first thing he asks of Red is to be provided with a rock hammer. Andy’s intentions were not to use it to dig a tunnel; instead, he wished to continue his work in geology and to make the best of his time (Armstrong 81). Andy helps the head guard and the warden financially through the investment secrets he gained from his profession. By helping them with their taxes, he earned beer for his fellow inmates, was allowed to establish a library, and received the right to provide education for the prisoners (Avella 16).
Since The Shawshank Redemption is written by Stephen King, who writes typical horror stories, it is surprising that this film does not follow the typical horror flicks of blood and gore. There is some violence in...

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