The
Shawshank Redemption
(1994)
- Information at Internet Movie Database
- Hollywood Jesus visual review
- Cinema in Focus, a social and spiritual commentary by Hal Conklin and Denny Wayman.
- Themes
- 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.
- Baptism
