Hope is defined as "a feeling of expectation and desire for certain things to happen." In the film, The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne maintained hope for a better life even though he was convicted of a crime he did not commit and forced to endure 19 years of confinement in a dangerous prison. The film is also a story about hope versus despair, which utilizes inspiration from the Hero's Journey and the Bible. It is celebrated as one of the best movies ever made even though it was not a box office hit. A popular line from the movie, "Get busy living, or get busy dying" is about the options we have in life. It is possible to be alive, but not live. The choice is up to you. Andy's character encourages you to have hope and pursue the life you believe you deserve. Let's discuss...
The Hero's Journey
Red, another inmate at the Shawshank prison, was Andy's friend and the narrator of the story. The audience sees the story from Red's point of view. As the audience listens to the story, we know that Red is alive because he is telling the story. However, we don't know what happened to Andy. Did he survive or die?
Critics debate on who actually goes on a hero's journey in the film. Is Red the hero, or is Andy? I believe both Andy and Red are heroes because they experience stages of the hero's journey and are changed by the end of the film:
The Call to Adventure:
Andy's call to adventure happened before the movie started. I propose that his call to adventure was his relationship with his wife. He loved his wife but had difficulty expressing his love. Per his wife, he was 'a hard man to love.'
Red's call to adventure happened later in the movie when he broke parole to be with his friend.
Refusal of the Call
Red initially refused to have hope, but he accepted hope due to witnessing Andy's journey. Andy did not take responsibility for his role in his wife's death, but he did right before he escaped from prison. Just as in the grief journey, freedom comes after acceptance.
Meeting the mentor
Andy was Red's mentor because he taught him about hope. Throughout the film, Red continued to have anti-hope sentiment. Red fought against it due to his past crime and life in prison. However, Andy never lost hope and influenced Red to have hope, as well.
One of Andy's mentors was the warden, Samuel Norton. Mentors come in all walks of life. Advisors can teach you how to do right and how to do wrong. Andy was an honest banker before he went to prison, but he laundered money at the behest of the warden.
Red was Andy's other mentor because he advised him on how to survive in prison: He told Andy that the Sisters, the prisoners who raped Andy, take by force, warned him about police surprise searches, provided Andy with the rock hammer and poster that he needed to escape, and made it possible for him to be a member of the group to resurface the roof which eventually showcased his business skills.
Crossing the threshold
The free world is the ordinary world, whereas the prison served as the unknown world. Andy and Red experienced prison differently. Andy maintained a sense of hope and freedom within himself. Even after being raped, sent to solitary confinement, witnessing brutality, Andy held tightly to hope. In contrast, Red lived behind bars both physically and mentally. He accepted his fate and believed that having hope was dangerous. Prison was a metaphor for how physical and mental chains can block your growth and freedom.
Test, allies and enemies
Andy's test was maintaining hope in the midst of abuse from prison life while knowing he was innocent of murder, the warden's abuse and rape from the Sisters. The brutality of confinement was shown through Brooks, another inmate who committed suicide after his release from prison. Due to years of incarceration, he was too institutionalized to live in a free world. His character showed the options prisoners have - either get busy living or get busy dying.
Red was a resourceful man in the prison. He described himself as a 'Sears and Roebuck.' Andy told Red, "I understand you are a man who knows how to get things." Their friendship was an underlying theme in the film. Having a community is important both in the free world and in prison.
"Get busy living, or get busy dying." Andy Dufrusne, The Shawshank Redemption
The approach to the inmost cave
The inmost cave for both Andy and Red was the Shawshank prison. It was full of bars and brutality. Away from the free world. Confinement. However, Andy experienced solitary confinement, called the hole, when he told the warden that Tommy Williams, another inmate, could prove his innocence. Another cave was the hole Andy had to crawl through to reach freedom. The poster was a picture of a woman that covered Andy's means of escape. Metaphorically, it was through her womb that Andy crawled to freedom.
The ordeal
Surviving prison life is an ordeal. Even though the purpose of prison is rehabilitation, the environment can be dangerous. Prisoners lived under the careful watch of brutal guards who would kill when prompted.
The reward
Red's reward was rediscovering hope in his life. I believe hope is an innate belief that we lose after experiencing trauma in the world. The trauma comes in all forms, from being bullied in school or excluded from reindeer games. We are born to seek love and connection, and experience sadness due to exclusion, bullying and abuse. Red was in prison for a long time and eventually lost hope. After being denied parole twice, he didn't care anymore. On his third try for parole, he expressed his true feelings instead of repeating what he thought the parole board wanted to hear. Due to his honesty and acceptance of his crime, he made parole.
Andy achieved freedom as a result of maintaining his hope, using his banking skills, developing a trusting relationship with the warden, and taking a risk to dig a hole in the wall. He accepted the role he played in his wife's death. Andy escaped from prison, but he did not belong there anyway because he was innocent of murder.
The Return
The last scene of the movie shows Andy and Red reuniting at a beach in Mexico. Both men were forever changed. Red changed from anti-hope to hope. Andy learned how to express love. Both Andy and Red learned what they needed to learn inorder to fully live.
Biblical References
There are subtle references to Jesus' life in The Shawshank Redemption.
Both Andy and Jesus:
- are innocent. Andy did not kill his wife. Jesus was innocent of all charges.
- were innocent, but were convicted of guilt by a jury
- interacted with sinners. Andy was innocent and forced to live in a prison with guilty people. Jesus freely interacted with tax collectors, adulteresses, and other people shunned in society
- had a miracle involving wine/beer. Andy was able to acquire beer for his co-workers after the roof resurface job was done. Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding
- experienced physical abuse-Andy was beaten by the sisters, and Jesus was beaten by the guards
- had Peter, which means rock. In the scene where Andy carved his name into the rock, the name Peter is on the wall. Peter was one of Jesus' disciples.
- had an empty tomb. Andy's cell was found empty by the guards. Jesus' tomb was also empty
- were carpenters-in the last scene, Andy was fixing up an old boat for fishing; Jesus was a carpenter and a fisherman of humanity.
- had 12 disciples-I counted 12 workers on the roof paving team. Jesus also had 12 disciples
- had life after death. Andy crawled through dead filth to be born again. Notice the scene of Andy holding his arms up in the movie poster as a symbol of a cross. Jesus raised from the dead on the third day.
Movies Help Us Remember Who We Are
The Shawshank Redemption is a movie about friendship, hope, acceptance and redemption. Unfortunately, as we grow from children to adults, we lose our childlike innocence and hope. Life can be brutal when there is a lack of love and resources. However, that childlike hope never dies but lives within us waiting to be expressed.
Movies like The Shawshank Redemption have beautiful storytelling and remind us that hope is eternal and worth pursuing.
What do you hope for? Are you pursuing what you believe you deserve?
References:
The Shawshank Redemption, film, Based on Rita Hayword and the Shawshank Redemption written by Stephen King.
The Hidden Meaning of The Shawshank Redemption, Logos Made Flesh retrieved from YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2hWKvq35RM.
The 12 Steps of the Hero's Journey, retrieved from https://www.grammarly.com/blog/literary-devices/heros-journey/
Freedom pictures:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FREEDOM.jpg
https://pixabay.com/vectors/ai-generated-freedom-heart-love-8669633/
Hope Picture:
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/hope-hearts-colorful-word-letters-5512819/