THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Geology is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes, really. Pressure. And time.
You love your wife. You find out she’s having an affair. Soon after, she turns up murdered, along with her lover. You are then convicted of double homicide, and are sentenced to serve two life sentences, back to back.
How do you retain a sense of yourself when your life is suddenly stripped away? How do you keep hold of your innocence when thrust into a world of criminals, in the midst of corrupt authority? When the system fails, how do carry on? How do you find the strength to continue to hope under the crushing weight of hopeless circumstances?
In The Shawshank Redemption, these questions are put to the test in the life of Andy Dufresne. It’s a simple story. But sometimes those are the ones that stay with us the longest.
The film might be the most successful failure on this list. While containing two landmark performances at the hands of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, the film was a commercial disaster. However, it went on to be nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, but had the misfortune of being released the same year as Forrest Gump. In my opinion, Shawshank is, by far, the better film.
Regardless of the kinds of failures or successes the film had, its themes are universal. The trials that Andy faces make me question what I would do if I was presented with the same misfortunes. What do you when you’re the only truly innocent man in a prison full of men who have led lives of violence and crime? At the core, is anyone truly innocent, or is innocence just an illusion? As Andy falls victim to further evils once inside the walls of Shawshank prison, there are few reasons to carry on.
One of them is Morgan Freeman’s character, Red. The two find a rare friendship in one another, and it is Red’s presence in Andy’s life that helps him persevere through blow after blow.
These two men, one guilty, one innocent, one resigned, one hopeful, representing profoundly different outlooks, come together to learn from one another and find some reason to not give up in the face of an unchanging and unforgiving grey world.
There are things that a man possesses, that no matter what happens, no one can take them away. As much as Andy needed a friend to carry him through, ultimately it is Andy’s integrity, unyielding determination, and undying hope that lifts Red out of the mire and shines a light into the bleak world of Shawshank. In Andy, freedom is something that comes from within, not something that can be taken away by walls and bars.
The final straw that could’ve finally broken Andy comes when a young inmate offers proof of Andy’s innocence, only to have it ignored by the scheming and corrupt warden. With this turn of events, Andy sets in motion a plan that has been in the works for the duration of his twenty year stay at Shawshank prison. He refused to be defeated or denied, and finally took matters into his own hands.
Above all, Shawshank is a powerful story about friendship, innocence, and the resilience of hope, and how these things can help a man endure even the heaviest of trials. When all else fails, you have to rely on who you are and what you know to be true to carry you through. And if you’re lucky, others will help and be helped by you along the way. If you continue to hope through hopelessness, that is a light that will never dim, and will light the way for others behind you.
I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.
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