The Shawshank Redemption

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Summary

In 1947, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is ordered to serve two life sentences in Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. Inside, Andy is subjected to vicious attacks from the brutal guards and his fellow inmates. Slowly, he begins to make a few friends, most importantly with 'Red' (Morgan Freeman), who has also been convicted of murder and is Shawshank's resident black-market dealer. During his time in prison, Andy's previous experience as a banker earns him favour with the guards and the warden as he begins to deal with their financial affairs, soon moving on to laundering money for them. In return, Andy is permitted special privileges which include working in the warden's office and building a library for the rest of the prison. Eventually, after serving seventeen years of his sentence, Andy's innocence is proven. However, by this time, the warden uncovers a series of events which leaves Shawshank sinking in scandal and Andy Dufresne nowhere to be found.

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Background

The Shawshank Redemption was made in 1994 by first-time writer and director Frank Darabont. It was based on Stephen King's 1982 novella called Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and the film went on to be nominated for seven Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture. It failed to win any of them but has grown in popularity since its release, holding a place in the Internet Movie Database's list of top ten films of all time for the last five years.

Frank Darabont has since written, directed and produced The Green Mile (1999) - another prison drama based on Stephen King' work - which starred Tom Hanks.

See www.hollywoodjesus.com/shawshank.htm for an interesting reading of the film

Questions for discussion

1. The tagline of the film is 'Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free'. Do you agree? Why? What do you hope for? What does others around you hope for?

2. Why is hope so important in the film? Describe each of the characters' attitudes towards hope: Andy, Red, Brooks, Norton etc.

3. How would you describe the friendship between Red and Andy? Why and how does it become so strong?

4. Discuss how Red's parole hearings change over time. How do you feel about his final speech on 'rehabilitation'? What has Red learned during his time at Shawshank?

5. How do you respond to the religious imagery and behaviour of the warden? To what extent does this kind of hypocrisy undermine genuine faith?  What is the right way to respond to it?

6. Why is the film called The Shawshank Redemption? What does the word 'redemption' mean to you? Who needs redemption? How would you explain the word?

7. Brooks says, 'I'm tired of being afraid all the time,' and Red says, 'it's a terrible thing to live in fear'. Consider what the Bible says about fear in 1 John 4:18. Why were Brooks and Red afraid, outside of Shawshank? What do people tend to be afraid of?

8. Andy suffers many injustices and assaults whilst at Shawshank. How did you respond to these? How do you respond to similar aspects of Jesus' life (e.g. experiencing physical and psychological brutality, being denied a fair trial, paying for someone else's crimes. etc.)?

9. How is the concept of freedom represented and described in the film? (Consider the moments when Andy earns the beers for his co-workers, plays the Mozart opera over the loudspeakers and finally emerges from the sewer).

10. According to Andy, Mexicans say that the Pacific Ocean 'has no memory'. How significant do you think this is for Andy? How significant is this idea for you? What impact does it have on you to realise that God promises those who love him that he will 'remember [their] sins no more' (Isaiah 43:25)?

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