The Shawshank Redemption

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Melannie Owade Olivier English 1301 November 28, 2012 The Shawshank Redemption The two most opposite and extreme polls of man are explored in the film The Shawshank Redemption. We see them mostly in the two main characters, Red, the narrator, and Andy, the main focus of the film. Both of these men go through changes, collapse and rejuvenate, and encounter redemption. Somehow, they collide in perfect harmony and form the best friends anyone can ever have, even though they differ and are similar in many ways. Red is the mediator or polemicist, meaning that he’s a smooth talker and debater. In Shawshank he’s know as the man that can get anything for you from the outside … for a price of course. He’s a crook with a good heart and somewhat good intentions, but he confides to the prison walls to blur the lines of reality outside in the real world. Inside the prison he has value to his name and his insecurities are concealed by the opaque violence, and hard stance of Shawshank’s environment. Hope motivates him, but he does anything in his will to cloak that fact. There’s a scene in the film where Andy gets him a harmonica, later in his cell we see Red play just one note. To the audience, that note was groundbreaking and was perceived as a ghost of hope. That also can be seen as symbolism of Red and Andy’s friendship, which also gives him hope while he’s serving his life sentence. There are a few moments in the film where we see Red’s emotions, but every time we see them they are sincere and keen. The sound in his voice and the commotion written all over his face is so thorough, that it’s hard to believe. But, every inmate in Shawshank relies on Red, because he’s the rock of their society. Andy Dufresne comes to Shawshank as a honest man. He’s punished for a crime that he didn’t commit and he’s just an all around amicable man. He wants do the right thing.
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