“These walls are kind of funny. First you hate ‘em, then you get used to ‘em. Enough time passes, gets so you depend on them. That’s institutionalized. They send you here for life, that’s exactly what they take. The part that counts, anyway.” -Red
Andy Dufresne was a banker whose life was falling apart. But he had no idea just how far he would have to fall to find redemption. Convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover, he finds himself sentenced to life at Shawshank Penitentiary. Inside he learns much about what makes a man guilty and what makes a man free.
Quotes and Moments
Red: [narrating] The first night’s the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing [stuff] they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell… and those bars slam home…that’s when you know it’s for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.
Red: I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can’t expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was as if some beautiful bird had flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.
Red: Rehabilitated? Now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.
Parole official: Well, it means that you’re ready to rejoin society.
Red: I know what you think it means, sonny. To me it’s just a made up word; a politician’s word. So young fellas like yourself can wear a suit, and tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
Parole official: Well, are you?
Red: There’s not a day goes by I don’t feel regret. Not because I’m in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then, a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can’t. That kid’s long gone and this old man is all that’s left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It’s just a…word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don’t give a [care].
Brooks’ letter:
Dear Fellas,
I can’s believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was young. Now they’re everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big… hurry.
The parole board got me into this halfway house called the Brewster, and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It’s hard work. I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time. I don’t think the store manager likes me very much.
Sometimes after work I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is, he’s doing okay and making new friends.
I have trouble sleeping at night. The bed is too big. I have bad dreams, like I’m falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway, so they’d send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. But I guess I’m too old for that sort of nonsense anymore.
I don’t like it here. I’m tired of being afraid all the time. I’ve decided not to stay. I doubt they’ll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.
~Brooks
Questions
1. What was artistically or well done in this film? What features did you consider excellent? Character development, flow, cinematography, story, camera angles, use of light and color and acting?
2. What symbols and images are used in this film? Do you think they help communicate the main message of the film? How?
3. Is this a film you would or have watched more than once? What makes it worth seeing more than once, since the element of surprise is gone?
Hope: Hope is a central theme of this film. Andy is intent on bringing it up. Red tells Andy, “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” But Andy in a letter disagrees, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing... maybe the best of things.” As Red is about to join Andy on the outside, he says, “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.”
4. What is hope? What impact does it have on your life?
5. This film talks about hope in perhaps the most hopeless place imaginable. Is the hope in this film bigger than just getting out of prison? If so, how is it bigger?
6. Several times in this film, things happen that Red says made people feel free-like—drinking beer on the roof or listening to the Italian opera. These were savored moments. Is it hard to savor moments, even as someone who is free to do what you like when you like? Why? What are these scenes trying to teach us?
It is my contention that Andy’s redemption was not just his escape, but his incarceration too. This is why I think the film has its title. Shawshank redeemed Andy’s life. He was given a chance to be a different man from the alcoholic, money hungry, unhappy man he was prior to his wife’s murder. The prison with walls redeemed him from his prison without walls, just as hope redeemed him from the routine of Shawshank.
7. The judge who sentenced Andy said, “It chills my blood just to look at you.” And though this comment was made on the presumption of Andy’s guilt, were there still aspects of Andy’s life that ought to chill our blood? If so, what?
Redemption: Redemption implies being redeemed from something to something or someone. What does Andy need to be redeemed from? How does Red’s conversation with the parole board at the end shed light on his take on redemption?
8. Do you need redemption? From what? Is there any need for redemption that is common to all people?
How did the redemption process change Andy? Red?
Parable: Parables are stories that are intended to teach the hearers a lesson about themselves and the world they live in.
9. Is this film a parable? If so, what is the lesson?
This film has a strong contrast between a dreary, gray world and an ongoing discussion of hope. What does this tell you about the value of a “point of view?”
10. Andy says, “I killed her, Red. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I pushed her away. That’s why she died, because of me.” On what basis should we accept responsibility for our lives? Are we only responsible for things we do, or are we responsible for who we are? Why?
11. How are sex and violence used in this film? Are they used gratuitously or are they used to support the narrative and main ideas of the film? Explain. Is there ever a right way to incorporate sex and violence into a film?
12. What do you think is the main idea of this film? In other words, what makes it a story worth telling?
13. How might this film be used as a point of contact for discussions with non- believers?
14. How is this film a window of insight into how a Christian should live, think and act?
Discussion Questions for a Christian and non-Christian Audience
Art: This film stands out among the genre of prison movies in that it deals with subject matter beyond a mere prison break or the bad warden brought to justice. It deals with beauty and the question of what it means to truly live.
1. What was artistically or well done in this film? What features did you consider excellent? Character development, flow, cinematography, story, camera angles, use of light and color and acting?
2. What symbols and images are used in this film? Do you think they help communicate the main message of the film? How?
3. Is this a film you would or have watched more than once? What makes it worth seeing more than once, since the element of surprise is gone?
Hope: Hope is a central theme of this film. Andy is intent on bringing it up. Red tells Andy, “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” But Andy in a letter disagrees, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing... maybe the best of things.” As Red is about to join Andy on the outside, he says, “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.”
4. What is hope? What impact does it have on your life?
5. This film talks about hope in perhaps the most hopeless place imaginable Is the hope in this film bigger than just getting out of prison? If so, how is it bigger?
6. Several times in this film, things happen that Red says made people feel free—like drinking beer on the roof or listening to the Italian opera. These were savored moments. Is it hard to savor moments, even as someone who is free to do what you like when you like? Why? What are these scenes trying to teach us?
Redemption: It is my contention that Andy's redemption was not just his escape, but his incarceration too. This is why I think the film has its title. Shawshank redeemed Andy’s life. He was given a chance to be a different man from the alcoholic, money-hungry, unhappy man he was prior to his wife’s murder. The prison with walls redeemed him from his prison without walls, just as hope redeemed him from the routine of Shawshank.
7. The judge who sentenced Andy said, “It chills my blood just to look at you.” And though this comment was made on the presumption of Andy’s guilt, were there still aspects of Andy’s life that ought to chill our blood? If so, what
8. Redemption implies being redeemed from something to something or someone. What does Andy need to be redeemed from? How does Red’s conversation with the parole board at the end shed light on his take on redemption?
9. Do you need redemption? From what? Is there any need for redemption that is common to all people?
How did the redemption process change Andy? Red?
Parable: Parables are stories that are intended to teach the hearers a lesson about themselves and the world they live in.
10. Is this film a parable? If so, what is the lesson?
11. This film has a strong contrast between a dreary, gray world and an ongoing discussion of hope. What does this tell you about the value of a “point of view?”
12. Andy says, “I killed her, Red. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I pushed her away. That’s why she died, because of me.” On what basis should we accept responsibility for our lives? Are we only responsible for things we do, or are we responsible for who we are? Why?
13. How are sex and violence used in this film? Are they used gratuitously or are they used to support the narrative and main ideas of the film? Explain. Is there ever a right way to incorporate sex and violence into a film?
14. What do you think is the main idea of this film? In other words, what makes it a story worth telling?Source
Shawshank Redemption credits:
Starring:
Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne)
Morgan Freeman (Ellis ‘Red’ Redding)
Bob Gunton (Warden Norton)
William Sadler (Heywood)
Clancy Brown (Captain Hadley)
Gil Bellows (Tommy)
Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond)
James Whitmore (Brooks Hatlen)
Director: Frank Darabont
Screenwriter: Frank Darabont
Based on short stories by: Steohen King
Producers: Liz Glotzer, David Lester, Niki Martin
Cinematographer: Roger Deakins
Costumes: Elizabeth McBride
Original Music: Thomas Newman
Runtime: 142 minutes
Rated R for language, violence and sensuality.
