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The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption


The Shawshank Redemption is a very unique movie which involves many
different personalities and underlying themes. The personalities of the inmates
are very interesting and when they are combined they create a very fascinating
plot which looks at prison life in a interesting and different perspective than
one normally thinks. The main characters are Andy Dufrense (Tim Robbins) and
Eliss "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman). These characters are well complimented by
the wise and simple old man, Brooks (James Whitmore), and the evil warden. The
personalities of the Shawshank prison combined to form a sort of community. One
never really thinks of a prison as such, but it seems to hold true. This movie
showed a prison not only as a place where murderers and thieves live, but as a
community of people who have had problems and may or may not be rehabilitating.
It seems that some prisoners go in and accept what they have done and try to
make something of an already disastrous life while others give up and really
don't care if they commit other crimes (inside and outside of the prison). But
in all reality, the prison was home for the inmates and they made it into what
it was. The demeanor of the characters creates a very unique atmosphere.
The story revolves around Andy who is convicted of murdering his wife
and her lover in 1946 and is sentenced to life in prison. He is sent to the
Shawshank prison, the state prison in Maine which is known for its harshness.
At the beginning of the movie, one does not know if Andy committed the
horrible crime of murder. But what is known is that he is not ready for prison
and honestly doesn't seem like a man who would survive. His thinking going in is
just to survive and blend in. He knows that sticking out would not be good for
him. Throughout the movie, Andy undergoes several changes in his personality.
But overall, he seems like a wise man who will deal with what the justice system
has served him. He is...