Hope

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Hope

Stephen King published his novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption in 1982. In 1994 this novella was turned into a movie called The Shawshank Redemption. Frank Darabont wrote the screenplay. A good adaptation will capture the same overall essence of the written book or novella. Darabont did a wonderful job of adapting this novella into a movie. He captured the overall essence in a way that makes a heart rejoice in happiness and relief. The adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption is very well done.

One of the major motifs of the story is “get busy living, or get busy dying.” This phrase sticks out the most in the movie. In the novella it is said once by Red just before he leaves to go to McNary, Texas, where Andy Dufresne crossed the border into Mexico after he escaped. Red was contemplating not going. He figured that so much of his life was already gone and wondered if it was even worth the trouble. But he told himself, “get busy living, or get busy dying” (King 105).

In the movie this phrase is first said by Andy in the prison yard just before he escaped. At this point in the movie Andy seems to be completely depressed. Throughout the movie, Andy always seemed to have a little smile on his face, but at this point it seemed as all hope was gone from him. He was talking to Red about Zihautanejo, Mexico. This is the place Andy wanted to go to after he got out of Shawshank. He talked about how beautiful it was and how he wanted to go down there and start a hotel

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on the ocean. Red told him to stop dreaming those “shitty pipe dreams.” This is when Andy said, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” After that Andy tells Red about a place in Buxton where under a rock there w...

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...ed. He stated, “It was great-too great, I thought, to be produced by any company in California” (King). White 6

Works Cited

Cannon, Damian. “The Shawshank Redemption.” Movie Reviews UK

1998. 6 pars. 23 Apr. 2000 <http://www.film.u-net.com>.

Darabont, Frank, and Stephen King. The Shawshank Redemption: The

Shooting Script. New York: New Market Press, 1996.

Washington Post. “The Shawshank Redemption.” Washington Post. 23

Sep. 1994. 23 Apr. 2000 <http://www.washingtonpost.com>.

King, Stephen. “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.” Different

Seasons. Penguin Group, NY: Signet 1983. 15-106.

The Shawshank Redemption. Niki Marvin, exec. prod. Frank Darabont, dir.

Videocassette. Castle Rock Entertainment. Warner Home Video,

CA: 1997.

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