Superheros of Hope: Brubaker and Cool Hand Luke

872 Words2 Pages

Brubaker and Cool Hand Luke are different men on the same mission. Despite their separate approaches, they stand for the same thing: reform and hope. Brubaker and Cool Hand Luke come across differently, by their actions, their positions, and their affiliation to the other prisoners. As the new warden of the prison, Brubaker could have been seen as just another person trying to inflict suffering and punishment onto the prisoners. Luke, being the new guy, is easily just another Newcock. The difference between these men and all the others is the hope of a better tomorrow.
Brubaker snuck into the prison, even after he was named the warden. Nobody in their right mind snuck into a prison, let alone this one in Arkansas. He wanted to see what life was actually like, instead of just hearing what others said (Brubaker). The prisoners believed that one warden or government official was just as bad as the next. They have no reason to believe any different. The prison was basically run by slave labor, using corporal punishment in everyday situations. These situations didn’t even need a reason; sometimes it was done just because.
Brubaker wasn’t going to allow this to continue happening. The first act he completed was eliminating corporal punishment from the system. Speaking about the whip he says, "You see this? This thing is gone! Any trusty who wants to go back to raking rocks for a living, well just get caught using this on one of your charges" (Brubaker). This act applied some hope in the prisoners there. Finally, someone was standing up for them! Officials weren’t continuing the same harmful practices. Brubaker wasn’t cowering down; he was different than the rest. He continued to remove unfair privileges and fought for the rights of al...

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...nds right.” He doesn’t. He can’t directly change policies that would make the lives of others easier and better, but he gives them hope that it can be done. He gives them hope in the fact that there will be conditions where they will not be hurt any longer and that it could get better. This is shown through his actions at the prison and in the fact that he escaped on multiple occasions.
Both men give hope that tomorrow will be better by their actions. Their stories provide this hope for the future for not only those present at the time, but for all of those who hear their story. They are superheroes, superheroes of hope.

Works Cited

Brubaker. Dir. Stuart Rosenberg. Perf. Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Alexander ,Murray Hamilton, David Keith, Morgan Freeman. Twentieth Century Fox, 1980. Film.
Pearce, Donn. Cool Hand Luke. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press :, 1

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