Comparison of The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke Introduction Throughout the years, the interest in entertainment involving prison escapes has yet to diminish in popularity. With older classics such as the novel-turned-film The Count of Monte Cristo and a more recent television series titled Prison Break, the subject of convicts attempting to flee from captivity is unlikely to disappear any time soon. Two well-known and highly acclaimed movies about this particular topic are The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke. Each movie was adapted from its literature version, and both films are critically-acclaimed classics which continue to be well-liked. Both The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke occur in a similar setting with …show more content…
a slightly overlapping theme, but there are differences between how the protagonists attempt to solve their problems, as well as the ultimate outcome for the main characters. Summary In the film, The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne, a banker from Maine, was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and her lover in cold blood. He received two consecutive life sentences to be served in the Shawshank State Prison, and, while doing his time, Andy befriended Red, a fellow convict known for smuggling contraband. When the warden discovered Andy’s usefulness, he placed him in charge of handling the illegal money going through the jail. After successfully escaping from the prison, Andy then takes this money for himself and buys a place in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Years later, after Red receives parole, he travels across the border to find Andy, and they both live peacefully in Mexico. Cool Hand Luke is about Luke Jackson, who was sentenced to work on a chain gang for two years after being arrested for destroying parking meters while under the influence. While in prison, he gains the respect of Dragline and the inmates through several events that occurred. After his mother’s death, Luke tries multiple escape attempts but each end in failure, and the bosses seem to break his spirit through the punishments they force Luke through. However, he attempts to escape one last time, which ultimately leads to his death, and he is shot in the neck. When the bosses take Dragline, who witnessed Luke’s death, back to the chain gang, he shares the story of what happened with the other members, and passes on the story of Cool Hand Luke to any new inmates. Developmental Section There are several noticeable similarities between The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke. At the beginning of each movie, both Andy Dufresne and Luke Jackson receive unjust sentences for their actions. These unjust convictions also help to set up the theme of corrupt power in both films. Both prisons are led by a corrupt system of guards and a warden, or boss-like figure, which make the main characters’ lives in containment much more difficult. Also, each film contains some themes pertaining to Christianity and the Bible in some way. In The Shawshank Redemption, the warden of the prison is religious, even going so far as providing each inmate with a copy of the Bible. An analysis from Shmoop even points out that, “The warden tells Andy to read the Bible, telling him that ‘salvation lies within.’ . . . For Andy, salvation does lie within that Bible, but in a literal way—it's where he's hid his means of escape, safely out of reach of the inspections” (“The Shawshank Redemption: The Bible”). Andy hides his rock hammer in the chapter of Exodus, which he uses to dig his escape tunnel over the years. In Cool Hand Luke, a majority of the plot actually symbolizes the story of Christ’s crucifixion in the New Testament. In a review written by Roger Ebert, a well-known movie critic, he discusses how, “he is a Christ-figure, and on last night of the story he addresses his Father on the subject of whether he has been forsaken . . . although at the end there is the curious eyewitness report by Dragline, who is already trying to recast the Gospel According to Luke to reflect a symbolic victory” (“Cool Hand Luke”). As it was stated in the review, Luke represents Christ, and his closest inmate friends were similar to the disciples. Many of the events in the movie also reflect specific passages of the New Testament. Although there are similarities that exist between the two movies, there are several deviations between them as well.
In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy did not actually commit the crime that he was convicted of in court, which is why his sentence can be considered unjust. Also, even though both films contain themes about the corruption that power causes, they showcase different ways to react to those in positions of power. Throughout the movie, Dufresne plays the system, doing what is asked of him so as to be in good standing with the warden and guards. In another review from Roger Ebert, he explains how, “For the warden, [Andy] is both a challenge and a resource; Andy knows all about bookkeeping and tax preparation, and before long he's been moved out of his prison job in the library and assigned to the warden's office, where he sits behind an adding machine and keeps tabs on the warden's ill-gotten gains” (“The Shawshank Redemption”). Because of this, Dufresne has more freedom and protection within Shawshank. The warden allows him to remain alone in his cell, expands the library, and gives him more leeway and freedom around the prison. Being so close with those in power is what allowed Andy to escape so flawlessly, and this scenario represents the idea of keeping friends close and enemies closer. Dufresne successfully breaking out of Shawshank showcases the importance of hope, and this, along with the outcomes of those in charge of the prison, created the satisfying ending of justice being
served. Unlike The Shawshank Redemption, in Cool Hand Luke, the protagonist, Luke Jackson, did commit a crime at the start of the film. He was arrested for destroying municipal property while under the influence. However, he received a punishment of two years for his crime, which is not a proportional sentence for the crime that he committed. Luke also takes a different approach when dealing with those in power at the prison. Instead of getting close to the bosses of the chain gang, Luke befriends his fellow inmates. When discussing Luke’s fight with Dragline in his review, Ebert writes, “It is a point of pride to Luke that he hauls himself to his feet and refuses to admit defeat, and this, we discover, will be his method throughout the movie: he can't win, but he can continue to absorb punishment indefinitely” (“Cool Hand Luke”). Luke’s refusal to stay down and accept defeat caused him to gain the respect of Dragline and the other inmates. His ability to withstand punishment is evident with every action he committed to in the movie. Even after being punished for escaping, he continued to try, never willing to concede and accept defeat. In an analysis of the film by William Haltom, a professor at the University of Puget Sound, he explains that, “rebelling against the slightest order, Luke asserts freedom in a manner that guarantees that he'll have none”. This guarantee is proven with Luke’s third and final attempt to run away, which lead to his death. Unlike the message of hope in the ending of The Shawshank Redemption, Cool Hand Luke shows that corruption and power are not easy to rebel against and are not always defeated in reality. Conclusion Overall, The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke both contain similar themes about power and corruption, but each film has its own way of conveying this message in different lights, leading to the differences in the ultimate outcome for the protagonists. Andy Dufresne receives his happy ending by escaping the prison, showing that justice can be served and that it is possible to expose the corruption that exists with those in power. On the other hand, Luke Jackson was killed at the conclusion of Cool Hand Luke, showing that not everyone obtains the happy ending they hope for. Although the movies both contain themes about corruption, each film portrays this concept in a different light, showing both the positive and negative outcomes of trying to go against “the man”, so to speak. Despite their differing viewpoints on power, both The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke will be remembered as classics in the jail-breaking genre of entertainment.
In 1947, Andy Dufresne, a banker in Maine, is sentenced for killing his wife and her lover. He is given two lifelong incarcerations and sent to the famously brutal Shawshank Prison. Andy always claimed that he was innocent, but his personality led a lot of people to doubt him.
A parent chooses the punishment to correct the child for his or her wrong. The child though is the person that decides whether the punishment will convict and transform him. The child has the power to choose how the punishment will affect them. In both the novel One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and the movie The Shawshank Redemption (1994), punishment is given to a person who did not deserve it. Both Ivan Denisovich Shuhkov and Andy Dufresne are found guilty of a crime they did not commit. The prison tries to punish Shuhkov and Dufresne. However, Shuhkov and Dufresne were able to surmount the prison's attempts. Through their mind they were able to weather the guards' futile attempts at breaking them down.
Corruption of justice in the prison system is relevant in Stephen Kings, novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The Cause of this corruption was the greed of the administrators, and the lasting effects it had on the prisoners mentally, physically, and emotionally.
First, Andy preserves his self-respect by fighting or defending himself from the rape squad of Shawshank Prison known as “The Sisters”.
Imagine a country with no murder crimes based on “non-human” life form that can see the future based on different murders. This process of stopping murderers is created in a short story named Minority report and then is later created into a film. The short story and the film are based on the same plot and the same ideas but still have some interesting changes throughout the whole story.
The movie Shawshank Redemption depicts the story of Andy Dufresne, who is an innocent man that is sentenced to life in prison. At Shawshank, both Andy and the viewers, witness typical prison subculture.
The authors begin the book by providing advice on how a convict can prepare for release from prison. Throughout the book, the authors utilize two fictional characters, Joe and Jill Convict, as examples of prisoners reentering society. These fictional characters are representative of America’s prisoners. Prison is an artificial world with a very different social system than the real world beyond bars. Convicts follow the same daily schedule and are shaped by the different society that is prison. Prisoners therefore forget many of the obl...
The film stars Tim Robbins as Andrew 'Andy' Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding. The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison, a surreal house of correction in Maine and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate, which gradually develops over the years. Consequently the three reasons that the director wanted to produce this movie are to reveal hope, despair and integrity. Red describes the reasons eloquently: “All I know for sure is that Andy Dufresne wasn’t much like me or anyone else I ever knew. . . . It was a kind of inner light he carried around with him.”
Many books get adapted into movies, but very few get two movies made after them. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), directed by Mel Stuart and Tim Burton, respectively, are two different alterations of Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964). Both versions follow the similar plot of five children finding a Golden Ticket that enables them to tour Mr. Wonka’s chocolate factory and compete for the grand prize. As the movies progress, each child faces some sort of accident, leaving Charlie as the only child left to become heir to the factory. Both directors, however, went in different directions in regards to their adaptations. Charlie differs from Willy in that
In the icy cold waters of San Francisco Bay their floats the notorious Island of Alcatraz. It is no more part of pop culture for being just an island than it is for having a prison on it. No. Alcatraz was so notorious because it had some of the world’s most dangerous and violent criminals inside the walls of the prison. The prison had incredible security and was renowned for being inescapable, except when it was broken out of. In 1962 four men devised and perpetrated a brilliant almost fantastical escape, the only traces of their making it out are the mysterious gifts received by the families, personal belongs left on the shore, and that their bodies that were never found.
In The Shawshank Redemption, a film directed by Frank Darabont, Friendship is a prominent theme that is explored throughout the story of Andy Dufresne, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding and their imprisonment and subsequent friendship. Darabont uses a range of techniques in this film to convey that theme of friendship, such as lighting, dialogue, music/score, Camera angles, mise-en-scene and camera shots.
This film is al about when Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), an innocent banker, is sent to prison for a double life sentence. He makes friends while inside, his closest friend becoming Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman) or ‘Red’ as his friends call him. Andy suffers with quiet dignity. To keep this under control, he continues with his favourite hobby, which just so happens to be geology. After 20 years of his sentence, he becomes the first prisoner to ever escape from Shawshank. Also he manages to have the Warden (Bob Gunton) found out for all of his crimes.
One of the most alarming aspects of this book is the author’s mentality. Throughout the book, Hassine appears to be quite the well-rounded individual. He specifically regarded the prison mentality by saying: “If you throw a prisoner in a dark cave, he’ll learn how to see. In fact, if you give him enough rats, he’ll get fat. You can try feeding him cockroaches to punish him more, but he’ll eventually get fat on those too. As some inmates boast, ‘What doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger (Hassine, Irwin, Bernard, McCleary, & Wright, 1999).” This quote displays Hassine being highly self-aware of his environment. As the book progressed, so did a sense of realization of the predicament that Hassine is in, in terms of incarceration. As Hassine described in the quote above, prisonization is a process, a difficult process, but is one that can be adaptable. The way Hassine described the prisonization mentality was approaching the topic with a more human perspective.
Some people have no idea what it feels like to be in prison, according to statistics simply one out of every five people really knows what the prison life is like. Nearly 1.4 million people out of the U.S.’s 280 million people that remain in prison. (Thomas, 2). One of the main reasons people know about prisons is because of the movies. The things that contribute to people stereotyping the prison life is news, movies, and books. Prisoners do receive three meals a day, workout facilities, a library, as well as other things. People are also given the idea, through the mass media, that prisoners are free to walk around certain parts of the prison. Throughout my research I plan to learn the answer to a question remaining what is prison life really like for inmates?
The mass media uses prison life as the source for movies and television shows. Over the years there have been many movies written about prison but the most prominent in my mind is Frank Darabont’s, The Shawshank Redemption. Throughout the film there are many examples of the falsities of prison life. There are some elements of truth but they are out weighed by the misconceptions. Numerous prisoners are allowed to walk around the prison and the prison yard with no guards in sight. In actuality there are always guards around, especially on the inside. The prisoner’s movement through the prison is highly restricted.