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The theme of hope in shawshank redemption
The shawshank redemption hope essay
The shawshank redemption hope essay
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Persuasive Essay
On
The Shawshank Redemption
ENGL 1301
Spring 2014
“Keep hope alive!” “Yes! We can.” All of these are slogans of inspiration that define the human spirit. Without hope life would be dull with nothing to work toward in a positive fashion. In the movie The Shawshank Redemption (1994), the director, Frank Darabot, uses time and space to slowly unfold author, Stephen King’s, short story entitled, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Time serves as a dual reference of torture as well as the locale for the slow, eventual achievement of Andy’s escape, his seemingly impossible goal for nearly twenty-eight years. Shawshank redefines the lapse of time for the inmates, especially for the “lifers” like Andy and Red, who can only look forward to death. The implementation of hours can seem like an eternity, and every day seems fuzzy from the next, adding to the seclusion and affliction of imprisonment. Ironically, however, time also verifies the means of Andy’s escape and redemption and gives him optimism throughout his quarter-century in Shawshank.
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.”
Through events in a prison that occur over...
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...ng the underlying theme that drives the story and the movie, propels the reader and viewer to rekindle the desire to hope above all else because hope is all one has in devastating as well as dire needs. Hope overcomes despair, permits others to see your “inner light” to develop integrity which connects with honesty and trust. Hope is the inspiration to continue to live regardless of the circumstances. Red may have narrated; “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” But, Andy Dufresne states it best: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
Work Cited
Darabot, Frank and Stephen King (1993) Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption: Screenplay. Netflix.com Viewed 4/7/14
King, Stephen. Different Seasons Mar 22, 2010. “Rita Haywood and the Shawshank Redemption” on amazon.com Viewed 4/1/14.
The Shawshank Redemption is an inspiring story about Andy Dufreine and his efforts to maintain hope in horrible situations. The directors used many effective methods that displayed signs of hope in such a horrible place. Andy maintained hope by distracting his mind and always staying occupied. Andy was also inspired to survive by helping others find hope in life.
The Crucible. Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Perf. Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder and Paul Scofield. 20th Century Fox, 1996. DVD.
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.
Reichardt, Kelly (Director), Raymond, John and Reichardt, Kelly (Writers), Williams, Michelle and Robinson, John (Performances). 2008. Oscilloscope Pictures, 2009. DVD
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.
Macbeth. Dir. Roman Polanski. Screenplay by Kenneth Tynan. Prod. Hugh M. Hefner. Perf. Jon Finch, Francesca Annis and Martin Shaw. Caliban Films, Playboy Enterprises/ Columbia Pictures, 1971. DVD.
Sidewalks are different shapes and sizes, people tend to make their own decisions to which way they would want to go. Going through the motions on a sidewalk is similar as going through the motions of life. There are many turns that could get you to your final destination and turns that can also get you into places you would not feel so comfortable being. Staying on the right path and trying to get to where you need to go isn’t so hard but when you have other sidewalks with nice grass and big beautiful street lights that can be a very big distraction to the eye and that could cause problems in your life. Nice sidewalks sometimes don't always tend to continue a nice path so they can be very believing at first but when you make it to the end
Elliot, Michael. King Lear by William Shakespeare. Princeton: Films for the Humanities. 1988. Starring: Laurence Olivier and John Hurt.
The Great Gatsby. Dir. Jack Clayton. Perf. Robert Redford, Mia Farrow. Paramount Pictures, 1974. DVD.
addresses the process of adaptation used when converting a literary hypotext to the film medium; The Shawshank Redemption (Darabont, Frank) is the film adaptation of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (King, Stephen). The story follows characters Red and Andy who serve life sentences in Shawshank Prison. Over many years a strong bond develops, and Andy, wrongly convicted, inspires many at the prison. After Andy escapes, Red decides to follow him upon being granted parole. The story privileges themes of hope, freedom, institutionalisation, friendship, time, and brutality. The film is similar to the novella, however, some aspects differ from the hypotext. Within the novella, Brooks is a minor character, Tommy Williams doesn’t die, and Warden Norton merely retires. Through altering the story, the film modifies the essence of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption for film audiences and utilises film language to convey meaning. By adding certain scenes, the text takes on stronger themes of hope, institutionalisation and brutality. This draws attention to the themes within the hypotext and thus enhances the parallels between texts.
Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Prod. Stanley Kubrick, Victor Lyndon, and Ken Adam. By Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George, Gilbert Taylor, Anthony Harvey, and Laurie Johnson. Perf. Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, and James Earl Jones. BLC, 1963. DVD.
The Hunger Games. Dir. Gary Ross. Perf. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Lionsgate, 2012. DVD.
Some ugly stain upon the good. Evil is a poison seeping through the pores of the greedy, the malicious, and the corrupt. When one resigns himself to a life in prison, one’s morals begin to crumble like the walls that surround them. Whether one is a captive of the walls or not, for sometimes; the free men are even more corrupt than the incarcerated ones. Prison can drive anyone to corruption. The only way to fight such corruption is through hope. Sometimes one has no other weapons except their own ideals. Their faith is their only motivator against evil. Andy is symbolic of this hope, not just of his own hope, but hope for the other inmates as well. The Warden is corrupt using his role at the prison for nothing more than personal gain and using Andy for the same. He uses Andy’s accounting skills to get away with it. Abusing the system every way he can, even resorting to punishing the innocent. Andy finds evidence that he may be innocent, yet the Warden refuses to listen denying him and eventually, due to Andy's persistence, punishing him. Andy ends up in the isolation for a month living off nothing, but grain and drain. This only makes Andy more determined. He is an innocent man and, therefore, should be a free man. Yet, that hope is the only power he has. He even tells Red that hope is something only one can have, they can never take it from you and that is right . No matter the outward corruption he faces or his own personal battle with
Quentin Tarantino once expressed his dislike for our current infatuation with entertainment and smartphones. To me, watching the great films on an iPhone is an abomination. Well, Tarantino, if you're out there, you'll appreciate this new device from Kickstarter that brings the power of the Hollywood big screen to your portable devices.