In Frank Darabont's cinematic text, The Shawshank Redemption, narration is used as a way to explore the role which narration plays in shaping the audience response towards the characterisation of inmates and prison authorities. By the use of narration, Frank Darabont explores the ways in which the narration effects individual prisoners, prison authorities and inmates as a whole from Shawshank Prison and how they manipulate the audience.
In the film The Shawshank Redemption, narration plays an important role in shaping the audience response towards the characterisation of the inmates and prison authorities. One narration that plays a role in shaping audience response is when Red narrates in the scene where the music can be heard playing that,
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For example, Red states after the prison escape of Andy Dufresne that, “I have to remind myself some birds are not meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright.” This demonstrates that although the audience knows that Red is only a character they are persuaded into trusting what Red says as he gives a sense of authority about the place. This narration builds the characterisation for Andy. This quote makes the audience feel empathetic towards Andy, as they are persuaded into feeling that Andy should not be in prison. Andy is compared to a bird in the narration which Red says. The audience knows that it is not natural to keep a bird in a cage as it is meant to be released into the world so it can fly and be free, which is exactly how the audience feels towards Andy. From this narration which Red gives, the audience feels a sense of authority from Red and takes his word about Andy, as the audience knows that Andy and Red were close friends while in prison …show more content…
One key example of this is one which involves a narration by Red about the Warden. “The following April Andy did tax returns for half the guards at Shawshank. The year after that he did them all, including the Warden's.” This narration by Red immediately shapes the audience response, which makes the audience have some belief in the Warden, as he is shown to not be as corrupt of a person that the audience may have initially anticipated. The audience is shown the power which the prison authorities give to certain prisoners, such as Andy Dufresne. It may appear normal for this to happen, but the audience later discovers that the prison authorities abused the power which they have, to benefit themselves. During Andy’s first few years, it became known that he was abused by a group of prisoners, known as ‘The Sisters’. Captain Hadley and several other guards, had beaten up the leader of ‘The Sisters’, Boggs, after discovering how they abused Andy on a regular basis. The audience is shown how the prison authorities are willing to abuse their power to whatever extent, as long as it benefits and helps them in some way or another. As the narrator was Red, the audience trusts him in building the character background for the prison authorities. The audience is soon exposed to corruptly run prison and
The creators of this movie used several effective, and often subtle, methods to illustrate the hope found in Andy and his surroundings. Andy was always portrayed as a clean-cut and well-groomed prisoner with his shirt always buttoned and his hair always combed. This self-respect was in great contrast to the other prisoners who were portrayed as dirty, stereotypical prisoners. The common prisoners also had vocabularies and grammar that were far inferior to Andy’s. The distinctions between Andy and the common prisoners showed that Andy was different, those differences were that he had hope.
Before long, in the wake of approaching Red for "Rita Hayworth", Andy again experienced the Sisters’ brutal beating, which led him to being in the prison infirmary for a month. Boggs, the leader of "The Sisters", was sent to solitary, and after getting out in a week, Hadley and his men beat him so badly that he was left paralyzed, which led to him being transferred to a prison hospital upstate, and the Sisters never bothered Andy again. When Andy got out of the infirmary, he found a bunch of rocks and a poster of Rita Hayworth in his cell that were gifts from Red and his buddies.
Society can be very cruel; hopes and dreams can become reality or vanish away into the shivering winds. It is important to maintain hope when life is crumbling around you and freedom is what humans strive for in order to execute what they please during their existence on earth. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, is a clear example of freedom combined with hope, illustrated by the characters of Andy Dufresne and Red. Andy, like Red, never loses hope of leaving prison; furthermore they gain a sense of freedom when departing from Shawshank. Having beliefs, in addition to fighting for what you believe is right are virtues that help you to strive for success which ultimately, lets you reach for freedom and hope.
Jessica Adams’ article, The Wildest Show in the West, focuses on the convergence of leisure and imprisonment (Adams, 95). Adams investigates the social hierarchy that is within the prison system. Adams’ puts Angola, Louisiana’s very own State Penitentiary, under the microscope as she examines social order. Through cheap entrainment and the turn of a profit, Adams’ draws attention to how the Angola penitentiary aids social order.
In the film “The Shawshank Redemption” there are many aspects used throughout the film to manipulate the audience’s feelings and reactions to the scenes presented to them. For example, at the very start of the film we already feel on edge and we as the audience are not knowing what to expect. Andy is first sat in his car in almost complete darkness with low key lighting used already to shape our opinion on Andy. The use of the low key under-lighting and only showing the audience little parts of Andy’s face allows the audience to start to create a dark image of Andy and become suspicious
Frank Darabont (writer-director-producer) in 1999, returned to the director’s chair for the first time in five years. Darabont, who not only directed Shawshank Redemption, but adapted it from a Stephen King story, followed the exact same path with The Green Mile. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, and Produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, Darkwoods Productions, and Warner Bros. David Valdes is the producer, David Tattersall, B.S.C. is the director of photography, Terence Marsh is the production designer, and Richard Francis-Bruce is the film editor.
The movie, 12 Angry Men is about twelve white men deciding the jail sentence of an 18-year old boy who has allegedly committed murder by stabbing his father. The men must decide if the boy is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt awaiting a death sentence by electric chair. The first scene of the movie is the jurors waling into one room and Juror number 1(foreman) is seen leader of the deliberation. He tells the jurors to gather around a table and explains that the goal of the deliberation is to vote on the sentence of a boy’s guiltiness and innocence. After no deliberation at first, everyone quickly unanimously votes guilty. Everyone except one juror; who explains the reason why he couldn’t cast his vote guilty was because he couldn’t decide such
The author’s purpose is to also allow the audience to understand the way the guards and superintendent felt towards the prisoners. We see this when the superintendent is upset because the execution is running late, and says, “For God’s sake hurry up, Francis.” And “The man ought to have been dead by this time.” This allows the reader to see the disrespect the authority has towards the prisoners.
Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Bastards entails a Jewish revenge fantasy that is told through a counterfactual history of events in World War II. However, this story follows a completely different plot than what we are currently familiar with. Within these circumstances, audiences now question the very ideas and arguments that are often associated with World War II. We believe that Inglourious Basterds is a Jewish revenge fantasy that forces us to rethink our previous understandings by disrupting the viewers sense of content and nature in the history of World War II. Within this thesis, this paper will cover the Jewish lens vs. American lens, counter-plots with-in the film, ignored social undercurrents, and the idea that nobody wins in war. These ideas all correlate with how we view World War II history and how Inglourious Basterds muddles our previous thoughts on how these events occurred.
Solomon Northup was a black man who was born a free man at a time when slavery was still legal in America. He was born in Minerva, New York, in the year 1808 (Northup 19). Northup’s father, Mintus, was originally a slave of the Northup family in Rhode Island. He was freed when the family relocated to New York. When he was growing up as a young adult, Northup helped his father with farming chores and became a raftsman for a short while on the waterways of New York. As an adult, Northup married Anne Hampton, who was of mixed heritage on Christmas day of 1829. Together, they had three children. Over the years Northup became a famous fiddle player, and this gave him recognition in his town.
The internal monologue tells a lot about the narrator, since every word is chosen by them and no one else. Emotion is also heightened by internal monologues, with all information confined to the narrator’s mind, bouncing back and forth between the walls of their brain. In an internal monologue, perception of character is narrowed to solely how the narrator interacts with herself and the empathy felt by the reader is intensified.
Red’s recollection of the interaction between Andy Dufresne and Byron Hadley depicts Andy as the victor of the conflict, despite his calm demeanor and refusal to react to Hadley’s violent physicality. Red begins the passage by stating that the conflict was not actually about the money involved, but that, “…it was man against man, and Andy simply forced him.” The significance of this description highlights a heroic characteristic within Andy, as a physically meek man would never have become a person of significance within the prison, even with a vast knowledge of banking. It is Andy’s display of confidence that Hadley responds to, which depicts an underlying respect for Andy that resonates with
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
The television show “OZ” on HBO, is another good example of how the mass media sugarcoats prisons. The inmates live in a fictional prison called Oswald Correctional Facility, in which they have created a test program called Emerald City. Emerald City is a part of the prison that is separate from the general population. The prisoners are allowed a great deal of freedom. They have television, games (i.e. checkers), computer facilities, a library, and a full gym. There are some ideas that are accurate from the show ...