The Shawshank Redemption: A Plea to our Humanity

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“Get bussy living or get bussy dying”

This central quote from the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, in many way sums up the message of the film.
It is a call to live a full life, even if you are enduring the most horrific circumstances that knock you down and seek to destroy you.

Chances are that you have seen this film before; if so, I invite you to revisit it with me and explore how the soul of the story still inspires today, over 30 years later. Who knows, perhaps I may even have a new insight into it for you.
If somehow you have never seen it, I hope that this blog provides a taster for it. Naturally, I hope you will watch it and be inspired, as perhaps millions of other people have been. Be warned, spoilers included.

The story of Andy and Red

Andy Dufresne is a banker who is sentenced to Shawshank prison for the murder of his wife and her male lover.
For 20 years, he experienced various attacks on his humanity. He was sexually assaulted by other male inmates, beaten by prison guards, and manipulated by the prison warden. At no time does he lose control of himself to fear and anger. He uses his financial skills and determination to improve the lives of the other inmates. Ultimately, he uses these abilities to secure his escape and bring down the corrupt regime of Warden Norton.
Andy maintains his humanity by believing that hope is a part of him that can never be taken from him.

Red is already an inmate by the time Andy arrives. Over the years, Andy and Red built a natural friendship. Red is “the guy who can get you things”. At times, Red is sarcastic about Andy’s ability to maintain hope. In the film, we see him being rejected for probation twice.
Eventually, though, Red learns to embrace the hope that sustained Andy.

The Villains

There are three main villains in the story.

The Sisters: This is a small group of male inmates who sexually assault Andy numerous times. Eventually, because Andy becomes useful to Warden Norton, the sisters are dealt with aggressively.

Captain Byron Hadley: Is the head guard. He beats a new inmate to death. He kills another inmate who can prove Andy’s innocence at the warden’s request. He is also the guard whom Andy first offers to fix taxes for.
He is ultimately arrested for his part in the financial fraud conducted by Warden Norton.

Warden Samuel Norton: At Andy’s entry to Shawshank, Warden Norton claims he believes in two things: discipline and The Bible. While he is not directly involved in any physical harm, he is in charge of everything and manipulates every circumstance to his own advantage.
As the film advances, Warden Norton tries to break Andy. A broken Andy will simply do what the warden wants him to do. Primarily, this is to hide the financial scams he is running when the prisoners do work for the local community.
When Samuel Norton realises his empire is falling, he shoots himself in the head.

Key Moments when Andy Dufresne Kept his Human Dignity

There are four moments I will pick here.

The roof

Some of the inmates are sent to tar the roof of a local public building. Captain Hadley is overheard by them when he is giving out about the tax on his inheritance. Out of protocol, Andy approaches him to ask, “Do you trust your wife?”
Such a bizarre question enrages the captain. As Hadley holds Andy over the edge of the roof, Andy offers to solve his financial woes at a price. That price is a couple of cold beers for his friends as they work in the hot sun. Captain Hadley accepts the deal. As the men enjoy their drink, Red says they feel as free men for those few moments.

In this scene, Andy is risking his life for his friends, not for their survival but for their dignity. They felt they were being treated like free men, even respected. Something denied to them since their committal.
Andy, for the first time, truly wins the respect of his fellow prisoners. Andy, using his financial knowledge, no doubt boosted his own self-esteem. Yes, he took a gamble with his life. I believe he knew what he was doing and that it would work. It is possible that he even thought that using his financial skill could have long-term benefits, as it did.

The library

Andy proved his financial worth to the prison guards and warden. As a reward, he is given a cushy job in the prison library and plenty of time to apply for more tax refunds for the staff. However, he does not use his good fortune for his own benefit. He starts a letter-writing campaign to the state officials to increase the funding for the library. Eventually, he gets a degree of funding. This spurs him on to get more. He starts writing twice as much. Again, after a long period of time, he wins.

The main benefit here is for Andy’s fellow prisoners. They are exposed to novels, history, nature, and crafts through those books. Again, they are reminded about the life they have lost and hopefully will regain someday. The life of a free man. For some of the inmates, Andy uses the library to help them pass their high school exams.

Andy has a keen desire to use his skills to improve the lives of others. It keeps him active in mind and positive in spirit. An example of how he keeps busy living even in Shawshank Prison.

The opera

One very unique scene also comes from the library.
This time it's music.
This time, Andy goes too far against the rules.
This time, Andy pays a price.

Alone in the library, he takes the opportunity to listen to a record of The Marriage of Figaro. Then he decides why keep it to himself. He locks himself into the room, turns on the microphone, brings it over to the record player, switches on the speakers to the prison and plays the music. He lies back in his chair with a smile while Warden Noton bangs on the door, telling him to stop. When the warden fails, he gestures to Captain Hadley to break in and apprehend Andy. Thereafter, Andy is in solitary confinement for two weeks.

Why did Andy do it?
Surely he knew he was going to suffer for it.

I believe Andy was prepared to self-sacrifice for others. He simply believed that it would give his now friends an experience in life that had the potential to change them, to uplift them. He was reminding them that there is beauty even in the midst of a prolonged experience of perceived dying.
This is part of what Red had to say about it;

“I tell you, those voices soared…higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments…
Every last man at Shawshank felt free.”

The hole

After the music incident, he spent two weeks in solitary confinement, THE HOLE.

We don’t see him in there; we just see him after he gets out. Please watch the scene below.

I added this whole clip because it is the most important scene in the film.
Andy first says he survived his two weeks in the hole by listening to Mozart in his head. He explains they couldn’t take this from him. He uses music as an analogy to remember that there is more than the walls that surround them. Music helps him to remember that Shawshank can’t take everything from him. His love of music is inside him.
Red asks Andy what he is talking about. Andy’s reply, “Hope”. Red’s warning that hope has no place in Shawshank and that it drives a man insane. Andy’s reply is to remind Red that a fellow inmate, Brooke Hatlen, took his own life when he was released after 50 years of incarceration. Andy is implying that Brooks died because he lost hope. Red realises he is facing his own hopeless despair and leaves.

At the end of the film, Red reads a letter from Andy. Andy writes that hope is a good thing and no good thing ever dies.
Red accepts that Andy is right. It is time to get busy living, and that hope is what can make him alive.

While Andy’s long plan of escape was just for him, he wanted to share the benefit of it with his close friend Red. Not just the gift of friendship outside of Shawshank, but the gift of hope itself to make Red’s expected freedom worth living for.

What is your Redemption Story?

Shawshank is definitely a redemption story. While Andy is the main protagonist, even the hero, I suggest it is Red who undergoes the redemption arc of the story.
Red starts with institutional syniscim. He believes hope should not be spoken of.
When he finally gets parroll, he sees he has a choice. A choice to wither away into insignificance alone, or to take a risk. To trust his friend. To allow himself to hope that the life his friendship with Andy promises will be as beautiful as he expects it to be.

As I conclude this blog, I want you to consider what you need redeeming from?
Is your belief that you can achieve your dreams downtrodden, smashed?
Do you have goals you are striving for?
Are you unable to get out of your rut because you don’t see what life can be outside of it?

What are you busy doing?
Are you busy waiting for parroll or release?
Or are you busy making the most of your days doing whatever good there is to do?
When your moment to move comes, are you ready to take it?
Has that moment arrived?
Is it exam time?

Other Related Blogs

Proverbs to uplift the soul. This is a collection of sayings and observations from various people over various time periods. They all share the purpose of trying to impart wisdom and encourage the weak.

The fear of failure. A look at how the fear of failure holds us back from living our full lives. How setting goals and devising plans to achieve them can be empowering, breaking the cycle of failure in life.

What is to be learned when life goes bad? A look at trauma. Can we grow from it? Is accepting that bad things happen for no good reason possible, especially when it’s our story?

Priorities in life. We can struggle to find meaning in mundane daily life. Part of the reason for that is that we prioritise others over ourselves. This blog briefly examines how our self-esteem is not improved by following our own self-interest. Prioritising others can give us a purpose beyond ourselves.

HOPE! Can we live a life without hope? Does Hope drive us mad? Is a fool’s hope a damnation?
Whatever way we view hope, it is still a drive that we can not ignore. To hope seems a basic instinct.