SINNER OR THE HERO?
Aug. 31st, 2016 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anjali_vij posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
engh_2016 'And for the briefest of moments every last man at Shawshank felt free.' - The Shawshank Redemption
All of the prison stories are always somehow about prison breaks. But, what makes Shawshank Redemption such a great movie is that its hardly a narration of a prison - break. Then the first question should be - Is there a prison break? Yes. Absolutely. There is a prison - break. But, instead of providing the entire build - up and the execution of prison - break, the movie provides a narration with small snippets of how it took place. Through such a telling of the actions, the movie brings forth the idea that this movie is definitely not about a prison - break rather it focuses on the character who broke away from the prison - Andy Dufresne.
Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is a phenomenal character portrayed with fabulous acting. He comes to the Shawshank State Penitentiary in the year 1947 under the fault of murdering his wife and the other guy, she was going out with. But, being a smart banker, he smuggles his way into the authorities' most important contacts and earns favours be it in the forms of free alcohol, getting the bully into the hole, building up the library, or getting in endorsements from the Warden himself.
But, what really does sets Andy apart from other inmates is his sense of aloofness in the beginning and how, he truly believes that he did not kill his wife even after being intoxicated and the district attorney giving him not only one life sentence but, two. It is the absolute certainty of his innocence, that attracts one person to him. It feels, as Red says, that he is literally protected by some invisible cloak from the brutal realities of a prison - life.
Though a convicted murderer, Andy is the protagonist of the movie. He is the one who wins his co-workers free alcohol and helps them to feel like free men. Apart from this, Andy does a part - time banker gig where he provides financial as well as legal advice to the warden, the guards and then the guards of other prisons too. Also, he helps Brooks in building up a library by sending mails to the State to provide the Prison with extra books and funds to improve the library. Not only this, Andy also helps many of the inmates get their high - school diploma. One more incident where Andy makes all the men in Shawshank feel free is by playing an Italian song by two ladies on the speakers.
All of this, really makes one wonder who the real sinner is.
After coming to know about the true murderer of his wife and the other guy, Andy tries to talk to the warden but he is instead put into the hole. Unable to take the harsh and cruel reality of the prison after Tommy's death - which functions like a trigger - Andy escapes free from the prison, though he was planning for it way long back.
But what Andy really leaves as a gift for all the prisoners of Shawshank, is the death of the warden and Bradley, the guard's imprisonment. He serves them the taste of their own medicine and shows them their true place in the face of their corruption. Hence, it is rightly said that some birds can not be caged because their wings shine too brightly.
One such bird was Andy Dufresne.
'Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.' - The Shawkshank Redemption
All of the prison stories are always somehow about prison breaks. But, what makes Shawshank Redemption such a great movie is that its hardly a narration of a prison - break. Then the first question should be - Is there a prison break? Yes. Absolutely. There is a prison - break. But, instead of providing the entire build - up and the execution of prison - break, the movie provides a narration with small snippets of how it took place. Through such a telling of the actions, the movie brings forth the idea that this movie is definitely not about a prison - break rather it focuses on the character who broke away from the prison - Andy Dufresne.
Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is a phenomenal character portrayed with fabulous acting. He comes to the Shawshank State Penitentiary in the year 1947 under the fault of murdering his wife and the other guy, she was going out with. But, being a smart banker, he smuggles his way into the authorities' most important contacts and earns favours be it in the forms of free alcohol, getting the bully into the hole, building up the library, or getting in endorsements from the Warden himself.
But, what really does sets Andy apart from other inmates is his sense of aloofness in the beginning and how, he truly believes that he did not kill his wife even after being intoxicated and the district attorney giving him not only one life sentence but, two. It is the absolute certainty of his innocence, that attracts one person to him. It feels, as Red says, that he is literally protected by some invisible cloak from the brutal realities of a prison - life.
Though a convicted murderer, Andy is the protagonist of the movie. He is the one who wins his co-workers free alcohol and helps them to feel like free men. Apart from this, Andy does a part - time banker gig where he provides financial as well as legal advice to the warden, the guards and then the guards of other prisons too. Also, he helps Brooks in building up a library by sending mails to the State to provide the Prison with extra books and funds to improve the library. Not only this, Andy also helps many of the inmates get their high - school diploma. One more incident where Andy makes all the men in Shawshank feel free is by playing an Italian song by two ladies on the speakers.
All of this, really makes one wonder who the real sinner is.
After coming to know about the true murderer of his wife and the other guy, Andy tries to talk to the warden but he is instead put into the hole. Unable to take the harsh and cruel reality of the prison after Tommy's death - which functions like a trigger - Andy escapes free from the prison, though he was planning for it way long back.
But what Andy really leaves as a gift for all the prisoners of Shawshank, is the death of the warden and Bradley, the guard's imprisonment. He serves them the taste of their own medicine and shows them their true place in the face of their corruption. Hence, it is rightly said that some birds can not be caged because their wings shine too brightly.
One such bird was Andy Dufresne.
'Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.' - The Shawkshank Redemption
