The Shawshank Redemption is a movie about Andy Dufresne who is given two life sentences: one for the murder of his wife, and another for his wife’s lover. He goes to prison for 19 years, but knows all along that he is innocent. He meets Red (Morgan Freeman), a man which he becomes very close friends with. It’s a story with a strong topic and strong, brutal scenes, but definitely a must-see movie in your teenage years.
We were told we were going to watch this movie on Tuesday, and to be honest I wasn’t as excited as I should be about watching a movie at school. The first thing that came into my mind was “what in the world does the word SHAWSHANK mean?” I had no clue. The movie began and I immediately realized it was an old movie—not that that discouraged me, but it wasn’t what I was expecting for it to be. Twenty minutes into the movie and I had no idea what connection to our current project was, either. But, of course, there was. Here are 3 takeaways that stood out the most to me:
1. “They send you here for life, and that’s exactly what they take” – Red
Red was a man that had that knew it all—he knew his ways around. He had spent year after years in prison for a stupid mistake he committed when he was a young boy. Brooks was an old guy that had been in prison for around 50 years. And in 50 years, prison truly turned his life around. It did so much, that after 50 years he was let go of the prison and he had NO idea of how to behave in the real world. He was unhappy because happiness had become something that he could only find inside the prison, inside his “home”.
On the other hand, Andy knew better. As soon as he was taken to Shawshank he accepted what his new life had turned into instead of fighting against it—he knew there was no wait out, at least not soon enough. Throughout the story, there’s a theme of constant determination and acceptance. Something that stood out to me is how he fought to not let anyone take his life away, as the quote says. Part of his life was his passion, his passion for rocks. He then gets a rock hammer: his silver lining.
There are many messages to take away from this movie, but if there’s something that has to stick with us is the power of being institutionalized—the power of being controlled and consumed by the system. Andy was a man that knew where we stood; he was an innocent man after all, and always kept his determination for not letting that system consume him and make it feel comfortable in it, just like Red and Brooks grew to be. That is honorable of a man that knows what he wants in life.
On the other hand, Andy knew better. As soon as he was taken to Shawshank he accepted what his new life had turned into instead of fighting against it—he knew there was no wait out, at least not soon enough. Throughout the story, there’s a theme of constant determination and acceptance. Something that stood out to me is how he fought to not let anyone take his life away, as the quote says. Part of his life was his passion, his passion for rocks. He then gets a rock hammer: his silver lining.
There are many messages to take away from this movie, but if there’s something that has to stick with us is the power of being institutionalized—the power of being controlled and consumed by the system. Andy was a man that knew where we stood; he was an innocent man after all, and always kept his determination for not letting that system consume him and make it feel comfortable in it, just like Red and Brooks grew to be. That is honorable of a man that knows what he wants in life.
2. The unknown
The feeling of fear is ubiquitous in the movie, fear of the unknown. The unknown is the real life for many prisoners. Being incarcerated for so many years, lead them to by completely ignorant about the real world. But, that is nothing but a man’s whole desires. The problem is created once they get that “freedom” of the real life—it’s not always what they expect it to be.
We discussed as a class how there was a clear connection to our transition into college. There’s a large pool of students whose only purpose in life is to get to prestigious and elite colleges. Why? To get a job, to have a lot of money, to raise a family, and being able to provide all their family needs (superficial, if you ask me). Students dream for years and years—some even a lifetime—to get to the college of their dreams. However, this doesn’t always turn out how they wanted. Yes, it might be that BIG-named University you can brag about with your friends and family, but how many are genuinely happy where they are at? I’m sure it’s not 100% of the students.
We discussed as a class how there was a clear connection to our transition into college. There’s a large pool of students whose only purpose in life is to get to prestigious and elite colleges. Why? To get a job, to have a lot of money, to raise a family, and being able to provide all their family needs (superficial, if you ask me). Students dream for years and years—some even a lifetime—to get to the college of their dreams. However, this doesn’t always turn out how they wanted. Yes, it might be that BIG-named University you can brag about with your friends and family, but how many are genuinely happy where they are at? I’m sure it’s not 100% of the students.
3. Building empathy
We’ve always heard about good karma. The more good we do, the more good we’ll receive. Andy sacrifices for the team in several occasions throughout the movie. He uses his intelligence and empathy to get things that will benefit him. And all he did, certainly worked. If this doesn’t make us realized how important is to be empathetic and always push ourselves to become selfless, then I don’t know what will. I don’t want to spoil any scenes from the movie, but you realize at the end of the movie that he has a purpose in life, and was going to do EVERYTHING he could to get it. Whether it was something sketchy or not, he did. But guess what? He never forgot about those other individuals who help him through that process, consciously or not.