Shawshank Redemption analysis | Hope vs Fear 

I never looked at it as foreshadowing. I mean who would've thought he'd break out like that?

Such great symbolism, a man crawling through countless others shit and piss and triumphs against his oppressors in the end. The contrast of the disgust and degradation we see Andy go through really makes an impact when he ends up happy in Zihautanejo with his boat and his buddy by his side. Paradise.

What if there was a grate on the end of the sewer pipe? He'd have to crawl backwards 500 yards. And would there be enough fresh air in there, he'd probably pass out and die from toxic fumes.

great spot

Best movie ever!! By a mile

Wow

This beautifully written comment brought tears to my eyes. I hope that you get everything you want and more out of this life and choose to enjoy the little moments of beauty that it offers. Blessings to you friend

Great art somehow always finds us when we need it most

It's not where we are, it's how we got here

Same

Yes...yes

Loll there's gonna be about 3 people in this comment section that know anything about a ruck march. Good luck. Any big crazy hills?

Lol my dad used to complain about these when he was in the army. Hope it goes as well as can be expected!

Thank you! It all went well!! 14 out 40 passed the race

I've known this movie since I was a kid. There was this one time I worked for a servepro type job and we were sucking up water and drying a mansion in Minnesota. We had to either tear out the theater room or one of us had to crawl in the one foot crawlspace and cut the soaked insulation into a black garbage bag. I volunteered. What made me laugh is there was a movie poster of Shawshank on the wall. So I put on some good music and went in. Saved the homeowner thousands of dollars. Seeing this broken down, I loved hearing new aspects of perseverance and hope in dark seasons of life

Thomas Coughlan: I wish you every luck and all joys

@@LA_HA thank you

Pfft, some friend! ;)

@@ThatWeirdFinn Lol. I think she thought I'd already seen it.

It's true, not many films where the main subject is hope are made for adults, and that's a shame because it's hard as an adult to connect to animated characters or ones with exceptional skills and talents. Although there are some hopeful themes in films but the stakes in Shawshank are higher than, say, hope for fame or a relationship. Those things pale in comparison to hope for freedom.

The only genre I can think is about hope for adults is rom coms. It's a hope for love, companionship, and to be with someone who really cares for and understands you. It's a kind of freedom. Not the same as Andy hoped for, but close. Very close

I simply cannot believe how this film flopped when it first hit theatres. This tends to happen to “cult” films that develop a larger fan base through cable reruns or VHS.

Hail and well met, fellow book dragon (we're no longer book worms) MLIS survivor, and kindred spirit of the written word

@@xzonia1 As your words have brightened mine. May your journey in the world and on the page be the stars that light your Way ever upward. I look forward to seeing you in other comment sections. Until then

@@LA_HA ​ @LA HA I'm enchanted to meet you, fellow bibliophile. Your words have brightened my evening. Until we meet again, I wish you a good morrow and safe journey.

@@LA_HA Ah, sorry. When I returned to my computer, I deleted my response by accident. (I have reposted it so your reply doesn't look out of place.) Until then

@@xzonia1 Not a problem, at all. Be safe and be well

I'd say the redemption is in multiple places. Even as the title says in the prison itself.

@@ravenlunatic8 Yes. The title tells the tale

@IntrepidTit It's okay. It costs nothing to ask nicely and oftentimes, requests are seen by content creators as interest in their channel and ideas

Thanks! 😊

It's a tough question. How much is contentment a defence against pain and how much is it true happiness? I don't think hope for a future outcome is necessarily happiness but nor do I think contentment in present necessarily is either. I think there are places of pain, such as Shawshank, where hope is essential as a mean to retain an open outlook on the world. Losing it, even if you were then released from prison or that place of pain, could leave you more familiar with closing yourself off and keeping hidden to ever dare open up and achieve any state of contentment. You more succumb to misery than accept contenment, I'd imagine. I think contentment and hope can be the same thing though, I think you can be hopeful that what you have is enough, that it's ok you don't have more or that things aren't perfect. Hope is having belief in yourself in a way, and that's an important part of contentment. I don't think it necessarily has to do with reaching some external, idealised version of happiness. I think that sort of answers your question 😂 thinking about it as I type, that's all that really comes to mind at the moment

@@mylittlethoughttree that’s an interesting way of looking at it, it makes sense, thank you

Hope is a way of thinking . Contentment is a way of feeling . One is far stable than the other in the bussiness of trying to live a meaningfull lives.

Interesting thought. Since Red was only introduced as the narrator later, I always thought of the opening sequence as objective fact.

@@atallguynh Yeah there are some interesting psychological clues that point to Andy pulling the greatest con. Remember when he arrives and everyone laughs at him when he says he didn't do it. Well he actually did do it and tricked all of us into believing him which is greater than simply escaping.

I personally don't buy it. With those sort of theories, I always stop to consider what it'd add thematically or emotionally if it were true. I think Andy actually being guilty and tricking us would kind of undermine the main themes of the story, so it's not for me

@@leeshepherd834 Doubt that was what Stephen King had in mind when he wrote the story, nor Frank Darabont the director or Tim Robbins who played Andy. If you were to ask any of them, they'd probably tell you that Andy was indeed innocent. Anything else is conjecture on the viewers' part. I saw that video, and I don't buy it either. Again, it's just one guy's personal interpretation of the story, one I don't happen to agree with. How would you account for the fact that Tommy knew some juicy tibbits about the murder Andy was convicted of? I know this guy's theory was Tommy looked up to Andy and that he wanted to do something to help him, but the look on his face when Red tells him whose murders Andy was sent to prison for, it was not the look of a guy who just decided to make up a story out of thin air to help out his tutor. It was a look of pure shock. And apparently the warden thought there was some truth to it (or at least believed it was possible) since he had Hadley gun Tommy down to keep Andy behind bars. Andy was innocent, made his escape and got his well deserved revenge on those who would continue to oppress and torment him to the end of his days. Of course that's MY interpretation of this great film (and short story).

Possibly next weekend. I've had a bit of a holiday so I'm unsure about what will be finished in time

When the days go by faster than a hot knife through butter, and it seems like they're on a repetitive, monotonous loop, I believe that's all you can be. After another day doing almost exactly what you have previously for God knows how long, the only thing you can feel with passion is the hope your dreams or something to really make you happy could be on the horizon. Maybe if you worked just a little harder, or you dedicated more time to it, whatever you wish would come true. Hope seems like a rejection of reality to some; I see it more as a projection of reality that may or may not be brought into the tangible world. Why be hopeful? So it all doesn't feel so empty and doesn't seem so meaningless. I believe the question is; how can you not?

@@timbreakradio existence is pain my hope is dead but I will never die if I can disconnect from my humanity pain won’t matter.

@@timbreakradio I reject hope because it’s weak

@@timbreakradio I’m pathetic sorry.

@@thegreatjohnjohnson4016 You sound lost. You strive for disconnection from the pain of humanity, yet put yourself down about this goal you wish to reach. Clearly there is more you feel matters. Why do you feel this way/believe that hope is weak?

Green mile? Stand by me? The shining?

@@kirstytoomes3192 dude even King himself hates The Shining 😂😂😂

That doesn’t change how successful or unsuccessful a movie is though

@@kirstytoomes3192 ah, you read it like that. Fixed it.

@@ThatWeirdFinn still wrong whilst stand by me and green mile exist.

based

Of course I'd argue a car thief hurts people. The vast majority of crimes are horrible, not something to at all excuse or forgive...but it's hardly as simple as either "everyone is innocent and deserves human respect" or "all prisoners deserve to be treated like scum, f'em." For me the main question is what does that approach actually solve? It's ineffective at stopping people from reoffending and the penal system clearly isn't enough of a deterrent on its own. It's a lot easier and more comforting to just conclude all prisoners deserve to be treated awfully but pragmatically, it helps nothing and appeals to little beyond our own desires to see others punished. Does that mean criminals shouldn't be punished? No, of course they should but what good is punishment on its own if crime keeps happening? I've known people who were stabbed, who killed, I know several prison officers and prisoners, so don't think I'm coming from a place of naivety, but what's the point in just concluding "this person is terrible, so screw him", if it never ages with why these crimes happen and keep happening? If we do talk morality then yeah, I do think it's awful the way human prisoners are treated. If Andy was guilty, we could still both condemn him AND the prison system too. My question would be what about the Warden's practices, or the guards? Are they innocent of their crimes simply because they were enacting them on convicted criminals? If not then where do we draw the line about what's acceptable and what's not acceptable? I think it's a difficult conversation with a lot of factors, not one so black and white to conclude f'em and that the current system is flawless and doesn't deserve any criticism

I was also super annoyed and anxious about that, but I actually think Red believed Andy was free to "escape" if he felt he needed that. Actually, who is Red to stop Andy, the person that brings hope endlessly, when he doesn't have the strength anymore of continuing with only unfair punishment?

Yeah, it's possible to justify non-intervention from a narrative perspective, but not from a moral one. I guess I just disagree with the implication of the film that suicide is an option. The best narrative defense of Red's non-intervention for me would be that he was not actually convinced that Andy would hang himself.

@IntrepidFinch It's not a moral option. It doesn't matter what dead people think.

My opinion is pretty straight forward. We're alive for a reason, which implies a creator and obligations to Him. A corollary of my opinion seems to lead to what you believe. There is no God, so what does it matter what we do with our lives.

It's impossible not to make assumptions and making them is good, regardless of their size, as long as they are presented clearly and consistently, and their owners hold themselves accountable to evidence against them. Contests of ideas rely on the correct application of the assumptions of both sides. For example, the assumption that creation implies the Creator is far more plausible than the assumption that there is no god.

Would you care to name said movies which portray the themes better?

It’s not frustratingly offensive, it’s just the reality of the Maine penal system of the time. It’s set in Maine cause the original novella was written by Stephen King and his stories are 95% set in Maine/New England. The area of Buxton also has great significance to the story. Where exactly did you want them to set the film if not in the novel accurate location? Yea, trust me; you’re not that deep either hotshot. Think what you want. Shawshank has already gone down as one of the great movies ever made...and the best part? There is nothing you can or will be able to do about it but shout off your opinions on RU-vid comment sections lol. Why exactly are you here if you hate the movie?

How do you feel when writing this? I'm curious.

I tend to find the most profound ideas are also often quite simple, otherwise they never truly touch the heart. They just become intellectualisation. Shawshank Redemption isn't meant to be highly artistic, in my eyes. It's meant to touch the heart and the film functions perfectly to do that