The Shawshank Redemption is a film about patience, time and most importantly, faith. The story is narrated by "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), who has been an inmate at Shawshank for many years. He is “the guy who can get it for you.” Whatever items inmates desire, Red can smuggle them in for a small fee. One day Red meets a new inmate Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who was wrongly accused of murder. Red and Andy quickly become good friends and rely on each other to survive and hopefully get out of Shawshank alive.
There are many times in the film where Andy uses his whit to get out of bad situations. He uses his intelligence to fight off the “Sisters” and earn some beers for his fellow inmates. Throughout the whole movie, Andy secretly and carefully plots an escape plan. This is why patience, time and faith are so important in this film. The plan took nineteen years for Andy to complete. Also, as a side job, Andy secretly plans to scam the warden of Shawshank by taking over $300,000 of his money.
The meaning behind The Shawshank Redemption can be interpreted in many different ways. There are many morals portrayed throughout the film. One thing that viewers can be taught is patience. Patience is an extremely important thing in Shawshank. Andy’s plan involves a great deal of patience. Andy knows that in order for everything to work out how he wants it to, he needs to be very patient and wait for the right moment.
Time is another important value addressed in The Shawshank Redemption. While in Shawshank, time is plentiful. Many of the inmates take up hobbies or other things to pass the time. Time ties in with patience because the inmates in Shawshank are serving long sentences. Inmates need to be patient with all of the time they have otherwise they will lose their minds in the prison.
Faith is the most important value that is addressed in The Shawshank Redemption. It can be hard to have faith while in prison. Inmates may lose all faith because of the fact that they are in prison. In all actuality though, faith is the one thing that can help the inmates get through their long sentences and ultimately be let go on probation.
Overall, The Shawshank Redemption is very effective in getting different moral lessons across to the viewers. By watching this film, views can all infer different lessons depending on their life experiences. The Shawshank Redemption has suspense, action and a much deeper meaning. This film has all the aspects of a good motion picture. It is easy for one to watch The Shawshank Redemption and walk away from it feeling a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment. This is so because of the connection that is made between the characters and the viewers. Everyone in the audience can relate to a character or two in the film which is why The Shawshank Redemption is a fantastic movie.
