Humanity In The Film The Shawshank Redemption

The hardest thing about going to prison for most men is their ability to keep any sort of humanity when they are released, compared to what they had when they entered. This is demonstrated in the film The Shawshank Redemption. In this movie Andy Dufresne, a successful young banker, is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her golf pro lover. This false accusation sends him to the infamous Shawshank Prison in Maine. Throughout his nearly two decades in this prison, we see how Andy uniquely adjusts to his new torturous life. Whether he is beaten nearly to death or raped he makes it through to the next day with a mostly positive outlook. He befriends a man named Red during his time there. Red is the man that can get most anything he desires

During his whole journey until he escapes, we see how Andy battles to keep his humanity and sanity. Even though he struggles at points, he makes it out, while other prisoners that get out are shown they are unable to adjust to the real world. This film portrays how friendship, the power of hope, and determination can help a man keep his humanity if he wants to survive. These elements help to contribute to the overall great quality of this film. Friendship can give a man meaning to his life. Friends are what keep you going when you have nothing else to rely on, or when you think there is nothing else to live for in life. Without the people, he met and became friends with on the inside of Shawshank, Andy probably would have not made it out alive. He would have thought that all this pain and suffering was not worth it anymore and that he would be better off dead. One of the most genuine friendships he had in the movie was with the man who could get you just about whatever you wanted, Red. Red was a con man that was on the inside for murder, and he slowly became Andy’s best friend while he was in Shawshank. As Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly says, “As soon as Andy became friends