The Redemption Hope and Persistence of Life on Shaw shank

罗莎莎

【Abstract】The film was about the caring and smart banker Andy Dufresne，who is falsely accused and convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover.He is sent to Shawshank prison in 1940，he met many fellow prisoners，including Red，a fellow inmate serving a life sentence，who has recently failed to gain parole became his important friend later.During his time at Shawshank Andys way of life is changed，he helped the head of the prison do the illegal things in order to gain some freedom，he rebuilt the library and helped the other prisoners，they all liked him，for he helped them find hope again，he was the model of dignity among them，also he never lost his hope.

【Key words】Andy； hope； persistence Redemption

The story begins with the trial of a young banker，Andy Defense，victimized by circumstantial evidence，resulting in a conviction for the murder of his wife and her lover.After a quick conviction，Andy finds himself serving a life sentence at Shaw shank prison，with no hope of parole.He exists in this prison only in appearance，keeping his mind free from the drab walls around him.His ability to do this results in the gaining of respect from his fellow inmates，but most of all from Ellis Redding.Ellis，commonly referred to as Red，finds gainful use of his entrepreneurial spirit within the drab walls of Shaw shank by dealing in contraband and commodities rare to the confines of prison.Andy's demeanor and undeniable sense of hope causes Red to take a deeper look at himself，and the world around him.Andy proves to Red and the other inmates that in the conventional walls of Shaw shank prison convention will find no home in his lifestyle.

Ⅰ.Hope in Andy's eyes

“Hope is a good thing，maybe the best of things.And no good thing ever dies” and Andy has always owned it.He didnt break down when he was thrown into prison through he was innocent.On the contrary，he found ways to kill the long time in future an impossibility to escape.Andy finds Red has connections on the outside that can acquire contraband for the inmates，and first asks Red for a rock hammer in order to maintain his rock collection hobby，which he uses to -made chess set.He later asks Red for a full-size poster of Rita Hayworth for his wall，replacing them over the years with ones of Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch.

Ⅱ.The persistence

A.the meaning of persistence

The film highlights the redemption of individuals and groups.

Persistence was not only for Andy himself，in some sense，but also for his friends.His persistence for his friends was a kind of persistence of their soul.He made them understand the value of pursuing freedom and hope.

But，there comes a question：Is Andy the only redeemed inmate in the prison？ Of course，the answer is not.From the film，we can see that with the help of Andy，most of the prisoners got high school diplomas，which made them，adapt to the outside world more easily.Whats more，Andy was not only fight for freedom and hope for himself，but also for all the prisoners and because of him，hopes and dream went through the jail.That is to say，Andy is not the only redeemed inmate in the prison.Its all the prisoners redemption.Further more，after watching the film，we can also redeem from our life as well as the pressure.

Ⅲ.Conclusion

During his 27 years life in prison，he refuses to lose his hope.With faith and hope，prison exists in name only； with faith and hope，sometimes a small hammer or a large poster can redeem his life； with faith and hope，nothing is impossible.The story was compact，stimulating，meanwhile still very simple，as Shaw shank reflects our own living world.Although Shaw shank is a prison，it is like a small community.People there，just like in our real world，are hierarchical，each doing their own jobs，obeying not only the clear rules and regulations，and of course the hidden rules as well.The writer did his great effort to lead us to his surmise：one who is living in the world，lives in a prison of considerable size.

Why people value“Shaw shank”so much.Maybe it plays more like a spiritual experience than a movie，to be honest，People like excitement at the movie.Films about“redemption”are approached with great care.A lot of people are not thrilled by the prospect of a great film.Being a huge film fan myself，this movie is beautiful and genius.It shows what prison life is like at the time which may not be innovative because obviously it has been done before，also Ive been shown by Andy's example that we have to keep true to ourselves，not lose hope，bide our time，set a quiet example and look for our chance.“I guess it comes down to a simple choice，really，”he tells Red.“Get busy living' or get busy dying”.

References：

[1]Arthur，Chris.“Mastery，the Buddhist Messiah.”Eds.Bowie，F.and C.Decay.The Coming Deliverer：44-55.

[2]Millennial Themes in World Religions.Cardiff：U of Wales P，1997.43–59.