The Shawshank Redemption — What is freedom?
The Shawshank Redemption is one of Hollywood’s most beloved films according to public voting on IMDB it ranks just above The Godfather in the number one spot. People are drawn to this film for its message of hope and enduring friendship.
Andy’s Escape is an echo of Jesus resurrection but this alone isn’t what makes Shawshank the greatest Christian movie ever. It’s beyond the illusion where Shawshank touches people in a way that gospel films don’t. Rather than ending with the resurrection Shawshank goes on to show why it matters it’s not by accident that Andy the only innocent man in Shawshank becomes the best friend of Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding the only guilty man. It’s Red and not Andy who needs to be redeemed, only guilty man in Shawshank.
Salvation lies within
“These walls are funny. First you hate ’em. Then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That’s institutionalized.”
Red like Brooks is institutionalized and three parole hearings at the beginning middle and end of the film demonstrate Reds transformation. Being a prison, movie, viewers might expect a prison too. However, as the movie progresses, the idea of a “prison break” fades away. And then unexpectedly, after 19 years into the story, there’s this twist.
“Andy Dufresne, the man who crawled through 500 yards of shit and came out clean the other end.”
“That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.”
Red finally wins his parole after 40 years in prison; he finds money Andy has left for him under a rock in a field and sets off to the sunny coast of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where he finds his old friend Andy, starting a business for boat-renting. The two men approach each other and hug.
