Theme: Redemption

 First ask for own definition of ‘redemption’ – then add to this with dictionary definitions

Andy is responsible for several acts of redemption in which he ‘frees’ the prisoners from their circumstances, even if temporarily. Ultimately he is responsible for Red’s redemption as he helps Red regain hope. Andy himself is also redeemed (‘set free’) – metaphorically through the acknowledgment of his role in his wife’s death, physically through his escape from Shawshank Prison.

1. Beer on the rooftop scene. Andy’s first redemptive act occurs while the prisoners are working outside tarring the roof. (Show scene) Write a description of the scene Why is this significant? (connect to ‘redemption’ theme) Incorporate quotes:

Andy: “I think a man workin' outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds. That's only my opinion." Red: “We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the Lords of all Creation. … ... Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a short while. “

2. Music Scene

A similar redemptive act occurs when Andy discovers a record of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro amongst books sent for the prison library.

(Show scene)  Describe Scene How is this significant?  Incorporate quotes

Red: “I tell you, those voices soared. Higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments, every last man at Shawshank felt free.” 3. Other Redemptive Acts Andy is also responsible for other redemptive acts such as:

 The expansion of the prison library

 Tommy’s education – and success in passing his high school diploma 4. Andy’s Redemption Andy’s own personal point of redemption comes when he talks to Red about his wife’s death. ( Show scene) Andy: My wife used to say I'm a hard man to know. Like a closed book. Complained about it all the time. She was beautiful. God, I loved her. I just didn't know how to show it, that's all. I killed her, Red. I didn't pull the trigger, but I drove her away and that's why she died - because of me, the way I am. Red: That don't make you a murderer. Bad husband, maybe. Andy: I didn’t shoot my wife… whatever mistakes I’ve made I’ve paid for them and then some.” Having ‘confessed’ and been absolved, Andy is now able to become physically free and escape from Shawshank Prison. Significantly he goes to Mexico, near the Pacific Ocean – a place with ‘no memory’, where he can make a new start as a free man. Red: “Andy Dufresne – who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.” 5. Red’s Redemption By the end of the film, Red too has been ‘redeemed’. His third parole hearing is successful and he is released into the same environment that saw Brooks take his own life. Yet, unlike Brooks he has Andy’s promise – the only thing that keeps him from taking a gun and breaking parole. Instead of a gun, Red buys a compass and finds the field that Andy has told him about. From being a prisoner who views hope as a ‘dangerous thing’ he comes to the redeeming point of finding hope again. Red: “I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

LSH2001