 | | © 1994 - Warner Brothers | The movie The Shawshank Redemption, based on a short story by Stephen King, set in the 1940’s, stars Tim Robbins in the role of Andy Dufresne. This young successful banker is wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife (and her lover) and sentenced to two life terms in Shawshank prison. There, he meets Ellis Boyd Redding or ‘Red’ as he is known, played by Morgan Freeman, an enterprising convict that runs a black market acquisition business inside the prison.  | | © 1994 - Warner Brothers | Andy and Red form a close friendship despite the obvious differences of their backgrounds. Red said that “he had a quiet way about him - a walk and a talk that just wasn’t normal around here. He strolled like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world - like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place. Yea, I think it would be fair to say that I liked Andy from the start.” Andy endures the hardship of prison as the years turn into decades. He is a rare man who is at peace in the midst of hardship. Rarely does he allow his circumstances to get to him as do most. He shares his insights with Red, “there’s something inside that they can’t get to – they cannot touch – it’s yours . . . hope. Remember, hope is a good thing - maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.”  | | © 1994 - Warner Brothers | A metaphor that could be deduced from the movie is how we all start our lives filled with wondrous hope-filled dreams. Yet, in our pursuit of them, our fears constantly whisper to us that we don’t have what it takes to realize them. Bit by bit, fear unjustly robbing us of our hopes. When we don’t have enough hope left, we give up and fear slowly erects a prison around us (making us a prisoner to our own merciless fears). In the end, most of the inmates settle for so much less life than is within their reach. They loose hope and accept whatever circumstances live brings their way. Some, like Brooks, even when set free, only want to return to their comfortable prison. Perhaps what is most interesting about fear’s prison is that it is voluntary (as demonstrated by Andy). No matter what circumstances life may bring, hope is the key that can unlock our prison door - and it is always nearer to us than it seems. Like Andy said “fear can hold you prisoner - hope can set you free.” 
|