Red In Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption

“One of the strategies for doing first-person is to make the narrator very knowing, so that the reader is with somebody who has a take on everything they observe.”(Rachel Kushner).
This relates to Red in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption as through his narration of the story, one learns more about his character. At the beginning of the novel, it appears as though the story is one that centers around Andy Dufresne. However, as the novella continues, it is evident that the contents of the book are focused on Red, and his perceptions and actions in regards to the world around him. Many of the prominent messages in the novella, such as pressure, time, and freedom are ones that are focused on Red, and shown through his point of view. This
It makes us determine character traits of Andy and Red and shows the events that occurred in Red’s point of view. Red as the narrator would sometimes go into great detail when describing key events, but would also describe key events with little to no detail at all. For example to explain Andy’s escape he stated “In 1975, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank. He hasn’t been recaptured, and I don’t think he ever will be” (King 86).Red informed the reader about Andy’s escape in one quick sentence. This is because Red wanted to remind the reader that he did not experience the event happen so he does not have many details on it. Red as the narrator really made the reader feel like the events being described happened at the time Red described them, even though he knew what happened later on. For example, when Red stated,“But I have to go up come on a dangerous item. For something like the gadget you’re talking about, it takes a little more goose-grease to get the wheels turning. Let’s say ten dollars” (King 21). Red already knew that Andy used the rock hammer to escape, but early in the book, he made it seem that Andy was a harmless man who loves rocks. This was an useful and effective choice of Red’s as it kept the secrets that wouldn’t be revealed until later on. Red as the narrator really made the reader experience what he was going through in his “real world” life by expressing his emotions, which he
One of the messages was that pressure was a key part in this novella, and immediately, Red showed us why.“There’s a guy like me in every state and federal prison in america, I guess---I’m the guy who can get it for you”(King 3). Red was the man who could get anything for anybody if the price is right. He had to do all of it though, under pressure. As he said, if he ever gets caught getting something for someone, there will be severe punishments. Red always took the risk and performed under pressure. Red’s character in the “real world” and his actions, really showed the message that prison erodes your brain over time. When he stated “I have to look constantly over at the window and reassure myself that there are no bars on it.” (King 106), it showed that prison shaped Red’s brain so differently that he could not go a day without realizing where he actually was. He always had to reassure himself that there were no bars on windows anymore, and that women are actually people too. This was a tough time for Red, but it really showed the aftereffects of prison. Red was the man that gave Andy his freedom. He may not have know this but if it was not for Red it is unlikely that Andy would have become a free man. This was shown when Red stated “It was about 5 months later that Andy asked if I could get him Rita Hayworth” and later in a conversation about it, Red informed Andy with,“ I can