'The Shawshank Redemption' The importance of hope

In ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, directed by Frank Darabont, Darabont uses the characters of Andy and Red to develop the message of the importance of hope. Through Andy we learn that if we have hope we can maintain dignity and strength of mind through even the toughest of circumstances. The character of Red shows us that if we lose our hope, we become imprisoned by fear, but his relationship with Andy is also developed to show that hope can be gifted to others. This message is truly relevant in our society today, no matter what circumstances we face in our daily lives. Darabont uses techniques of camera work, lighting, colour, symbolism, voice-overs and dialogue to help us greater understand this idea.

Firstly Darabont uses the character of Andy to show that if we have hope, we can maintain dignity as well as giving this to others. As human beings, we all have an innate right to be valued and treated with respect. In the prison the inmates do not receive this, but many are content to just accept this, and in doing this they lose their humanity and individuality. When we are introduced to Shawshank, a soaring aerial shot dwarves the prisoners and shows how insignificant they are. The lighting is dull and lifeless, with all inmates wearing identical grey clothes, showing us that the prisoners have lost all individuality. On Andy's first night the new inmates are stripped of their clothes and marched to their cells, where they are taunted and heckled by the other inmates as 'fresh fish'. Darabont has done this to show how the new inmates have been stripped of their dignity, but also that all other prisoners are behaving like animals and have lost their humanity. However, Andy immediately stands out from the other prisoners. His shirt, although grey like the other inmates, is buttoned fully up, and he stands tall. In a voice-over, Red describes Andy as having, 'A walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here; like he had on an invisible cloak that would shield