Shawshank Redemption Moral Context
The movie I’ve selected to analyze, which I feel provides a rich moral context, is Shawshank Redemption. The movie focuses on main character, Andy Dufresne, a banker in 1947 who was wrongfully charged with the murder of his wife and her lover. Due to the lacking of his lawyer, Andy was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences at Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine. In an attempt to be his best self while serving his time, Andy befriends fellow prisoner Eliss Redding, otherwise known as Red. The story follows the two friends and their struggle to survive the brutal environment of the Shawshank prison, led by the the “supposedly” moral figure, Warden Norton, who abuses his power in the most unethical ways. During his time at Shawshank, Andy makes the free and deliberate decision to deceive the warden, steal his laundered money, and escape through the walls of the penitentiary. Though this seems extremely unethical and worth punishing, he justifies his actions for all the pain he suffered as an innocent man. Towards the middle of the movie, Andy began to be respected by the guards and Warden Norton for his financial advice and abilities. Prior to the guards and Warden Norton realizing that he had great financial abilities, he was often attacked and sexually assaulted by other prisoners. Though once he understood that his abilities can protect him from these group of men, he began using his power in order to document false records for Warden Norton. The plot thickens soon after when the audience discovers that Andy truly is an innocent man. Fellow inmate Tommy told Red and Andy that when he did previous time at another prison, his cellmate bragged about shooting a couple at a country club and that they blamed the husband for the killing. When Andy finds out and approaches the Warden to let him know, the Warden dismisses him, basically saying that Tommy was just trying to make him feel better. Though, really Warden Norton was just concerned that Andy would