Journal 1

Reading Journal 1

-Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption -

The first thing that I noticed while reading this novel was that it was written in a first-person point of view. The entire story is written via Red’s voice. However, as I read along, another question arose. Is this really a story of Red? Most of the stories seemed to be focusing on Andy’s story rather than Red’s own; it felt as if the author –Stephen King- was simply borrowing the Red’s voice to recount a story of Andy. Most of the contents of the book talked about how Andy came to the prison, how he lived and dealt with problems inside Shawshank, and how he managed to escape from the place. Nonetheless, I ultimately concluded that this story is more of first-person narrative than a first-person observant. Superficially, this may seem like a life story of Andy, but deep inside, it reflects a part of Red that was discovered by Andy. In other words, Red also owned an aspect that differentiated Andy from all other prisoners who have been deeply institutionalized. Most importantly, Red himself confesses in the book:

“Andy was the part of me they could never lock up, the part of me that will rejoice when the gates finally open for me and I walk out in my cheap suit with my twenty dollars of mad-money in my pocket. It’s all about me.”

It was HOPE that kept Andy different from all other men in prison.  Andy’s circumstances were obviously not so bright; he was convicted for two murders that he himself never committed and was bullied by “the sisters” after entering Shawshank. He was clearly in one of the worst circumstances, yet he never lost hope. Whether it was his confidence in innocence, or simply his own nature that kept him sturdy, I do not know, but he never lost hope and constantly strived for the better. This “hope” gave him calmness, which eventually enabled him to escape from the prison. As Red mentioned in the novel, not many would be able to stay sane after thinking about all the possible outcomes that may happen while digging up the secret route in the wall. In addition to Andy, Red also has this “hope” somewhere in himself, though he may not recognize. This is why the shawshank redemption is Red’s story rather than Andy’s, because Red is revealing his own hope and possibility as he talks about Andy. Perhaps, Red was projecting himself to Andy while writing this story.

Aside from the characters, this book (and the movie) gave me some topics to ponder about. First, do wardens really have rights to treat the prisoners as they do in the book? Yes, these people are criminals who committed murders, but before that, they are human beings. And torturing human beings, or even killing them - as in the case of a chubby man in the beginning of the movie - , isn't that also a "murder"? The conditions described (especially in the movie) were so grotesque that it was hard to believe such thing really happened not long ago.