The Shawshank Redemption: Stephen. King not only tells a wonderful prison escape story, but also a deeper metaphor

American writer Stephen. King's novel "The Shawshank Redemption", the story is very familiar to everyone: the financier Andy is unjustly imprisoned, relying on a small hammer that can be hidden in the Bible, digging a hole in the prison wall, after twenty years of hard work, he finally escaped successfully, and also redeemed his fellow prisoner Red and others.

It is one of the 50 good books that Douban has rated, and the movie of the same name is also very successful. In addition to the moving plot and excellent actors, an important reason for the film's rave reviews is that the screenwriter will be Stephen . The humanistic ideas expressed by Jin in the novel are condensed into evocative and timeless classic lines.

Among them, what resonates strongly and reflects the main theme of the novel is Red's line that vividly describes the impact of institutionalization on people.

"The high walls in the prison are really interesting: when you first enter, you hate the high walls; slowly, you get used to life in them; and finally you find that you can't live without it. ＂

Shawshank is a prison for felons, and many prisoners have been sentenced to life in prison and are desperate in the face of long sentences.

From the first day of prison for new criminals, they will go from free men to Shawshank prisoners, suffering from suffering that they have never had before in their lives:

Since then, their every move has been monitored, and even when they go to the toilet, they have to report it. Shawshank managers never spoke well, but replaced it with soft violence of language and hard violence such as weapons and confinement.

Every day will be so undignified, up to ten, twenty, thirty, or even the rest of the sentence, who would not hate Shawshank's high walls and isolate himself from the outside world?

At first, the weak-willed prisoners will collapse, and the rest of them will survive the deep despair, and after a long sentence, they will gradually get used to prison life from obedience to prison life, and learn to find some fun to comfort themselves. For example, "Sister Flowers" bullied Andy, Brusque fed the birds, and Red established himself as the first supplier in prison, finally finding a sense of existence.

When they passively adapted, they finally stepped out of the High Wall of Shawshank one day, but found that they were completely unable to adapt to the outside world.

In the book, Brusque has been in prison for decades and has long been accustomed to the life of forced discipline in prison. When I came out, I found that the world had changed a long time ago. He was at a loss, he wasn't used to freedom—working in a small supermarket, and if he didn't report it to his manager, the most basic physiological act of going to the toilet wouldn't be completed.

If Red hadn't met Andy, it would have been no surprise to repeat Brusque's old ways; and and Andy, who seemed weak, would have been the same if he hadn't had a super strong heart, was well educated, and had a wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

Andy's success shows that if people want to resist the shackles of the system and maintain the vitality of life, they must be mentally and materially prepared.

"Some birds can't be shut down, and every feather of theirs carries a free luster. ＂

Andy told Red that when people are in trouble, there are actually only two reactions: pessimism and optimism. He only had the best hopes, but prepared for the worst, prepared for the future, but he didn't expect the hurricane to blow for so long.

Suppose there is a room full of precious antique paintings, and if you hear that a hurricane is coming, its owner may have two reactions:

One kind of person always holds the most optimistic expectations. He would think that the hurricane might turn around—God wouldn't let the damn hurricane destroy Rembrandt and Degas's famous paintings; in case the hurricane did come, these things were insured anyway, don't worry.

The other is always pessimistic and worried. He decided that sooner or later the hurricane would come, and his house would suffer. Even though the Met Office news said the hurricane had turned, the guy still believed the hurricane would turn around and destroy his house.

Because he knows that only by preparing for the worst can we always have optimistic expectations.

Andy is undoubtedly the latter kind of person who is prepared. When he accused him of being the murderer of his wife and lover, he prepared for the worst before sentencing. He sells bond stocks, and all the money is invested in a fake identity, managed by his good friend Jimmy.

Before Jimmy died, he also left the keys to keep the property and information as agreed before, as long as he could get out of prison, they would be reliable to quickly change their appearance and live a good life.

However, "The Shawshank Redemption" is not only a wonderful prison escape story, but also a deeper metaphor. Stephen. What King wants to tell readers is:

1. Spiritual abundance in difficult situations is far better than material abundance.

The rigid and powerful prison system can numb people's souls, and Andy's willingness to exchange two weeks of confinement for a brief moment of enjoying music is just a way to awaken himself and everyone to the good memories of normal life and maintain a sense of freedom.

He persevered in writing letters to the governor to apply for funding, expanded and enriched the library, and helped toned tomy, a prisoner, pass self-study exams in hopes of changing his fortunes.

Grief is greater than death, and after 30 years in prison for playing the harmonica, Red now feels meaningless. Andy continually influenced Red through his actions, giving him a harmonica in particular to awaken the flame of hope in his heart.

2. Everyone has their own Shawshank, and they are their own savior.

Although institutions and ideas are invisible, the bondage to man is like The Shawshank Wall that traps the body and the soul.

"Life boils down to a simple choice: to be busy surviving or to die. ＂

Heavily guarded prisons are cages that imprison people's bodies, but many times what traps people's hearts is that they are painted as prisons, and they cannot see and touch the walls.

Because many people die at the age of thirty, but they are buried only at the age of seventy or eighty. The rest of his self-imposed life, trapped in infinite repetition, and finally quietly disappeared.

Just like Brusque in the novel, although he also loves to feed birds, he did not hang himself like in the movie, but accepted the fate of the arrangement and died in a nursing home with poor conditions.

3. Nothing in the world can hold a free soul, except himself.

The ending in the movie is beautiful, Andy and Red in Mexico, the blue sea and blue waves are blossoming on the seashore of ZivaTanyho, living a life like a paradise in prison, which makes the audience breathe a long sigh of relief.

"I hope that the waters of the Pacific Ocean are as blue as I dreamed of. ＂

But the novel isn't so perfect, and Red just crosses the Mexican border. Shawshank is a metaphor that symbolizes that he has transcended the rigid limitations of cognition and broken free from the cage of the mind, which is obviously more realistic.

Because life is always full of accidents, and such a strong savior as Andy is difficult to meet, only to strengthen our hearts and learn to be strong.

Otherwise, even if a person leaves Shawshank, he will not be able to get out of the Shawshank in his heart for a lifetime; when his body goes out of prison, he will not be able to get out of the cage of his heart for a lifetime. This is exactly what the author Stephen. A profound theme that King wants to express.

In fact, "The Shawshank Redemption" also redeemed the author Stephen. Gold.

Although Stephen. King is a best-selling author known for his horror novels, whose stories are thrilling and suspenseful, and have a bloody and violent aesthetic, which is particularly suitable for adaptation into film and television works. In the 10 years from 1985 to 1995, among the 25 best-selling books in the United States, Stephen F. Kennedy. Kim alone accounted for seven books, each of which was put on the screen.

Often Stephen's novels are still being written, the film is lined up to be filmed, and the director chases him for a manuscript, which is a mess. He wanted to focus on the creation of serious literature, such as actors going off the field, but the audience and agents were not allowed.

So Steven. King wrote "The Shawshank Redemption", which consists of 4 novellas, which not only simply tell horror stories, but also are full of his own reflections on life, and have his own unique feelings in the work.

Stephen. gold

Unlike movies that seek to stimulate the box office and tell the story more thrillingly, Stephen. King focuses on and on Andy's mental journey. For example, Tommy, a high school student who was killed by the warden in the movie, was spared by his subordinates in the novel, and the greedy and cold warden Norton let him have a way to live - after some intimidation, he was transferred to another prison.

Hence the love of The Shawshank Redemption and Stephen. Kim's friend, may wish to read the original book, when there will be some unexpected gains.