Psychoanalysis: Shawshank Redemption

Plot Summary
Through the hardships in the prison of Shawshank and hopes to achieve freedom, the characters in
Shawshank Redemption present a variety of psychological issues. Throughout Andy and Reds
sentence in prison, issues of identity, motivation, and anxiety are brought about within the storyline.
Depicting the effects of prison life during and after a prisoners sentence in jail, Shawshank
Redemption accurately portrays these psychological issues that revolve around the films theme of
finding freedom.

During the 1940s, a young and prosperous banker named Andy Dufresne arrives at Shawshank
prison in Portland, Maine after being falsely accused of murdering his wife and her lover. In this high
security prison, Andy experiences isolation and harsh treatment. Red, who is also serving a life
sentence, befriends Andy and aids others by secretly running as an in-prison supplier of cigarettes,
cards, posters, and other items from the outside world. These items give the prisoners a touch of
reality beyond the prison walls, especially the poster of Rita Hayworth. Brooks, the librarian, has
distributed books to the prisoners for sixty years, but is later is released leading him to committing
suicide because he cannot seem to find his place in society. As the years pass by, Andy develops a
respect from his inmates and some of the guards by using his banking skills and his education. By
assisting the warden, Samuel Norton, with his financial endeavours and trying to get a new library
for Shawshank, Andy is able to slowly gain favour with the prisons authority. However, by helping
the warden embezzle money, Andy does not realize that this is hurting his chances of ever leaving
Shawshank because the warden does not want to get caught. Andy is taken advantage of and placed
in solitary confinement, which further pushes him to find freedom that he secretly has been
planning all along. One morning, Andys cell is empty and the warden finds an escape route that
Andy dug for twenty years with a rock hammer hidden in his bible. In the end, Andy exposes the
warden and moves to Mexico where Red will meet him when his time in prison is complete. Hope is
what Andy was fuelled by and is what gave both Red and Andy willpower to survive and seek for
freedom.

Why Shawshank Redemption?

I believe it is due to its great acting and very memorable plot. Im not aware of any widely-used
cinematic techniques that were invented due to the film.

When the film was initially released, it struggled at the box office (it earned just $727,000 in its
opening weekend). Despite this it received huge critical acclaim, garnered seven Oscar nominations
and the rest was history - it's simply become one of the most popular, beloved films of all time.

Quite why this occurred is due to a number of reasons:

The friendship of Andy and Red.

The "simplicity" of Andy's escape.
The longing for Andy to be free, given his ordeal.
The uplifting nature of the finale of the film.
The perseverance Andy showed.
 Morgan Freeman's sensational voice.

It just touches on so many wonderful, magical issues and that has continued to resonate with
audiences ever since. As Tim Robbins (i.e. Andy) said:

'All I know...is that there isn't a day when I'm not approached about that film - approached by
people who say how important that film is to them, who tell me that they've seen it 20, 30, 40 times,
and who are just so... thankful.

Psychology in play
In the movie Shawshank Redemption, psychological issues are evident and are portrayed through
different characters that are dealing with their individual desire for hope and freedom each having a
different outlook on life. As the main character, Andy Dufresne has a goal of finding his own
identity, which is an individuals self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant
social group, within the prison of Shawshank by taking on different responsibilities and roles.
Becoming a prison librarian, a financial advisor, and an educator, Andy begins to cope with the
hardships of prison life and finds a place to fit in. Andy, an innocent man, survives twenty-eight
years in prison by making friends, and discovering his identity which leads to escaping Shawshank
due to his longing for freedom in the outside world. In addition, a positive incentive of freedom
motivates Red to break parole and move to Mexico to meet up with his former prison-mate Andy.
Inside Shawshank, Red is the supplier of goods to the inmates, but in the world outside the prison
Red cannot find his place in society, leading him to break parole. At first, Red believes he cannot
function outside the prison walls because freedom is a frightening concept, but a sense of hope
energizes his behaviour and directs him toward the goal of freedom. Furthermore, Samuel Norton
reveals Sigmund Freuds idea of defence mechanisms by redirecting anxiety by distorting reality.
Placing Andy in solitary confinement in order to disguise his threating actions, the warden places
his anxiety on Andy by using the defence mechanism projection. At the expense of others, the
warden also promotes his self-interest in the name of fire and brimstone bible passages, exhibiting
rationalization. Although the story takes place in the single setting of Shawshank prison, characters
portray a variety of psychological issues that affect ones outlook on life reflecting each individuals
idea of freedom.

Just like Andy, who was in prison for an action he did not commit, Ryan Matthews was found
guilty, but was always innocent. Ryan Matthews said, He had nothing to do with the 1997
robbery and murder of a grocerand he knew that someday he would be freed. Relying on
the positive incentive of freedom, Ryan has a sense of hope that, like Red is energizing his
behaviour and directing him toward a more affirmative attitude. This alone drives him to
his innocence because without any motivation, Ryan would have given up and entered into a
state of hopelessness.
In Del Rio Texas, this prison guard, who was convicted of providing drugs and sexual abuse,
relates to Samuel Norton because both abused their power by using defence mechanisms to
reduce their anxiety. Projecting their emotions on the prisoners causes tension within the
prison. Freuds psychoanalytic defence mechanism projection disguises threating actions by
putting ones anxiety on someone else, which clearly is indicated through this Texas prison
 guard. Because of taking advantage of authority, the prison guard and the warden of
Shawshank are punished for the wrong doings.
Accused and put in prison for life at only sixteen years old, Barrit Eno explains his day-to-day
events that challenge his own identity. As a prisoner, Barrit struggles with his self-concept,
which is derived from a perceived membership in a relevant social group, and searches to
find his place to fit in within the prison. Having the same routine daily, identity is hard to find
due to the strict guidelines inside a small boundary. Although convicts are looked down
upon, prisoners still are searching for their own identity and self-worth.
Rationalization, one of Freuds defence mechanisms, is evident in Timothy Rodriguezs trial
of attempted first-degree murder when his defendant states that Timothy was upset of his
breakup and the murder plot was a scam. By attempting to justify his plan, the defendant
explains his actions and feelings in a way that does not look as threatening. In Shawshank
Redemption, the warden rationalizes his actions by promoting his self-interest to make
himself look superior and protect himself from being found guilty. In order to reduce
Timothy Rodriguezs anxiety and disguise his true motivation, rationalization was used to
attempt to make Rodriguez look less guilty.
Hundreds of prisoners escape from the Afghan jail by digging a tunnel a quarter of a mile
long. Motivation had to have been the cause of this tunnel being dug and completed. These
prisoners were focusing on their goal of freedom, which impelled their behaviour to finish
digging the tunnel no matter how long this process could have taken. Andy displays the
same motivation when we digs a tunnel in his prison cell. Throughout the film, Andy secretly
works on his escape route while hiding his evidence. Although both cases seem to have been
impossible, the positive incentive of freedom repels them to satisfy their motives by risking
life in prison to dig a tunnel that stretches, for example, a fourth of a mile long and taking
five months to complete.
Different people have different self-concepts of themselves, even in prison. Searching for a
place to fit in, Andy was forced to try a variety of roles within the prison walls. The identity
of a prisoner is hard to determine not only for the prisoner, but for guards and people
observing. Will and Carleton demonstrate two different identities that a prisoner can obtain:
one playing the part as a tough guy and the other expressing his true emotions. Defined as
an individuals self-concept or sense of self, identity plays a key role within the lives of
prisoners because while being trapped in isolation, they are forced to search for their own
role in the prison.

Conclusion
The different psychological issues discussed, which are explained in detail in the previous paragraph,
are accurately portrayed in the film Shawshank Redemption. Clearly, Andy searches for his identity,
or sense of self, by unifying various roles to determine a self-definition in order to find a
comfortable sense of who he is. Motivation is displayed when Red escapes to Mexico because his
desire to experience freedom, a positive incentive, repels him to satisfy his motives. As stated
earlier, Sigmund Freuds defence mechanisms are observable through Samuel Nortons character. In
order to reduce his anxiety, the warden projects his emotions on Andy and tries to rationalize his
actions and promoting his self-interest at the expense of others. Shawshank Redemption
authentically depicts the ideas of identity in ones self, motivation for a specific desire, and reducing
anxiety with defence mechanisms.
While analysing characters behaviours in Shawshank Redemption, psychological issues can be found
from beginning to end. Throughout the film, the theme of freedom is evident with the use of
psychological terms such as identity, motivation, and Freuds psychoanalytic defence mechanisms.
What drives the characters actions is freedom to live ones own, independent life, which does not
necessarily come from being outside of prison walls, but rather from ones outlook or perspective of
life. So as Andy says, Get busy living, or get busy dying.

Life lessons from the movie

1. Hope: Living with hope. It is the only option when one has nothing else left and no one can take
that.

2. Risk: Andy takes risk to set himself free. He can get caught anytime. Nothing great ever comes if
one doesnt take chances.

3. Persistence/ Time & Pressure: Digging the walls (Not greedy or overambitious to dig deep
everyday), Writing letters, crawling through drainage etc.

4. Focus: Focus on your mission

5. Serve others selflessly: The great joy and happiness what you get when you see you are the
reason behind many others happiness is priceless. [Buying beer for others]

6. Friendship: The portrayal of friendship between Andy & Red is very nice. In the end Red wants to
fulfil his promise to Andy showing value of friendship.
This friendship rewards him with freedom.

7. Life is unfair, it is unbiased: Life takes its own tortuous turns. Good and bad. No cribbing about
something bad happened to you just because you are good. We can't control all external
circumstances. One should do the best in given circumstances. Also Andy comes clean on other side
after crawling and makes a huge fortune. Its the same life which dumped him and locked him inside
the cage.

8. Get busy living or get busy dying: You are in charge of your life. You work for what you do which
makes you happy or shall end up what someone else want you to do or thinking what to do before
realizing where time went by [Have inner locus of control] . All things are just perception of one's
thoughts.

9. Hobby / Skills: Develop useful skills and hobbies. Andy is respected for his skills and gained trust
from others because he is honest. He has all time on earth to pursue his hobbies [same time was
there with other inmates] Chess for example teaches a lot on life about importance of long term
planning.