Shawshank Redemption

A Comparison of Stephen King 's Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

and Frank Darabont 's The Shawshank Redemption

Author Stephen King writes about two different kinds of prisons in his novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption : the literal Shawshank Prison - the place of protagonist Andy Dufresne 's incarceration - and the prison of the human spirit . Throughout his novella , King suggests that people can be held captive by things worse than prison walls . Hope can be as dangerous as resigning oneself to their fate in Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption Writer-director

Frank Darabont helps make these distinctions even clearer in his 1994 film adaptation of the novella , The Shawshank Redemption . Yet while Darabont 's film builds on the same philosophical and psychological territory of King 's novella , there are several unique differences between the story and the film . The differences from page to screen call into question the motivations and agendas of certain characters , while other differences are so subtle that they might pass by without anyone noticing

First and foremost , there are obvious parallels between King 's novella and the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo . Both stories follow a central character that has been falsely imprisoned , forms friendships within prison , and later stages a daring escape . After both characters escape , they exact revenge on those who did them wrong . While it goes unmentioned in the novella , The Count of Monte Cristo is referenced by name in the film itself , making the viewer well aware of its inspirations as well as Darabont 's intentions

The main similarity between the novella and the film is that they are both narrated by Red , played by Morgan Freeman in the film . Red is a man who can get things for inmates , calling himself a regular Neiman-Marcus (King 5 . Red 's style of speech is identical in both the novella and the film : it is familiar and conversational , as though he is talking directly to the audience . It is interesting , however , that both stories focus on Andy Dufresne yet are told from an observer 's point of view . Both the reader and the viewer are essentially asked to trust Red 's account of what happens

When Red is approached by Andy , it is to get him a rock-hammer . Red doesn 't know what to make of the request at first

You could plant an item like that rock-hammer in somebody 's

skull ' I remarked (King 18

However , the rock-hammer becomes an integral part of both the novella and the film , serving as the item that brings both Andy and Red together . Red 's ability to get a rock-hammer is the beginning of what will be a three-decade friendship . Darabont , however , uses the rock-hammer to more dramatic ends in the film . As in the novella , Andy hides the rock hammer in his copy of The Bible . Darabont , however , uses its presence to elicit suspense . He adds a scene where the warden (played by Bob Gunton ) arrives in Andy 's prison cell to confiscate...