The Shawshank Redemption and its Relation to Greek Mythology - Term Paper Example

?The Shawshank Redemption tells a story that, in many ways, exhibits themes found in Greek mythology. As is true for many Greek myths, the film features a heroic character that possesses intellect, wit, morals, and honor (Wickersham 99). The Shawshank Redemption is about a man named Andy Dufresne, a young banker who was given two life sentences for killing his wife and her lover. Narrated by an older prisoner named Red, the film gives its viewer information about Andy primarily through the external perspective Red provides, and Red sees in Andy many reasons to pay close attention. Red’s way of telling Andy’s story is one of the first attributes of the film to hint at the possibility that Andy is a larger than life character of potentially mythic—and heroic—proportion. Since the film is set in the 1940s, the viewer instantly recognizes differences in the legal system as well as the treatment of prisoners from how those things are today. This remove from contemporary times serves to emphasize the mythical atmosphere of the film, so the viewer more readily accepts the ideas set forth. We quickly identify Andy as a person of uncommon qualities. Although he comes from a middle class background and has no prior criminal record, he maintains his composure during his transition into prison and his first overnight. As the more experienced inmates make bets about who will cry during their first night in prison, some put their money on Andy. They are disappointed to find that not only is he not the first to cry, but he does not make any sound at all. As soon as Andy arrives at the prison, he is subjected to cruelty, abuse, and even torture. Although he fights against the prisoners who torment him, he is outnumbered by them and can not protect himself. From this early point in the film, one can identify the features of the mythological hero in Andy. According to Campbell, the hero often finds himself in a world that suffers from a “symbolic deficiency,” and feels compelled to set it right (30). The deficiency can be spiritual, as in a fallen world, or it can be physical, as in a world of ruins (Campbell 30). It is undeniable that the world Andy descends into when he arrives at the prison is deficient. He has to pull a maggot out of his food during one of his first meals, he suffers physical abuse from prisoners and guards alike, and above all else he is serving a prison sentence for a crime he did not commit. Considering this, it seems his prison world’s deficiency is merely an extension of the greater society’s depravity. Despite the phenomenal abuse, Andy’s mind remains solvent and he maintains his ability to plan and strategize. When he overhears one of the prison guards, Captain Hadley, complaining about the money he is going to lose to taxes, Andy seizes the opportunity. Although it is an immense risk, he presents Hadley with financial advice that eventually results in the exchange of Andy’s financial services for goods provided by Captain Hadley. Andy does not ask Hadley for something for himself, but instead requests cold beers for all his workmates that were with him that day, a seemingly selfless action. This kind of selflessness and largesse is evident also in the actions of the hero figure in mythology. Wright describes mythological heroes as people who “through extraordinary actions, save the group, change the world,” and commit other meaningful acts (146). For example, Heracles of Greek mythology possessed incredible physical strength that gave him the power to change things in his environment for the better (Grimal 185). He defeated a beast that was causing problems for herders, and killed the Stymphalian birds that were destroying Arcadian crops (Grimal 187). Heracles used his physical abilities to engage in these selfless, world changing actions. Though Andy did not slay beasts in prison, he did devote energy toward significant and world changing activities. Buying beers for his friends was not the limit of Andy’s meaningful acts. Not long after he made the request for beers, Andy devoted his time and energy to writing letters every day in an attempt to get money for the prison library. When he finally receives a check for two hundred dollars (along with a request that he stop sending the letters), he does not give up. He continues writing letters and eventually receives $500, which he uses not just to buy more books, but to build an entirely new library for the prisoners. His fellow inmates are engaged in helping with the construction, and once the new books are in place, they receive guidance from Andy on which books they would enjoy. He recommends The Count of Monte Christo to one of the men, and tells him he’d like it because it iss about a prison break. Once the new library is in place, a prisoner named Tommy becomes the focus of Andy’s altruistic efforts. Andy teaches the boy the alphabet, how to read, and parts of grammar. Eventually, Tommy is taking tests and gaining enough information to pursue a diploma. Andy makes a great impact on this boy, and it turns out that the reverse is true as well: Tommy tells Andy about a story he heard from a prisoner, about a man and a woman he killed and the husband who took the blame for it. Andy understands that the story is about him, and goes to the Warden with the information. He is given a month in solitary confinement and told not to talk about it anymore. Tommy is eventually executed by one of the guards as punishment for both having and sharing this information, and for contributing to the possible uncovering of a corruption scandal within the prison’s walls. Andy’s intelligence and financial abilities have repercussions for people on all levels of the prison’s hierarchy. Captain Hadley starts telling other corrections officers about Andy’s abilities as a financial consultant, and this brings more unpaid work Andy’s way. Despite the lack of monetary reimbursement, Andy does get more favorable conditions due to his willingness to help in this way. Unfortunately, the officers and the warden start to take advantage of him. Andy does tax returns for all of the guards and the warden each year, and has so much work to do that he has Red assisting him. Andy starts to put pieces of information together and discovers dishonest practices in the warden’s accounting, and this information makes him dangerous to the warden. When Andy tries to get the warden to hear him out about his wife’s actual murderer, he mentions his financial information to the warden. Because of this, he spends months in solitary confinement, when only one month had left him in shock. The result of his time in confinement is a newfound resolve to improve his life. Though he often commits selfless acts, one small request that Andy makes for himself is that Red gets him a rock hammer. At first Red is concerned that Andy might want to use it to kill another inmate, but Andy reassures him. In Campbell’s description, the hero often receives some sort of supernatural assistance, often through “a little old crone or an old man” (57). This protective person gives the hero amulets of protection against negative or harmful forces, and serves as a guardian (Campbell). Indeed, Andy’s rock hammer is delivered by a prisoner named Brooks, one of the prison’s oldest inmates, responsible for distributing library books. Although the rock hammer seems inconsequential at first, we later find that it has been a constant companion for Andy, and that he has put it to very good use. Andy receives other items from Red, including a life-sized poster of Rita Hayworth that he hangs on the wall of his cell, and which plays a pivotal role in the film’s plot. There are similar situations of heroic gift receipt throughout Greek mythology. While many of the Greek heroes received gifts, the most heavily gifted was Perseus (Vogler 41). The Greek god Hermes gave Perseus a magical sickle, while Athena gave him a shield (Wilkinson 64). He also received winged sandals, a helmet that made him invisible, a magical mirror, a magical satchel, and a magical sword (Vogler 41). Heracles also received numerous gifts. Hermes gave Heracles his sword, Poseidon his horses, and Athena gave him a whole variety of weapons (Grimal 185). While receiving gifts seems an obviously enjoyable experience, many of the other mileposts along the hero’s journey are not nearly as benign. The hero must sort out who can be trusted and who can not, and has to make both allies and enemies. Sometimes the allies are those who have bestowed gifts, and other times the friendship is established prior to such exchanges having occurred. For Andy, the process of distinguishing worthy allies from dangerous enemies takes some time; during his first meal, everyone seems like an enemy, but toward the end of the film, it seems he gets along with all of the prisoners but none of the prison authorities. There is a very obvious delineation of an enemy camp on the part of the “sisters,” who had always been hostile aggressors. Other prisoners, like Red, seemed neutral at best during Andy’s early days as an inmate, but later became his allies. In mythology, these alliances, rivalries, and enemy relationships are prominent, as are the shifting alliances of the human world. For example, the Greek gods Poseidon and Zeus were brothers, and often provided each other with help, but were not always friendly (Grimal 379). Iolaus was an important ally to Hercules, as he was his expert charioteer and Hydra killer (Vogler 71). For Odysseus, the allies were his shipmates, and for Jason, the Argonauts were allies (Vogler 72). Oftentimes in Greek mythology, the ally is an animal of some sort (Vogler 72). Athena had an owl that was her ally, and Artemis had a deer (Vogler 74). This is parallel to a storyline in The Shawshank Redemption, in which Brooks takes in a baby bird that fell out of its nest and carries it around in his pocket. He feeds the bird and nurtures it until it can survive on its own. Then, when the bird was strong enough to fly away and Brooks was released into the population, the bird was set free through the bars of the prison. The bird was an ally and companion for Brooks, as well as a dependent creature that relied on him to provide nourishment, warmth, and companionship. It seems that Andy’s entire stay at the prison is spent doing things that will edify the other prisoners and improve their lives in some significant way. First he negotiated cold beers for them (which he did not even drink). Then there are the books he gets for them, and the library building project. He takes risks to help them, too. He manages to sneak an opera recording onto the loud speaker system so that every single person on the prison grounds could hear it, and though it earns him a horrible beating and a two week stay in solitary confinement, he is clearly pleased. Even as the warden is shouting for him to turn the volume down, Andy turns it up and enjoys the music. As Sanchez-Escalonilla describes, “Andy is a journey of moral rescue based on hope that will permit a real redemption of their lives” (150). Andy locates some deeper meaning in his efforts to impact the other prisoners, and it seems that he may even be doing these things in an attempt to make penance or recompense for his own wrongdoing. At one point, he tells Red that he is responsible for his wife’s death because he pushed her away, and how she always told him he was a hard man to know. Figures in Greek myth share some of these traits with Andy as well. For example, Theseus, whom Hamilton calls “the great Athenian hero,” was similarly self-sacrificing, and though he yearned to become a hero as quickly as possible, he offered himself up for sacrifice to the Minotaur (though planning to slay him) (149). Heracles, like Andy, had reason to want to do things to make restitution for his mistakes. He felt horrible guilt for his actions toward his wife and children, which led to their death (Wilkinson 61). He was made to do a series of tasks, the last one being the greatest – to capture the three-headed Cerberus (Wilkinson). Accomplishing this nearly impossible task not only removed the guilt from Heracles but also granted him immortality (Wilkinson). The journey to capture Cerberus represents another very important part of the hero’s journey and of many Greek myths: descent into hell, or into the belly of the whale (Campbell). Wright describes that a hero has to rise up out of difficult circumstances and succeed despite all the things working against them (147). Hercules went to Hades to get Cerberus, and Orpheus had to go down into Hades to rescue Eurydice, but he made the mistake of looking back at her and so didn’t emerge victorious (Sanchcez-Escalonilla 150). For Theseus, the descent was into the labyrinth of the Minotaur, and he emerged heroically after killing the beast (Wilkinson 62). This descent is in many myths, and is also evident on several levels in The Shawshank Redemption. The most unique example is with the older prisoner, Brooks, and what happens to him after leaving the prison. Amazingly, Brooks has been imprisoned for so long that he is afraid of the outside world and locates his experience of hell out there, and he wishes to be back with the inmates. He became so assimilated into the institutional lifestyle that it became his ideal. He finds himself in the belly of the beast as he tries to make his way across the street without being hit by a car and make it through the day at work without customers complaining. Brooks nearly hurts another prisoner because he wants to stay in prison so badly. Instead of continuing to exist in the belly of the beast, Brooks decides to take his own life not long after gaining his so-called “freedom.” Not so for Andy, who works toward getting out of the prison that he experiences as hell. Andy descends into the belly of the whale many times. His first entry is when he comes to prison. He is hosed down, treated with delousing powder and thrown into a crowd of violent, angry, dangerous men that have nothing to lose. The prison is dark and cavernous in the way we might imagine the belly of a beast. Andy is in the belly of the beast when he is sent to solitary confinement, a small, dark, cold room with no human contact and an environment designed to induce madness. After Andy spends a total of two months in solitary confinement, he emerges a changed man: scarred, yet eerily peaceful and resolved to have a future. It is at this point that Andy talks to Red about the life he would like to have if he ever gets out of Shawshank or escapes. He carefully details how he would go to coastal Mexico to live out his life. He describes his marriage proposal, which happened on a farm in Maine, under a specific tree next to a wall of stones. He urges Red to—if he is ever released—find that tree, but does not tell him what will be buried there for him. Finally, Andy descends further into hell before he finally makes his permanent escape from the prison. At the movie’s resolution, we watch the guards enter Andy’s cell only to find him gone. Interrogations of prisoners ensue, but no one has any idea where or how Andy might have gone. Finally, the warden throws one of Andy’s rocks right at his pinup girl poster. It tears right through and we hear it echoing in a hollow space. The poster is removed and we see the tunnel that Andy has been digging with his tiny rock hammer during his entire stay at the prison, nineteen years at this point. Andy had to inch through the very narrow path he made himself, and then wade through raw sewage pipes the length of five football fields. The viewer watches Andy as he wretches from the smell and struggles to make it through all of these obstacles, and is still amazed at the fact that he was able not only to keep his rock hammer a secret for nearly two decades but to tunnel through concrete with a tiny rock hammer. At last, Andy is spit out into a lake. He immediately rips off his shirt, spreads his arms and turns his face to the sky, reaching up toward the raindrops and freedom he sees there. His hero’s journey has come full circle, and he has made a return to civilization. This is another prominent feature in Greek mythology, especially in the specific case of the hero visiting the underworld and experiencing the belly of the beast. There is a descent, and after trials and difficulties, there is a return to the world (Campbell). Orpheus, the “greatest musician of the ancient world,” went to the Kingdom of Hades to win back his wife Eurydice (Wilkinson 57). Eurydice had died of a snake bite, and Orpheus loved her so much that he was willing to risk his life to get her back (Wilkinson). He made his descent and was able to make a deal with Hades to bring her back safely. Orpheus can’t resist looking back at Eurydice, which was the one rule Hades gave him. Eurydice was made to leave and Orpheus returned to the world without her (Wilkinson). When Heracles descends to the underworld, it is to find the three-headed beast named Cerberus (Wilkinson 61). Heracles was able to overpower Cerberus and bring him up to the world, along with a precious sacrificial bark from the Underworld’s white poplar tree (Grimal 92). Hoses, rain, sewage, and lake: these water symbols surround Andy’s introduction to and exit from prison, and provide further evidence of the parallel themes in The Shawshank Redemption and Greek mythology. Water has special significance in myth, both as a location for important events (the River Styx) and as a symbolic representative. The River Styx ran through the underworld, and visitors were brought in on a boat headed by Charon (Grimal 411). The water of the river had magical properties (Grimal 411). Poseidon, god of the sea, had command of water in the sea and in springs (Wilkinson 50). He could also create earthquakes, storms, and floods based on his control of the waters (Wilkinson 50). Andy maintained his innocence during his trial and throughout his sentence, often making jokes with other prisoners based on everyone’s assertion that “I did not do it.” When it is finally revealed to the viewer that Andy truly is innocent of the crimes, he becomes an even greater symbol of perseverance, survival, and heroism. Somehow, Andy managed to persist while seemingly surrendered to an unfair punishment for crimes that were not his own. When the viewer finds that he had been working on his escape for his entire stay at Shawshank, a new perspective is given on the source of his sustenance. In the culmination of the hero’s journey, the hero has brought back some special or powerful “elixir” to be shared with others (Vogler 215). Heracles emerges from one of his journeys with the white poplar bark, and Theseus had journeys in which he brought back a stag with golden horns and golden apples, amongst other things (Hamilton 165). Andy, too, brings something with him when he emerges from his imprisonment: enough knowledge of the prison warden’s corrupt financial practices to walk into a series of banks and withdraw more than $350,000. In the ultimate expression of irony, the system’s corruption resulted in Andy’s prosperity and the warden’s demise. Andy, being a true hero, does not keep the blessings to himself, however. Instead, he shares some with Red by burying a box with money under the Maine tree he had described to him. The heroic journey completes when the Andy and his mentor are reunited in Mexico, free to pursue the life they deserve. The Shawshank Redemption is a film that exhibits storylines that run parallel to those found in Greek mythology, especially those related to the hero’s journey. Symbolic, rich, and profound, it is one of those rare films that contains the kinds of universally significant messages and themes that are also common in myths. Andy Dufresne is a heroic personality of mythological proportion, able to withstand comparisons with the heroes from classic myth, and The Shawshank Redemption is a film compelling enough to make a permanent impact on its viewer. Works Cited Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato: New World Library, 2008. Print. Grimal, Pierre. Dictionary of Classical Mythology. London: Penguin, 1991. Print. Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York: Mentor, 1969. Print. Malphrus, P. Ellen. “The Prince of Tides as Archetypal Hero Quest.” Southern Literary Journal 39.2(2007): 100-118. Print. Sanchez-Escalonilla, Antonio. “The Hero as a Visitor in Hell.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 32.4 (2005): 149-156. Print. The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont. Perf. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. 1998. Warner Brothers Pictures, 2007. DVD. Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Studio City: Michael Wiese Publications, 2007. Print. Wickersham, John M. Myths and Legends of the World. New York: Macmillan, 2000. Print. Wilkinson, Philip, and Neil Philip. Mythology. New York: DK, 2007. Print. Wright, Will. “The Hero in Popular Stories.” Journal of Popular Film & Television 32.4 (2005): 146-148. Print. Read More