Line #8 Tearjerker/TheShawshankRedemption


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brooks_1.jpg]]
2	''[[caption-width-right:350:[[DrivenToSuicide Brooks was here.]]]]''
3	%%
4	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotNxb2YApk "Brooks Was Here."]] He is an old man devastated by the news of his parole after nearly 50 years' imprisonment, who resorts to attacking Heywood to prevent his imminent release, breaking down into tears when stopped. Once he's a free man, he's overwhelmed by modern life, especially cars, and barely able to keep up at his convenience store job due to his ailing hands and unsympathetic customers. He has nightmares every night, because [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_syndrome he is so institutionalized]] that he is completely [[StrangerInAFamiliarLand out of place]] in this brave new world.
5	-->'''Brooks''': I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. [[DeadlyEuphemism I've decided not to stay]]. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss - not for an old crook like me.
6	** Red's words also hurt.
7	---> ''He should've died in here.''
8	** Even Andy, who is most in control of his emotions amongst the prisoners, [[NotSoStoic can barely get through reading Brooks' letter to everyone]].
9	** And as a DeletedScene shows, Jake - the pet crow that Brooks had raised - met the same fate as his owner for the same reason.
10	* Fatass being brutally beaten to death by Hadley. For as much fun all the inmates had poking fun of him and the other new prisoners, especially Heywood, you can hear a few of them pleading for Hadley to ease his beating on Fatass as it got quiet. You can tell some, like Heywood, started regretting their actions that moment.
11	* Andy's "Get busy living" speech and his conversation with Red that ensues as Andy desperately clings to his last happy memory and his only dream for the future while Red reflects on just how worthless his life will be once he does get out and how hope is just a "shitty pipe dream". The music does not help. Like at all. Of course, this all gets ''completely'' turned on its head later but still....
12	** The fact that all of Andy's friends begin to worry to the point of they all agree to keep him company so he doesn't hurt himself. Heywood begins to [[OhCrap regret his actions]] of giving Andy six feet of rope when he asked because in his mind, "Why wouldn't I? [[TheParagon He's Andy]]."
13	** "I killed her, Red. I drove her away. [[TheStoic Because of the way I am]]." At his lowest point, [[ItsAllMyFault Andy feels he's responsible for his wife's death]].
14	-->'''Red''': That don't make you a murderer. [[BrutalHonesty Bad husband, maybe]]. Feel bad about it if you want to, but ''you didn't pull the trigger.''\
15	'''Andy''': No, I didn't. Somebody else did. And I wound up in here. [[CosmicPlaything Bad luck, I guess]]. Floats around. Gotta land on somebody. I was in the path of the tornado. Just didn't think the storm would last this long.
16	* Just how shocked everyone is when they hear that not only did Andy get a month in solitary confinement (longest sentence they've heard), but he was for real innocent as well. Tommy is guilt ridden for bringing up the revelation, and Heywood and Red can't believe Andy spent 19 years in Shawshank. Given what Andy went through and has done for them and the rest of the prisoners, they all knew Andy didn't deserve such a fate.
17	* After trying his hardest to get his High School diploma so he wouldn't be a complete waste in life, having a young wife and kid, and then succeeding at getting it and willing to help out Andy, Tommy's death being ordered by the Warden came as an immense and tragic shock.
18	* Following Tommy's murder, the Warden visits Andy in solitary, where he threatens to not only have him "[[PrisonRape cast down with the sodomites]]", but also [[KickTheDog shut down the prison library and burn all the books]] if Andy pulls out of his money-laundering scheme, which makes this scene a case of not only being very heartbreaking to watch, but [[NightmareFuel/TheShawshankRedemption frightening as well.]]
19	** To top it all off, he orders Andy to serve ''another month'' in solitary confinement, and [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/download_589.jpg the look on Andy's face after his visit]] is absolutely heartbreaking.
20	* We all know the night Andy escaped was a triumphant moment for him, but to everyone else, this was a scary night. They all found out Andy is innocent of a crime he did not commit, but due to corruption, Andy was doomed to stay. Thinking he might kill himself, Red said himself that that night was the longest night of his life, not knowing if his best friend was dead. When the morning routine happened and Andy didn't come out, it's easy to think Red believed the worse had happened.
21	* Red's closing narration on Andy's escape:
22	-->'''Red:''' It still hurts sometimes-- Andy being gone. I have to tell myself every day that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up ''does'' rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty now that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.
23	* The ending with Red and Andy finally reunited on a beach in Mexico is sure to reduce anyone to TearsOfJoy after so many emotionally devastating moments.
24	* Red's speech before the parole board when asked if he feels regret for his crimes. Before, he would say what he thought the parole board wanted to hear. Not this time:
25	-->'''Red''': There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone, and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So, you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit.
26	* The tragic death of the poor inmate on Andy's first night in prison, who is bullied by the other inmates to break down and cry as a cruel bet, only for Hadley to get so angry at the inmate's wailing he savagely beats him to death.
27	** The other inmates are horrified to learn he died, but Heywood tells Andy to fuck off when he asks the man's name. You have to learn to live in a nightmare like that.
28	* Blink and you'll miss it, but Red says that Andy being attacked by the Sisters went on ''for two years''.
29	** Red sounding sorrow for Andy's predicament, wishing he could tell you that Andy put up a good fight and was left alone, but prison life is no fairy tale world.
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Context Tearjerker / TheShawshankRedemption