As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance:
- Andy seems rather lethargic and calm most of the time. Think that's just his personality? Or maybe it's because he spends most of his nights working on that wall of his?
- Family Guy criticized the concept of Norton being the bad guy even though he's "the only non-criminal character in this movie." Norton is a criminal, however, as are most (if not all) characters in this movie; even Andy, who's wrongfully convicted of the crime he's in for, commits some major crimes while in prison. And there is the brilliance of this movie; everyone's a criminal in this movie, just as to an albeit lesser extent everyone's a criminal in real life. Think about it; aren't there moments in your life where you've done things that are against the law?
- "Maybe because I'm Irish". Red's evasive answer when asked directly how he came by his nickname on the heels of asserting that everybody in prison claims innocence becomes unspokenly chilling when spoken by Morgan Freeman. Hint- he's a murderer.
- Hint- his full name, as shown on his parole form, is Ellis Boyd REDDING. So where do you think that nickname came from? Then again, for the real reason behind his nickname, see Mythology Gag.
- In the Stephen King novella the movie was based on, Red was in fact a red-haired Irish-American. The line in the movie is a kind of cheeky way of addressing the fact that his ethnicity has been changed in the film to African American. (Of course, it's possible for an African American to have Irish ancestry, but I don't think that was the point here.)
- Many saw Andy's comments about Hadley's wife a pretty stupid decision, given how much of a genius he truly is. This, however, might just be how Andy wanted it all to play out. If he had just told Hadley about the plan at first, it would probably anger Hadley for snooping in on his business, he already knows him as the lawyer who killed his wife, so he was already suspicious of any illegal activities Andy might get him involved. How the whole scene plays out, Andy is playing into Hadley's pride as a man, needing no one telling him how to do things in his life, and makes an easy offer for Hadley that would be nothing but gain for him in his eyes. Andy intentionally riled him up to set up the offer.
- As an aside, the fact that the Warden and the guards trust Andy with the money-laundering scheme to the point of conspiring to keep him locked away for the rest of his life makes his revenge by stealing all the sweeter, since in their greed they forgot something perhaps quite obvious — that they probably shouldn't place their unwavering trust regarding their financial dealings to a banker who was in prison.
- Red tells Andy that escaping from prison is just a "shitty pipe dream." Then Andy escapes through a shitty pipe.
- As an extension of that, The iconic part where he reaches up to the sky after finally escaping Shawshank prison. The reason why he did it because he just crawled through a few hundred yards of shit and piss, and he wanted the rain to wash the smell off.
- When Heywood offers Andy one of the beers he got him and his friends during the roof repair, Andy declined saying he gave up drinking. While this is sweet when you think that he basically got everyone free beers just for the heck of it, made new friends both with the inmates and officers (like Hadley, which pays dividend), it's also a bit of a somber note too. Andy was drunkenly planning to kill his wife and lover for the affair and only when he sobered up did he back out. Him realizing what drinking almost made him commit such an unforgivable crime has led him to give up on the vice, even when he's already in prison for the crime he did not commit.
- Andy gets away with stealing Norton's shoes by brazenly wearing them back to his cell because, "how often do you look at a man's shoes?" However by that logic, wouldn't it be safer to hope that one bank manager fails to notice the prison shoes, which might cause a bit of awkwardness, than risk that a guard would notice Norton's polished work shoes, which would result in the failure of his escape attempt and massive retribution? (Yes, Andy visited a dozen banks, but after the first he could have taken some cash and bought himself some proper shoes.)
- Even if someone saw his shoes Andy has been making the Warden a truck load of money. He could claim the warden gave him the shoes and no one is really going to question it until the next day by which point he's gone. Also having the Warden's shoes wouldn't ruin his escape plan.
- Both are a gamble, but the look of a man wearing a smart suit and scuffed up shoes is one that arguably sticks in the mind more, and looks more suspicious than a man in prison overalls wearing shiny shoes; the prisoner might conceivably have acquired new shoes or a jar of boot black from somewhere, especially if he's in tight with the warden, but what sort of person in the 1960s wore a smart suit but didn't shine his shoes before meeting with the bank manager? Andy's plan hinges on him going without notice as long as possible on the outside in order to make a quiet getaway, so he takes rolls the dice that it's more likely that no one in a prison where everyone is already wearing one of two uniforms will look too closely at his feet rather than a bank manager noting the suspiciously scuffed shoes of a customer he's never seen before and then remembering it to an inquisitive police officer later.
- The sequence of Andy carving his name, which was cut halfway to show him, in a seemingly non-connected manner, asking Red for a Rita Hayworth poster. When they're revealing what he's actually been doing for 20 years near the end of the film, it turned out that it was during this sequence that he found out about the vulnerability of the wall. He asked for a poster because that's how he's going to cover the hole. The Fridge Brilliance comes in when you realise that the two scenes are actually connected and not a change of subjects.
- This also subtly explains his vague dismay when Red said the poster's arrival could take some time.
- And why the poster is mentioned right in one of Red's first voiceovers.
- At the very least, Andy had something to do while waiting for the poster, recovering from his injuries from The Sisters.
- The new fish who was slaughtered by Hadley. "What was his name? What do you care?" Look at the credits. Obviously, He's also not named; credited only as "Fat Ass".
- After seeing the climax, you realize just how close Andy came to being totally screwed when Norton came into his cell. The Warden pointed disapprovingly at the racy poster and almost walked off with Andy's Bible. Which also shows how utterly self-controlled Andy is. His entire plan is on the edge of falling apart, and he doesn't even flinch.
- Anyone else interpret warden Samuel Norton's "it's a conspiracy" rant seems as a case of psychological projection?
Given that he's rather corrupt himself, perhaps that would explain why he sees a conspiring nature in others?- My favorite part about Norton's breakdown is his sarcastic observation that Andy's disappearance is a "miracle" ("boy up and vanished like a fart in the wind"). Throughout the movie Norton has put on the airs of a devout and religious person (quotes scripture, makes the inmates read the bible, wears a cross, wife's needlework, etc.), yet when he is actually presented with evidence of an According to Hoyle miracle, he dismisses it out of hand.
- There is a subtle transition in the Warden's wardrobe to reflect this. In the first years he is wearing a shiny cross pin, and may actually still be a righteous man. But when he starts laundering money through Andy, it's replaced with a circular "community service' lapel pin.
- Also, in the beginning of the movie, he says discipline is one of the two things he believes in (the other being The Bible). His very undisciplined ranting shows just how much Andy's disappearance has shaken him.
- Considering his espousing of Christian values his suicide at the end to avoid arrest at the end shows how much he's slipped and that he fears man's judgement for his actions over God's. Especially as suicide can be considered a major sin.
- Minor one: Tommy Williams is a stereotypical 1950s greaser in 1965. Little late for that, right? But since he's spent so much time in and out of prison, he's actually several years behind. (And if he'd stayed longer, he might have even gotten like Brooks...)
- There are two Bible verses that relate to the relationship between Andy and Warden Norton. During their initial meeting Andy acknowledges Norton's authority quoting Mark, "Therefore stay awake — for you do not know when the master of the house will come." Naturally the servants of a house should be wary of the judgement of their master who can deal out their punishment at any time. However the Bible also reminds the master of the house that he is not invincible and that he should be wary of thieves, "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into." Fittingly Andy poses as Norton's servant for years while he secretly acts as an undercover thief, and this is ultimately what leads to Norton's undoing in that he trusted Andy too much and did not anticipate the hour of the thief's arrival.
- As for John 8:12, the Bible verse the warden quotes back, a commentary has this to say about it: "Strong and full of hope as these words are in the English rendering, the Greek is more emphatic still. The negative is in its strongest form, expressing “shall by no means,” “shall in no wise,” “walk in darkness.” The possibility is excluded from the thought. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” If a man makes a false step in life, it is because he seeks other guides in his own thoughts or in subjection to the thoughts of other men." So the warden is not merely acknowledging Andy's submission by putting himself in the role of God, but rejects even the possibility of Andy having thoughts outside of complete submission to him.
- And if the Warden is putting himself in the role of the Almighty, he is committing one of the more significant sins in Christianity: Blasphemy.
- Under One Size Fits All it's mentioned that Andy is taller than the Warden and stealing his suit would be unfeasible, except the Warden also had Andy take care of his laundry, giving him time to get the suit he had picked out altered.
- But where, other than in Desperation NV is it normal for a man to grow several inches taller, and need his suit altered accordingly?
- This is simple; he has the clothes gradually altered by incremental amounts over time until they're just right. His plan stretches for about twenty years, so it's not like speed is of the essence, and who's going to notice the same shirt or pair of pants being gradually extended by a few inches or so at a time when that time is over a period of months or years? If anyone asks, the last alteration just wasn't enough.
- This probably explains why Norton complained that his shirts were over-starched. At his trial Andy's clothes were perfect, and in his first few years in prison his shirt was tucked in perfectly and fully buttoned to his neck. He had the laundry guys apply a full starch because that's what he had worn in his banker days. Now he could take any of the Warden's shirts whenever he decided to escape, and also fool the laundry guys into thinking the Warden now liked full starch so as to not arouse any suspicion. Surely that shirt of Norton's he escaped with was nice and crisp.
- After Andy's cell has been tossed, Norton returns his Bible to him, saying "Salvation lies within". It's not revealed until much later on in the movie that Andy's salvation literally lay within the Bible, as that was where he was keeping his rock hammer hidden. Andy even includes a handwritten note to drive the point home: "You were right. Salvation lay within."
- And he hid the hammer on the first page of the book of Exodus, the book in which the enslaved Israelites were finally freed from the tyranny of Egypt. The word "exodus" itself means "departure."
- There's another way, as well: Andy's knowledge of the Bible and his ability to match the warden verse for verse in quoting it is the likely reason Norton made an exception for Andy's Rita Hayworth poster, after saying he disapproved of it.
- Doubles as Fridge Horror: Brooks's pet crow, Jake. Brooks, freed on parole, sets Jake free from a window before leaving the prison. However, having been hand-fed by Brooks from a young age, Jake doesn't have the survival skills a crow would learn in the wild. He probably won't make it on the outside. Neither does Brooks. The Fridge Brilliance is the parallel between the two, which isn't apparent on first watching.
- A Deleted Scene shows that Jake, sadly, did indeed perish not long after being freed... just like Brooks.
- You would think that a guy who likes Rita Hayworth enough to request a contraband poster of her would show at least some level of interest in her movies. But no. Andy shows up to ask Red about the poster after the movie has already begun and then he abruptly leaves right in the middle of one of Rita's scenes. This is an earlier clue that Andy doesn't actually care too much about what's on the poster- he's got other plans in mind.
- Andy says during that scene that he's watched the movie 3 times that month already. If you're going to get a big poster may as well be for a celebrity you like.
- On a related note to the above, although the movie in question (Gilda, to be precise) has indeed started when Andy arrives, he actually arrives perfectly in time to catch Rita Hayworth's first scene in that movie; it's very likely that Andy genuinely does like Rita Hayworth but decided that, say, making sure the small hole he'd made in the wall was significantly hidden after learning that it would take a while for Red to get the poster was more important to him than watching the rest of a movie he'd already seen at least 3 times.
- Red mentions that one of the reasons why other inmates think that Andy is a snob is because he walks through the yard in a strangely casual, strolling manner. What they don't realize is that Andy is trying his hardest to look natural while secretly dumping bits of his cell wall out of his pants. No wonder the guy walks funny.
- Except by this point in the film Andy doesn't even have the rock hammer yet, let alone the poster.
- Red getting parole after the third time makes sense for several reasons.
- Red, in his first two meetings with a parole board, was behaving in a transparently obsequious manner, making a lot of noise about how "reformed" in order to appease the parole board members. In his last meeting, Red loses this phony attitude and speaks with sincerity, and talks about his regrets and hatred toward his past self. By showing genuine understanding and candor, the parole board would definitely believe he was a changed man.
- The first two parole boards had members that were all old white guys who, living in the 1940s and 1950s, would not believe that a black man convicted of murder could be a functioning member of society. By the 1960s, the parole board members are full of younger men and included a woman. These younger people would probably have more enlightened views than old white guys.
- By the time of his final parole hearing, Red is an old man. The parole board would think, by this point, Red would be too elderly to commit any kind of crime.
- Andy sending all the corruption evidence to the Daily Bugle instead of other proper authorities is a stroke of genius. Andy knows how corrupt the authorities can be, he's work with them for nearly years, so his trust in them to do the right thing with the evidence is shaky at best. Giving it to the Bugle, however, would guarantee that everyone in the state would find out about Norton's actions. It wouldn't matter if the Bugle thinks it's morally right or wrong, their best interest is appeased, which is having a sure fire story that will grab reader's attention and boost sales.
- Why was Heywood so bitter and grumpy at Andy when he asked for Fat Ass' name, it's not just because he's sad that he's dead, but also because he was responsible for it. Had he not riled him up in his fear, he would have lived to see another day, not beaten to a pulp by a merciless Hadley.
- Norton getting a bribe through an apple pie is actually very reflective of his duplicitous nature.
- Getting an apple pie from a close friend or neighbor is one of the most traditional American gestures. Underneath that pie, however, is naked corruption and bribery.
- Norton presents himself as a devout Christian and brave public servant. Yet he is very much a self-serving monster who wears the mask of morality.
- Norton's treatment of Andy is not only cruel, but it also shows how Norton doesn't see him or the prisoners as human beings, but as dogs he can mistreat on the merest whim.
- Norton giving Andy some pie seems like a nice gesture from a not-nice man, but the manner in which he does it, calling the pie terrible, shows that Norton isn't trying to be generous; he's just giving someone his table scraps.
- Norton throwing Andy into solitary until he falls in line is similar to someone conditioning an animal to be obedient.
- Both Andy and Norton deal with stressful situations. But they handle them in very different ways.
- Andy has been imprisoned for crimes he didn't commit, his wife cheated on him and was murdered, the prison is a crappy place full of sadists, and the food is bad. And yet...Andy tries to make the most of it: he continues his hobby of geology, tries to build a better library for the inmates, works as an accountant for the prison staff, and manages to escape. He maintains a stoic facade in the face of hardship, learns to better defend himself, and admits to being a lousy husband and nearly committing a crime of passion.
- Norton, however, reacts to any inconvenience with petulant and destructive rage. He destroys Andy's chance at freedom and kills Tommy because of the potential threat to his illegal cash. And because Andy called him obtuse. Norton makes a vicious threat to destroy Andy's accomplishments and deliberately traps him with inmates who would rape him. He throws a horrible tantrum when Andy escapes and he finally kills himself, a serious sin in Christianity, when he is caught rather than admit he was wrong and accept the consequences of his actions. While Andy actually is a master of Turn the Other Cheek, Norton is an entitled jerk who acts like the world owes him something.
- When Andy teaches the inmates, including Tommy, to help get their G.E.D., Andy is sitting over Tommy with the stopwatch. Yep, the state trusts Andy to officially time its inmate G.E.D. program (rather than send someone in for the tests).
- Andy and Red having to very neat parallels in their lives. Andy has a lot to thank for Red for providing him what he needed to adjust to his prison life, even escape to freedon as well. Red has a lot to thank for Andy for giving him hope outside of prison life, as it was his promise to find Andy's gift for him that kept him going off the deep end like Brooks, and in a way, escape to freedom as well.
- When "Randall Stevens" is in the first bank, he is clean, well-groomed and looking not at all like someone who escaped from the local prison. Where did he get the "seed money" that he needed to buy anything else he might need before the first visit? Andy could have easily kept a small amount of cash out of each night deposits that he gives to the warden. There was only so much he could bring out with him, but a small wad of cash? Simple.
Fridge Horror:
- Yes, Andy got out of Shawshank and got back at Norton and Hadley, and Red got released, reuniting with Andy, but Elmo Blatch, the psychopath who destroyed Andy's life in the first place, is still out there. As Gil mentions in his story, Elmo was back in prison for a lesser crime (robbery, if I remember correctly), so he's probably out again. Considering how amused Elmo was at seeing Andy pay for his crime, how likely is it that's he's going to destroy someone else's life?
- Truth in Television?
- If Andy wrote at length about the Warden's other offenses, it's quite possible he wrote about his own innocence, Tommy's testimony, and Blatch himself. Granted, it'd be highly unlikely that any investigation into this would occur, but given that Andy is owning up to the Warden's schemes, there's a chance they'd look up Blatch's involvement as well.
- Since the newspaper explicitly mentions corruption and murder at Shawshank, it seems very likely that Andy wrote about Tommy's death. That, if nothing else, will be investigated, and that will lead them to wonder why.
- And who's to say that Andy, with his new fortune, didn't send someone after Blatch himself?
- Worth remembering that Blatch is basically a thug who got lucky, he's not the Joker. In the twenty years the movie covers, anything could have happened to him.
- Tommy has a wife and infant daughter. Red surmises that "maybe it was the thought of them on the streets or his child growing up not knowing her daddy" that goads him to ask Andy for help with his GED. At least the novella version lets you hope he eventually left prison for good. As for the movie version ... What do you think happened to his loved ones after his death?
- It would hardly be the first time a family lost its husband/father. What's happened to those left behind pretty much runs the gamut of all human experience. Some fall, some triumph.
- To be fair, even though it is obviously NOT the first time a tragedy like that happened, it STILL counts as fridge horror because of the nightmare fuel of Tommy being MURDERED in cold blood by a guard, how horrific the implications are about what happens to Tommy's family, and the added Nothing Is Scarier factor in that we do not see the grieving family on-screen.
- It's possible that before fleeing to Mexico, Andy set up a trust for Tommy's family to receive some of Norton's withdrawn money.
- In the novella, at least, he gets bribed into silence with a transferral into Cashman, a prison with a program that effectively paroles him on weekends. Not too shabby.
- Squick: That pipe was dumping raw sewage straight into a stream!
- In the movie, Red was a very young man when he got arrested for the botched robbery/murder. More than likely, he was the victim of prison rape several times, at least in the early years of his sentence, as he was easy prey. No wonder he speaks so coldly and calm while describing Andy's ordeal with the Sisters: he's been there.
- When Fat Ass breaks down after Heywood's taunting, he whines repeatedly about how "he doesn't belong here (in prison)!" What if, just like Andy, he too was convicted for a crime he didn't commit? But unlike Andy, he was murdered before he even got the chance to be freed and/or exonerated?
- Not entirely undeserved horror, but still: it is mentioned that upon finally being arrested for his crimes, Byron Hadley bursts into tears. As well he should; if there is any man who does not have a happy time awaiting him upon being sent to prison, it is a former prison guard. And that's before we factor in what an absolute bastard of a guard he was; if nothing else Hadley had better pray as hard as he can that he doesn't end in Shawshank, otherwise God only knows what kind of treatment / karma he's got coming...
- Considering how Norton assassinated a relatively minor offender to cover up his corruption, and how easily Hadley went along with it, what other horrible things have they done when no one was looking?
