Christ in the Shawshank Redemption
I do believe the Shawshank Redemption has a religious message. I didn't see it the first time I watched it. The first time I saw it, I loved it not because it was a religious movie but because it was a film about hope. And although I cringed at the portrayal of the Warden, it was hope that made me return to this film again and again. Only after watching and digesting the movie for many years did I finally recognize the hope the movie was depicting.
I see the movie as an illustration of the above/below divide that has been a constant theme in western literature since Plato's Allegory of the Cave. If you aren't familiar with the Allegory I invite you to read it. The problem with Shaw shank’s prisoners and Red in particular is they have become accustom to prison life. Brook's parole, in a clear reversal of our expectations, reveals the terror one experiences when faced with the possibility of living life on the outside. But there is life outside, a point that Andy wants his fellow prisoners to see. He provides them beer on the roof, music over the loud speakers, and the library, all in an effort to prepare them for this life. Andy does it not because he is chained as his fellow prisoners but because he is the only prisoner that's free and or innocent.
The religious connotation of the film, however, does not become fully apparent until Andy escapes from prison. It is in Andy's cell where we along with Red expect to find Andy dead. But instead of finding death, we find the cell empty and instead of being dead, Andy is alive with a new and powerful life lived on the outside. The imagery is so transparent I don't why it took me, a Christian, over six years to see who Andy is. Andy is Christ. Just as when Red and the Warden go looking for Andy's dead body in the cell, the disciples likewise went looking for Christ's. And just as Red found the Cell empty and Andy alive, so the disciples found the tomb empty and Jesus alive.
This connection is the key to the movie. When you recognize this everything in the film because meaningful in light of the gospel (good news). The prisoners of Shawshank and Red in particular like ourselves are bound to this world. Because of this the prisoners fear being paroled just as we fear death: there is nothing waiting for them on the outside. Like Christ, Andy comes into there world as a free and innocent man, spreading hope of the outside world. Just as Christ first miracle is changing water into wine, Andy provides beer on the roof. Just as Christ miracles proclaim the hope found in a life lived in God, Andy's miracles proclaim the hope that can be theirs.
It's Andy escape (death/resurrection) that makes all the difference for Red. Up until that time he is man unwilling to truly face his guilt and punishment. Up until that time he is a man who is afraid of what awaits him on the outside. But Andy's life means life for Red. It’s because Andy lives that Red does not face the same fate as Brooks. The final scene where Red meets Andy on the beach, I believe is the imagery of the believer meeting Christ in heaven.
This is Christianity in a nutshell. You can’t find this imagery particularly in the Gospel of John. In closing I have to ask you one question. You love the Shawshank Redemption, could it be the image of Christ that you truly love?
I see the movie as an illustration of the above/below divide that has been a constant theme in western literature since Plato's Allegory of the Cave. If you aren't familiar with the Allegory I invite you to read it. The problem with Shaw shank’s prisoners and Red in particular is they have become accustom to prison life. Brook's parole, in a clear reversal of our expectations, reveals the terror one experiences when faced with the possibility of living life on the outside. But there is life outside, a point that Andy wants his fellow prisoners to see. He provides them beer on the roof, music over the loud speakers, and the library, all in an effort to prepare them for this life. Andy does it not because he is chained as his fellow prisoners but because he is the only prisoner that's free and or innocent.
The religious connotation of the film, however, does not become fully apparent until Andy escapes from prison. It is in Andy's cell where we along with Red expect to find Andy dead. But instead of finding death, we find the cell empty and instead of being dead, Andy is alive with a new and powerful life lived on the outside. The imagery is so transparent I don't why it took me, a Christian, over six years to see who Andy is. Andy is Christ. Just as when Red and the Warden go looking for Andy's dead body in the cell, the disciples likewise went looking for Christ's. And just as Red found the Cell empty and Andy alive, so the disciples found the tomb empty and Jesus alive.
This connection is the key to the movie. When you recognize this everything in the film because meaningful in light of the gospel (good news). The prisoners of Shawshank and Red in particular like ourselves are bound to this world. Because of this the prisoners fear being paroled just as we fear death: there is nothing waiting for them on the outside. Like Christ, Andy comes into there world as a free and innocent man, spreading hope of the outside world. Just as Christ first miracle is changing water into wine, Andy provides beer on the roof. Just as Christ miracles proclaim the hope found in a life lived in God, Andy's miracles proclaim the hope that can be theirs.
It's Andy escape (death/resurrection) that makes all the difference for Red. Up until that time he is man unwilling to truly face his guilt and punishment. Up until that time he is a man who is afraid of what awaits him on the outside. But Andy's life means life for Red. It’s because Andy lives that Red does not face the same fate as Brooks. The final scene where Red meets Andy on the beach, I believe is the imagery of the believer meeting Christ in heaven.
This is Christianity in a nutshell. You can’t find this imagery particularly in the Gospel of John. In closing I have to ask you one question. You love the Shawshank Redemption, could it be the image of Christ that you truly love?
posted by Matthew Miller at 11:13 AM
2 Comments:
Yes indeed. Crawling through a "river of sh*t" is just like descending into death like the creed says. And he "comes out clean on the other side".
It's sort of a perfect parallel, really well done. I just wonder if it was conscious or not.
Yes,exactly. I just realized what you have said, and it took me watching it over many years and thinking about it, like you, to realize the true story. I had always accepted that the Redemption was about Red. This is his story, one man's fall from grace, and his redemption by believing in something higher. Andy was purity, and although his earthly flesh was seemingly corrupted by the warden, He never wavered in His commitment to that higher power. Death and resurrection, they couldn't find him when they went searching except for some discarded cloths (think about that!). Andy had to travel through an almost Hell for several days to return to Heaven. The allusions just keep coming. Red by his admissions of sin, and faith after the resurrection (the search for the box) was the Redemption, which it is for all of us.
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