Although the short story and film were extraordinarily similar, there were still some differences. For example, in the film, the old librarian ends up committing suicide upon receiving his freedom; he wrote "Brooks was here" on the wall before killing himself, which did not happen in the short story. This part in the film better emphasizes the idea that after being locked up for such a long time in prison (like Brooks) a man becomes institutionalized. Also unlike the short story, Tommy, a convict in for burglary, was shot and killed by the Chief Guard in the film; in the story, Tommy was moved to a different prison. This is significant in that the film shows more of the cruelty and relentlessness of the prison. Shawshank is full of greedy guards and a greedy warden, who will do anything to save themselves from thier illegal activities.
POINT OF VIEW
The film is told from the same point of view as the short story. Red tells the story mainly about Andy and his life at Shawshank through his own perspective. Red's point of view represents the point of view of the other convicts in Shawshank and their opinions in regards to the newcomers and Andy. Because the viewer understands the story from Red's point of view, they are able to know the thoughts and feelings of a convict and relate to him. The film did a good job portraying the story through the perspective of a character, other than the main character. Although the story was told by Red, it makes him more mysterious because his sole focus is Andy.
CHARACTERIZATION
The film did a good job with matching the characters from the story; they are very similar. In the film, the viewer can see that Red goes through a change throughout the course of the movie that isn't quite as present in the short story. This is particularly prevalent in the scene where Red is finally approved for parole after years of forms being "REJECTED." Red finally learns what he's done wrong. The warden and guards in the story seem more brutal because the viewer can see and hear the beatings taking place. Also, in the film there is one warden throughout the course of the story, but in the short story there are three wardens that come and go during Red's time in Shawshank. Not to mention, the one warden in the film ends up committing suicide in the end, which does not occur in the movie; this is significant in that it shows that Andy Dufresne truly got the best of the warden. Andy not only freed himself, but he freed Shawshank of the reign of Warden Norton.
SETTING
The setting between the film and short story are also very similar. The film helps to establish what the scenes looked like and how the action played out in each one. I pictured many of the scenes different in my mind while reading the short story in contrast to the pictures in the film, so the film helped to give me new insight. The film did a really good job at sticking with the short story and including all of the same settings (although there were only a few). One of the memorable settings in the movie is Zihautenejo. This city in Mexico is important in that it is symbolic of hope and freedom. As Red is reading the letter from Andy that he found in a Buxton hayfield, Andy mentions if Red remembers the name of the city. Red's reply: "Zihautenejo."
THEME
The themes in the short story hold true for the themes in the film: Isolation and Hope. One of the big turning points in the film is when Andy is sentenced to two months of isolation. I feel that this changed him in a way that gave him the courage to make his jailbreak. A month into Andy's time in solitary, the warden pokes in to say a few words to Andy, "I'm sure you've already heard. Poor Tommy, only a month left to serve out his sentence. It really killed Hadley to shoot him, but the boy tried to escape. He had to, but it certainly broke his heart to do it." Hope is prevalent throughout the film, but mostly towards the end. As Andy speaks of his dreams following his life in prison, hope is an important theme. Red discovers hope as he is making his way to find Andy in Zihautanejo. I believe that the short story portrayed the idea of hope a little better due to the powerful last few lines at the conclusion of the story; however, the film did a better job displaying the theme of isolation because the viewer was able to see how solitary really did change a man.
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