Andy Dufresne spent nearly 20 years in solitary confinement for a crime in which he hadn’t committed. Dufresne was in such isolation where he was a subject to abuses of every kind. Hope and determination made it strongly possible for Andy to escape a place like Shawshank. Though being inside the prison den of corruption, bribery, and money laundering; Andy managed to escape. he comes out with his freedom, money and revenge as compensation for being locked up. Andy spent nearly 20 years in a den of corruption for a crime he hadn’t committed. Shawshank is very isolated.

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The bars, strict schedules, sadistic keepers, and predatory Sisters only add a sense of entrapment and suffocation adding on to the isolation. Each of the inmates inside Shawshank Prison is locked up metaphorically as well as literally, hiding from himself drowning in self pity. Overtime, most prisoners have self pity for themselves. Andy had never once pitied himself instead he went with the program, even if it meant doing illegal skeems for the guards. In return Andy had been compensated with some money in which he later uses for his journey outside of shawshank.

Andy finds anything possible to keep his sanity. For instance Andy asks red for a rock hammer to sculpt his rocks. This helps as a distraction from time to time. Continuing to pursue his hobby gives him a sense of normality and control over his life that many other inmates lack. Most people say that Andy never intended to escape, though it just happened that way. That in fact maybe true, though either way he took chances against all odds. Andy’s determination to maintain his own sense of self-worth and escape keeps him going.

Even though it takes Andy more than 25 years to hammer his way through the wall, the ideal fact that he has something to work for keeps him from pitting himself as the others cellmates do quite often. Having a mission and something to look forward gives Andy his “inner light. ” In the end Andy redeems himself to no one other then himself. Andy managed to redeem himself to Warden Norton. He redeems himself because he’s able to escape the prison without being caught and without the help of the warden.

Andy uses his intelligence and reverse psychology as away of getting what he needs. His free will to launder money serves as a survival technique, a way in which he protects himself by helping the guards. It all started when he became a big commodity to captain Byron Hadley. Hadley always felt the world was out to get him even when he inherits a large sum of money from a long lost brother. Andy offers to help Hadley avoid paying taxes on the money, marking the beginning of Andy’s career as the prisons financial “wiz”.

From then on his time in Shawshank isn’t as worthless and the sisters no longer take an interest in him. Andy was an extremely big commodity to Warden Norton as well. Andy doesn’t object to hiding the money that Norton receives from illegal scams, but he doesn’t realize that doing so also hurts his chances of ever leaving Shawshank. A new inmate named Tommy Williams arrives at Shawshank and tells Andy that he served time in another prison with Elwood Blatch, a man who admits to killing Andy’s wife and her lover . When Andy asks Norton to request a retrial, Norton dismisses Andy’s claims.

Norton also informs him that he loves the look on his face of humiliation and tells him if he stops helping him in his schemes he’d take away the library, his cell that he doesn’t share and he’ll just have hell in prison (practically crushing Andy). Norton, transfers Tommy Williams to another prison out of fear that Andy would expose his money laundering operation if paroled. Even though Norton tried his hardest to break Andy, Andy still manages to escape without being caught. In the end Andy comes out with his pride intact which might have been diminished from time to time.

Warden Norton then retires shortly after because he can’t bear with the fact that Andy escaped. Andy dufrense does time in a place where isolation will break you and hope no longer exists. He spent nearly 20 years in this isolation for a crime he hadn’t committed . Though it seems like hope no longer exists; He tries his hardest to not let the time get the best of him. As red often mentions jail time is practically slow time. Andy does anything he could to keep his sanity and in the end he manages to redeem himself . Also he’s able to escape with freedom, money , and revenge all compensation for being locked up.

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