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Matt Steffens – English 10 Shawshank Redemption Essay Environment is a key factor to what makes us human. Humans structure their life with their environment to make their own lives suitable, convenient, and enjoyable. The environment is also what shapes any past, present, or future scenario; with a change in the environment so does the course of the storyline. In the movie Shawshank Redemption a story about life in a correctional center, they take away the freedom of being able to personalize the inmate’s environment. The two main characters Andy and Red lived through their day to day prison life by having friends and getting the best opportunities they possibly could. Andy and Red served their sentences by accepting their term, their guilt, and the permanency of their situation, but with different methods and benefits to themselves and other inmates

Both men helped themselves and many of the inmates by what they were able to provide to them. Whereas Andy improved the library and education of the inmates, Red supplied the inmates with most any tangible thing they wanted. The difference between their motivations was that Andy wanted to bring some purpose to his life in prison and Red benefited by charging payments of cigarettes. When Red used his supplier influence to get his group of inmate friends a preferred work detail, Andy used the opportunity to trade his business skills to solve the head guard’s problem for beers for the inmate work crew.

Both Andy and Red thought about their life inside Shawshank and to the possibility of getting out. Andy viewed his time in jail as a temporary situation and didn’t think he would be in jail as long as he was. Red expected to end up like Brooks and become attached to life in prison without knowing how to survive in the outside world. Andy dreamed of life on the outside of prison and would recall his memories before his incarceration, fondly. In contrast, Red never spoke of his life before prison and although repeatedly try to be granted probation, did not show that he was disappointed when he was repeatedly turned down.

A clear difference between the Andy and Red was that Andy always maintained his innocence and Red claimed that he was the only guilty person in Shawshank. Although Red never actually said anyone else was guilty it was implied that believed everyone was. From the beginning it was clear that Andy cared more for who an inmate was that whether or not they were guilty and deserved the punishment they got, but Red appeared to accept everything is was as it was.

Andy and Red served their prison terms at Shawshand using different methods and benefits to help themselves, while accepting their term, their guilt, and the permanency of their situation. Both med used what they were each good at in order to better their incarceration. They used their environment to the best of their capabilities to make their own lives suitable, convenient, and enjoyable.

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