Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

Red begins the narrative by recounting his own criminal history and the reason he ended up in Shawshank prison. Red married into a family more affluent than his own impoverished family. He discovered that he was not well-suited for life as a company man as he worked his way up in his father-in-law’s business. Red became unhappy and eventually developed an extreme hatred for his wife. Knowing that she had a life insurance policy, Red decided to murder her while making it look like an accident. He disengaged the brakes in his wife’s car, assuming that only she would be killed. However, on the day she died, she was transporting a neighbor and the neighbor’s infant son. It was evident to authorities that this was no accident: Red was found guilty of all three murders. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences, because, as he points out, in Maine there is no death penalty.

Red discusses his ability to get things from outside brought into the prison. He contends that in every prison, there is a person like him who knows how to get things. He discusses the nature of rehabilitation; all he can say for himself is that if he could do it over again, he would not have killed his wife. Red suggests that he’s one of few who accept the truth of their actions, implying that a large portion of Shawshank’s inmates insist on their innocence. He introduces Andy Dufresne, who arrives at Shawshank in 1948 at the age of 30. Dufresne had been a successful banker, but his life took an ominous turn when he discovered that his wife was having an affair with a local golf club pro. He was convicted of killing both.

Red details the evidence used against Andy in court: Andy had a very emotional and heated argument with his wife days prior to her death; he had been drunk and did not recall details on the evening his wife was murdered; and his car had been discovered in close proximity to where the golf pro lived. Red discusses the media hype that surrounded the case. He implies that once the DA determined they had their man, they used media coverage to paint Andy as a ruthless killer.

Red points out that the DA had political ambitions beyond Maine, and saw the case against Andy as a way to elevate his reputation. Meanwhile, Andy’s curt style on the witness stand, while logical and direct, worked against him. Andy denied committing the murders, but eventually he was found guilty. Red claims that “if Maine had the death-penalty, he would have done the airdance before that spring’s crocuses poked their heads out of the snow” (13).

Red says that he and Andy were not all that close until about 1960, but had been on good speaking terms prior to that. He was able to get Andy to speculate on his wife’s murder and reveals that most likely, it was a random stranger who had killed her and the golf pro. Red details Andy’s parole hearings, noting that the parole board is especially tough on people in Shawshank for murder.

Red then describes the first time Andy asked him to get something: a rock hammer. Andy shows Red the various kinds of rock in the prison yard, and says that the reason he wants the rock hammer is to shape the rocks that he finds. At first, Red is somewhat reluctant, but finally agrees to the request. Red speculates that perhaps the real reason Andy wants the rock hammer is to dig his way out of the prison, to which Andy laughs. When the rock hammer finally arrives, Red realizes the joke: It is much too small to use for that purpose. The conversation between the two men is genial, and Red claims that he liked Andy right from that first encounter.

In the last part of this section, Red provides a graphic account of sexual assault within Shawshank prison, which is committed primarily by a group known as “the sisters.” This is a particularly sadistic group of individuals. As Red says: “They are to prison society what the rapist is to the society outside the walls. They’re usually long-timers, doing hard bullets for brutal crimes. Their prey is the young, the weak, and the inexperienced” (21). The group primarily consists of three to four different individuals led by a large and violent man named Bogs Diamond. Because of Andy’s smaller stature and his white-collar appearance, the men believe that he is easy prey. Soon, they attempt their first assault on Andy, who fights and resists. They keep after him and attempt to assault him whenever they have the chance and eventually do. Andy breaks the nose of one of the group, a man named Rooster.

Red discloses that Andy was somehow able to smuggle $500 of his own money into the prison. Andy uses some of this money to pay the guards to keep Bogs away from him, which they do. Andy also has one final confrontation with Bogs, a graphic scene in which Andy threatens to bite off the man’s genitals. As this section of the narrative closes, Red alludes to the complete cessation of these sexual assaults in 1950, suggesting that he will get to this part of the story in due time.