At first glance, it seems that everything is simple in “The Shawshank Redemption”: there is a broken life of the protagonist and a prison with its own rules and regulations. Many films have been made on this topic, including “The Green Mile,” also based on the book by Stephen King. However, “The Shawshank Redemption” should not be taken simply as a crime story. The work raises many important topics: relations, justice, injustice, and the ability to remain human in any life situation. The universal themes closest to me, revealed in The Shawshank Redemption, are the themes of human freedom and hope.
In fact, for each person, there is a ‘Shawshank,’ within which people drive themselves on their own. This can apply to any aspect of life: people keep going to jobs they hate, being in painful relationships, and getting into seemingly hopeless situations. A personal prison can be quite comfortable for some, but it still symbolizes a lack of freedom. The example of Andy Dufresne becomes the ideal of how free a person can be, even though he is enclosed in a very rigid framework.
A way out can be found in any life situation, even if it seems that there is no solution. Maintaining an inner sense of freedom is not easy, especially if physical freedom is limited, but this is one of the few ways to fill human existence with sense. Preserving the inner feeling of real freedom is the main thing without which human life is empty and meaningless. “The Shawshank Escape” gives hope that it is possible to break out of the prison of life circumstances; eventually, the escape will occur. Despite the difficulties, it gives strength to fight, suggesting that there is a way out anyway.