The Image Of The Prisoner In The Film Essay Example
The Image Of The Prisoner In The Film Essay Example

The Image Of The Prisoner In The Film Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
  • Pages: 3 (622 words)
  • Published: March 16, 2018
  • Type: Essay
View Entire Sample
Text preview

The film centers around Andy Defense, played by Tim Robbins, who we see takes on role of a character much bigger than just a prison inmate. The film opens up by showing our main character Tim has been accused of killing his wife and her lover. As a result, Andy is thrown into Shawano prison.

It is in this early stage of the film where we see a first glimpse of a religious theme; the idea of a metaphorical death. In this case, Andy assumes the role of a Christ figure. Like Christ being accused Of preaching blasphemy against the Roman Emperor, something he did not do,

Andy is accused of doing something he also did not do. As punishment for his apparent crimes, Christ is put to death, and like him, Andy is put to death, just in a different way.<

...

/p>
For Andy, his death would be his incarceration at Shawano. As a reaction of Anta's "death," Andy experiences a loss of hope, similarly to the followers of Jesus after his crucifixion. For the main duration of the film, Andy is seen dealing with this lack of hope as a result of this "death," but as the film progresses, we see how there will eventually be a resurrection, and eventually and complete rebirth.

In the last third of the film, the possibility of an escape from Shawano for Andy becomes a reality.

However, religiously speaking, this escape is more of a resurrection. Much like after Christ was put into the cave after his death, Andy was put into the prison; and just like after Christ "escapes" from this cave, Andy will escape Shawano. When Andy escap

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

plan is devised, it is said that if the other inmates don't find Andy in his cell, then Andy has successfully escaped. This plan proves to install a major amount of hope in the other prisoners.

In the ginning when the idea is still just a possibility there is the possibility of hope, and then, while the other inmates are waiting to see if Andy had successfully escaped, they are hoping that Andy, Or Christ, managed to reach safety. Finally, when they had finally realized that he had escaped, or "resurrected" safely, the other characters realize hope in that there is a possibility of life outside of Shawano. So it is seen that Andy experiences a death, a resurrection, and it is seen at the end of the film that Andy experiences his rebirth.

Andy was in Shawano for over two decades, literally lowing out of his imprisonment, a very long time, yet it was hope that he would eventually experience this rebirth that drove him. Before he is totally free of the prison, Andy has to crawl through the sewage system, which if looked at very analytically, could represent all of the filth and corruption he experienced at Shawano.

After Andy crawls out of the sewage pipes he falls into a small stream. Not only does he fall into water, but it is raining as well. While it looks like this was all done for dramatic affect, there is some significance behind it.

This image of being completely submerged from all angles can very easily resemble that of a total baptism. In other words, this is Anta's rebirth after his death and resurrection.

He is being

completely cleansed of all the past pain and injustice. Dartboard does not only a phenomenal job of creating a groundbreaking film, but creating an amazing religious allegory as well. He does an amazing job of creating a hidden, yet apparent, idea of Andy representing a Christ-like figure who experiences his own unique death, resurrection and rebirth; as well as the hope it inspires in others.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New