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Portland, Maine Consecutive Life Sentences Contraband Rock Hammer Rita Hayworth Sexually Assaulted Taxed On An Inheritance

Andy Dufresne is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and her lover. In prison, he befriends another inmate, Red, and over the course of 19 years cleverly manages finances and sets himself up to help the prison staff and warden with their money. He also secretly digs a tunnel out of his cell using a rock hammer. Eventually, Andy discovers evidence that could exonerate him, but the warden refuses to help and tries to silence Andy. Andy then escapes through the tunnel and mails evidence of the prison corruption before meeting up with Red in Zihuatanejo, Mexico after they are both released.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
65 views

Portland, Maine Consecutive Life Sentences Contraband Rock Hammer Rita Hayworth Sexually Assaulted Taxed On An Inheritance

Andy Dufresne is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and her lover. In prison, he befriends another inmate, Red, and over the course of 19 years cleverly manages finances and sets himself up to help the prison staff and warden with their money. He also secretly digs a tunnel out of his cell using a rock hammer. Eventually, Andy discovers evidence that could exonerate him, but the warden refuses to help and tries to silence Andy. Andy then escapes through the tunnel and mails evidence of the prison corruption before meeting up with Red in Zihuatanejo, Mexico after they are both released.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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In 1947 ​Portland, Maine​, banker Andy Dufresne is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and

is sentenced to two ​consecutive life sentences​ at the Shawshank State Penitentiary. He is


befriended by Ellis "Red" Redding, an inmate and prison ​contraband​ smuggler serving a life
sentence. Red procures a ​rock hammer​ and a large poster of ​Rita Hayworth​ for Andy. Assigned to
work in the prison laundry, Andy is frequently ​sexually assaulted​ by "the Sisters" and their leader,
Bogs.
In 1949, Andy overhears the captain of the guards, Byron Hadley, complaining about being ​taxed on
an inheritance​ and offers to help him shelter the money legally. After an assault by the Sisters nearly
kills Andy, Hadley beats and cripples Bogs, who is subsequently transferred to another prison. Andy
is not attacked again. Warden Samuel Norton meets Andy and reassigns him to the prison library to
assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen. Andy begins managing financial matters for other prison staff,
guards from other prisons, and the warden himself. He also begins writing weekly letters to the state
legislature requesting funds to improve the prison's decaying library.
Brooks is ​paroled​ in 1954 after serving 50 years, but he cannot adjust to the outside world and
eventually hangs himself. The legislature sends a library donation that includes a recording of ​The
Marriage of Figaro​; Andy plays ​an excerpt​ over the public address system and is punished with
solitary confinement​. After his release from solitary, Andy explains that hope is what gets him
through his time, a concept that Red dismisses. In 1963, Norton begins exploiting prison labor for
public works, profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving ​bribes​. Andy ​launders​ the
money using the alias "Randall Stephens".
Tommy Williams is incarcerated for burglary in 1965. Andy and Red befriend him, and Andy helps
him pass his ​GED​ exam. A year later, Tommy reveals to Red and Andy that his cellmate at another
prison had claimed responsibility for the murders for which Andy was convicted. Andy approaches
Norton with this information but Norton refuses to listen, and when Andy mentions the money
laundering, Norton sends him back to solitary confinement. Norton has Hadley murder Tommy under
the guise of an escape attempt. Andy attempts to discontinue the laundering but relents after Norton
threatens to destroy the library, remove Andy's protection from the guards, and move him to worse
conditions. Andy is released from solitary confinement after two months, and he tells a skeptical Red
that he dreams of living in ​Zihuatanejo​, a Mexican coastal town. Andy also tells him of a specific
hayfield near ​Buxton​, asking Red—once he is released—to retrieve a package that Andy buried
there. Red worries about Andy's well-being, especially when he learns Andy asked a fellow inmate
for six feet (1.8 meters) of rope.
At the next day's ​roll call​, the guards find Andy's cell empty. An irate Norton throws a rock at a poster
of ​Raquel Welch​ hanging on the cell wall, revealing a tunnel that Andy dug with his rock hammer
over the previous 19 years. The previous night, Andy used the rope to escape through the tunnel
and prison sewage pipe, taking Norton's suit, shoes, and ​ledger​, containing proof of the money
laundering. While guards search for him, Andy poses as Randall Stephens, withdraws the laundered
money from several banks, and mails the ledger and other evidence of the corruption and murders
at Shawshank to a local newspaper. State police arrive at Shawshank and take Hadley into custody,
while Norton commits suicide to avoid arrest.
After serving 40 years, Red is finally paroled. He struggles to adapt to life outside prison and fears
that he never will. Remembering his promise to Andy, he visits Buxton and finds a cache containing
money and a letter asking him to come to Zihuatanejo. Red violates his parole by traveling to ​Fort
Hancock, Texas​, and crossing the border into Mexico, admitting that he finally feels hope. He finds
Andy on a beach in Zihuatanejo, and the two reunited friends happily embrace.

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