Before I even had a passing thought on self-improvement, I absolutely loved The Shawshenk Redemption.
(Spoiler alert for the movie—if you have not seen it and do not wish to be spoiled, do not read past this pont)
The powerful story of Andy Dufresne, a wrongly accused convicted murderer “who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side” and thus escaped from Shawshenk Prison, always appealed to me in a way I didn’t understand until years later.
Shawshenk was released in theaters exactly twenty-four years ago this past Sunday.
Looking back now, I see so many of the lessons I have learned in my efforts to be a better man embodied in the themes found in this 1994 release starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.
It seems clear to me now that Shawshenk struck chords that resonated with what would become my value system—only I was too ignorant at the time to recognize them.
Here are some of the many lessons I learned from my favorite movie.
* * *
“Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright.”
— “Red” Redding
* * *
Andy Dufresne lived in a dismal gray world where he was locked in a cell for nineteen years, for a crime he didn’t commit. He was assaulted by prison gangs and the guards, served time in “the hole,” was forced to launder money for the warden, and had to accept that he was to likely to live out his days in this dreary prison.
Andy could have sulked, despaired, wasted away. Instead he chose to become a light. He worked to lift the spirits of his friends and to remind them what it felt like to be free. He labored at opening a library in the prison and educating his fellow prisoners. He did taxes for the guards and warden, free of charge. He served as a mentor and as a leader.
You can choose to be the light, too. Everyone has their days when things are going terrible. Many will look upon their circumstances in life and decide it isn’t worth fighting the fight. They choose negativity and resignation. Andy instead chose to be a beacon.
Don’t allow external circumstances to determine who you are and how bright you shine.
* * *
“Geology is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes, really. Pressure and time. That and a big damn poster.”
— “Red” Redding
* * *
Red here is referring to how Andy, little by little, dug a tunnel from his cell in order to escape the prison. He did so inch by measly inch, with only a little rock hammer as his tool of toil.
Andy understood that big things can be achieved one step at a time. He didn’t allow himself to be daunted by the sheer immensity of his undertaking. He didn’t despair at the thought that it would take him years (nineteen, to be exact) to tunnel through to a point at which he could make his escape. He recognized that if he did that, he would never convince himself to keep going. So he focused on one step at a time, that little bit of wall turned to dust, day after day.
Disciplined persistence over time. That is how Rome was built. And that is how you can achieve your dreams as well. One day at a time.
* * *
”Believe what you want. These walls are funny. First you hate ‘em, then you get used to ‘em. After long enough, you get so you depend on ‘em. That’s institutionalized.”
— “Red” Redding
* * *
Don’t settle!
That is the message here from Red, Andy’s best friend and “the only guilty man in Shawshenk.” He knew a thing or two about walls, since he was at the prison for almost fifty years.
Red understood that everyone lives in a prison, whether they know it or not. That prison is one of their own making. But in this prison, the walls aren’t meant to keep them in, but to keep the world and fear and harm and disturbance out.
When you sit behind your prison of comfort and don’t go out and try on the world for size, you get staid and placid. Suddenly, the thought of leaving those walls fills you with anxiety and roots you in your place. You don’t grow inside these walls. You don’t achieve things. You don’t really live.
Are you willing to sacrifice your chance at a better life to remain within the mediocrity of safety and comfort?
* * *
Andy:“That’s the beauty of music. They can’t get that from you… Haven’t you ever felt that way about music?”
Red: ”I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn’t make much sense in here.”
Andy: “Here’s where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don’t forget.”
Red: “Forget?”
Andy: “Forget that… there are places in this world that aren’t made out of stone. That there’s something inside… that they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.”
* * *
This conversation between Andy and Red is the essential core of the message in the movie. Overall, it is about keeping hope alive under trying circumstances, which I will address further below.
But I feel like there is another message here, and I didn’t want to glaze over it. Little did I know it, but Andy Dufresne was, it appears, a closet Stoic.
When times got tough, Andy retreated inside himself. He knew they couldn’t get to him there. Inside his head was all his, and no one could follow him there or take anything away from him there.
This reflects the Stoic principle about how no one or thing can make you think something, or create in you a bad attitude or mindset, or get you down and feeling bad. Only YOU can do that. Bad things can happen to you, yes, but you control how you react and respond to those things.
Your will is your refuge. You can choose how you feel. That is your ultimate power.
* * *
”Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
— Andy Dufresne
* * *
This is the direction Andy was going with his conversation about music, told to Red years later in a letter, after Andy had escaped the prison.
Yes, it’s smarmy inspirational and over the top, but it is nonetheless a powerful message.
I could quibble about little things here. That no good thing ever dies (all things die; that’s nature). And that hope is always a good thing (if you’re focused on looking forward to what you don’t yet have, you won’t enjoy what you already have now).
But I won’t, because this theme is too beautiful to ignore. What I would take from it if I were you is that you should never give up. Always hope for a better way. And believe in yourself that you can make it happen.
Always, though, pair that hope with your own efforts. Never sit back and wait for something to happen. Go make it happen. Hope alone is not enough.
* * *
”I guess it comes down to a simple choice: Get busy living or get busy dying.”
— Andy Dufresne
* * *
Do I need to spell this one out?
GET OUT THERE AND GET AFTER IT!!!