The Shawshank Redemption is the quintessential prison film because it goes beyond just a tale of detainment and escape; it deals with beauty, finding the joy in hopeless situations, finding one's life, what it means to truly live, and redemption. What does it mean to be redeemed? Often, you might thing of the theological understanding of redemption: that of absolving one's sins (often through sacrifice). Or maybe you think more simply of redemption being the atonement for a mistake.
"Does this happen in stories and films?" Absolutely it does - and not just in Shawshank. Wisegeek's article (I suggest that you read it) does a nice job discussing how redemption shows up in some popular films (one of which we viewed in class).
"Why should I care about redemption? We watched this movie because it is based on Stephen King's novella 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.'" That is true, but we are also going to be examining the redemption that occurs in the film. Your task is to discuss The Shawshank Redemption as a redemption tale. Does it live up to it's name? In doing this it will be important to determine which man is redeemed and his flaw. It will also be important to determine the times that he has the chance for redemption and then discuss the time that he is finally redeemed.
Since this is the final blog of the class (and will be treated as such) you need to write at least five hundred words. Do not forget to use good writing conventions and to proofread. I suggest that you keep notes during the film and organize them to help you with prewriting prior to beginning the blog.
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