091163 Minsoo Ha
After reading until the end, my chest filled with a feeling of hope. I forgot for a while that Red was actually a convict, a cold blooded murderer who was guilty of murdering his wife and killing a bystander in the process. I could only feel sympathy and empathy for the young man who had been robbed of his youth and his freedom, and had been tormented by the enclosed society of prison and had become an “institutionalized man”. This is the magic of Stephen King’s narratives, I feel. It is so easy to project yourself onto the characters and find yourself among them as they undergo the flow of the story’s plot. You might find yourself
The great tale of Andy Dufresne, or rather, Peter Stevens and his escape from Shawshank is narrated by the convict Red. It is quite obvious that Red admires Andy, and his recollections are of quite questionable credibility due to the fact that most of his stories are second hand, but the readers can’t help but to trust the old man as he gives us a realistic tour around the Shawshank’s deepest depths and its not-so-public incidents such as the brutal actions of the Sisters, the selfish and greedy prison guards, and the struggles of an innocent man wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.
Listening to the tales of the great Andy Dufresne made me wonder about how he was able to achieve such a quest. What was the driving force for an innocent man who had been convicted wrongly of murder of his own wife, sentenced to two life sentences in imprisonment, and be placed in the harshest environment that had existed during that age to remain sane? Although the escape itself is quite admirable, the fact that he was able keep the situation from overwhelming him is the most incredible feat that he had accomplished in my eyes. He had created a false identity through his friend; he had a fortune hidden away safely; he even managed to whittle away at 4 feet of concrete for freedom. But it was his relentless attempts for freedom, the glimmer of hope in his eyes that so many in Shawshank had lost that had allowed him a second chance at life as Peter Stevens.
I sometimes find it hard to maintain that glimmer of hope even though I’m in a far better position compared to the sickening environment of Shawshank. As Andy said, ‘it isn't just a piece of paper that makes a man, and it isn't just prison that breaks one, either.' Maybe it’s time to let myself out of the prison that I’ve created, the helpless depths of despair that I so often find myself in, and “hope”.
You are very right about King's ability to form characters that we can virtually embody. And you are right about Red. We can't help but fall under his narrative spell, and King's choice to make him a murderer was interesting. He challenges you to measure good vs. evil from page 1. That said, I like the film version of Red better. We never know what Red's crimes are, and seeing dynamic friendship take shape in the film was even better than in the book. Very rarely does that happen.
ReplyDeleteGood work, and I'm really glad you enjoyed the story.