Shawshank: The Injustices of the Justice System Anonymous College

Stephen King’s 1982 novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”, as well as its motion picture counterpart The Shawshank Redemption, follows the story of a falsely accused murder convict and his journey throughout the bowels of Shawshank State Penitentiary. Like many other prisoners, our protagonist Andy Dufresne naively enters the system expecting his honesty to be met with fairness and equity, but ends up unraveling the hypocritical system of affairs within the prison. Rape, theft, violence, and various other crimes run rampant within the walls of Shawshank, not only committed by the inmates, but also by the overseers. King reveals the driving forces that give way to this ironic exchange of morality, in a justice system where “justice” is but a façade.

As shown in the novella and film alike, justice itself is just as complex and multidimensional as the characters it affects. Its characteristics also seem to depend on its relationship with the various personalities within the story, as it hinges on the idea that justice ultimately is decided and administered solely by those with the upper hand. Andy’s experiences are a prime example of this, as his journey sets off with a great amount of injustices. He is an innocent...