Plot Of The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a standout amongst the most widely praised motion picture of 90's . The film begins in 1947 with youthful Andy Dufresne, a youthful broker who wrongly sentenced killing his significant other and her darling and sent to Shawshank Jail for whatever is left of his life. At that point the primary story starts. The story was described by Red Redding, who was detainee of Shawshank for quite a while and manage unlawful deals inside prisonRed acquires contraband from the outside for the other inmates which he has connections with and to start with Andy asks for some rock hammer which could help him to maintain his hobby of rock collection used in fashioning his local chess set.

As Andy works, he overhears Byron Hadley, the captain to all the guards complaining about paying tax on an upcoming inheritance. Other guards within the same prison and others from the neighboring prisons sought Andy's advice on finances and therefore he is allowed to work in their money matters as he maintained the library in the prison together with an older inmate named Brooks Hatlen. Through this goodwill Andy is able to expand this library.

The sisters which is a gang led by Bogs attempted to sexually assault Andy but Hadley delivered a brutal beating to their leader which left him paralyzed and the rest of the gang left Andy alone. Later on in 1965, Tommy Williams is imprisoned in Shawshank due to robbery charges and joins the Red and Andy's clique of friends and is assisted by them. After learning what made Andy be imprisoned, Tommy revealed that Elmo Blatch, another prison mate, claims that he committed murder similar to the one that Andy had been charged. Afterwards Andy is released from the confinement and Norton threatens that he would bring down the library unless he continues laundering the cash for him. Andy tells Red his dream of spending his life in Zihuatanejo, a Pacific-Mexican coastal town, he thereafter instructs Red that if he is ever released that he should go to a specified hayfield in Buxton and find something that he had kept there. During roll call the next day, the private cell of Andy is found empty. Due to anger, Norton throws one rock of Andy at Welch's poster which is torn revealing the tunnel Andy had dug using the hammer day by day given by Red. Using his false identity, Andy withdraws all the Norton's cash and there after sends evidence to the local daily. He then decides to visit Buxton as directed by Andy. He finds a good amount of money and a note telling him of Zihuatanejo from Andy in the specified hayfield.

Communication

Communication is the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. , to someone else.

Communication Channel are the medium selected by the sender through which the message travels to the receiver. There can be two ways of channeling the communication- formal and informal.

These communications channels are- Written, Oral and Non-Verbal

Analysis:

Written Communication: There was both formal and informal written communication in the movie. Andy Dufrense wrote letter to state senator every week consistently asking fund for the library renovation. That was a formal written communication.

On the other side Andy wrote letter to Red after escaping jail requested him to join at Mexico. Brooks wrote a letter to his friends after returning his normal life. These are the example of informal written communication.

Andy Dufresne: [in letter to Red] Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Oral Communication: We see there are lots of oral communication throughout the movie. Slang or swear word (Like: Fresh Fish, Maggot Dick Mother-Fucker etc) present most of the time. As written communication, there were both formal and informal oral communication. Andy Dufrense, Red & their mates, Warden Norton & his assistant Hardly all communicated with each other’s in different scenes. The most popular quote in oral communication given below.

Non-Verbal Communication:

There were several non-verbal communication and message in the movie. Warden Norton non-verbally ordered Hardly to kill Tommy. In other scene and a dealer gave propose bribe to Norton indirectly and show money inside a box of cake.

Leadership

Literature Review: Leadership is the ability of a company’s management to make sound decisions and inspire others to perform well. There are Trait Theory and Behavioral Theory of leadership. But the most important is Contingency Theory. There are three key theories explaining leadership, one of the most important is Fielder’s model.

Fielder’s Model: This model states that effective performance comes from an understanding relationship between the members and the leader. Three situational factors that play a part here are: Leader-Member Relation, Task Structure, and Position Power.

Analysis:

Leader-Member Relation is the degree of confidence and trust in the leader. Warden Norton had trusted Andy to do his illegal money laundering works after seeing that Andy successfully handling financial matters of prison employees. Andy had the past experience in banking sector & he used his knowledge to make a fake bank account. In the last stage of movie we see that Andy betrayed warden & withdraw the laundered money.

Andy Dufrense dealt very well with his Task Structure by achieving his goal of prison break. He dug a tunnel with his tiny rock hammer over the seventeen years to escape the jail. He also achieve organizational goal by collecting funds and books for the renovation of library.

Warden Norton and Security Hardley used their Position Power unethically. Hardley brutally beaten and killed a new prisoner. Warden sent Andy to solitary without proper reason, illegally profiting by undercutting skilled labor works, shoot Tommy for the courage to reveal the truth.

Transformational Leaders: This kind of leaders inspire followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the organization. There are four component of this type leaders. They are_ Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation & Individualized Consideration. One character of the movie matches with this type of leader.

Andy Dufrense is the Transformational Leader in the movie. He had the Idealize Influence which his self-believe and selfless act to others. He motivated other prisoner by playing the recording of The Marriage of Figaro over the public address system. He had the Intellectual Ability to make path how to escape the jail and how to launder money by faking bank account. He renovated the library with his Individualized Consideration.

Authentic Leaders: Authentic leaders know who they are, what they believe in and value, and act upon those values and beliefs. One character of the movie matches with this type of leader.

Warden Norton had his own value and believe. He believed in Bible and suggest everyone to follow the verses. His value was strong so the scene when there was the time to get arrested, he shot himself.

Personality

Personality refers to individual differences in patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. 2 dominant frameworks are used to describe personality:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Big Five Model

MBTI – 16 personality types can be possible through this instrument. But after analyzing the movie we consider only 1 of them that matches the best with the characters of “Shawshank Redemption”

INTJ personality type are imaginative, ambitious, amazingly curious, but they never waste their energy. In research it’s proven that these people can design & execute brilliant plan through their intuitive (I) & judging (J) trait. In short they are considered as visionaries.

Analysis: Now if we talk about Andy Dufrense then the above mentioned characters are completely matched with him. In the movie it’s shown that he was much introvert because it took almost a month for him to adjust with the jail environment. He shared his thoughts only with Red because he was able to judge Red a reliable person & later offered him to be his partner. Besides this the above mentioned scene unveils his visionary quality because he had transformed the prison storage room into the best prison library of New England. On the other hand we can say that he’s the only person who’s succeeded to execute his master plan & escape from Shawshank which also reflects his intuitive & thinking trait.

Big 5 Model – A personality assessment model that taps five basic dimensions. The five factors are- Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability & Openness to experience

Analysis:

Extraversion – Andy has all the qualities of Big 5 model except extraversion. As we previously mentioned that he was an introvert & unsociable person so based on that we can’t consider him as an extraversion.

Agreeableness – After analyzing Andy’s behavior with others we can say that definitely he was a good natured & trustworthy person.

Conscientiousness – The way Andy handled everyone’s tax files & Warden’s shady deals accounts on that basis he can be considered as a responsible, dependable & organized person.

Emotional stability- In terms of emotional stability Andy was much self-confident & secured under stress which is a positive sign of him. Even sometimes he motivated Red to be strong in his hard times.

Openness to Experience – “Zihuatanejo; a little place in Mexico where he wants to live his entire life”}

Andy was always curious & imaginative that’s why he’s able to execute his escape plan & settled in Mexico. Besides this he has also some artistic skills like polishing stones & turned them into chess pawns.

Proactive personality – Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, and perseveres to completion. Creates positive change in the environment in their favor.

Analysis: In the entire movie it has shown that Andy was proactive among all of them. Because he was only one who always look for opportunities & take initiatives like – expanding the prison library, escaping from the jail.

Self-Monitoring – The ability to adjust behavior to meet external, situational factors.

Analysis: Initially it was tough for Andy to adjust with the prison environment. But when he started understanding the environment he extended his helping hands towards Warden to adjust with the environment & execute his master plan.

Machiavellianism – Those who can do anything to achieve their goal.

Analysis: In this particular scene we can see Warden’s high Machiavellianism personality. Because he killed Tommy to suppress the truth of Andy’s innocence. Tommy was the last hope for Andy to prove he is innocent.

Values

Values are an individual’s ideas about what is right, good or desirable. It represents a basic conviction that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence that is personally or socially preferable. There are 2 types of values –

Terminal Values

Instrumental Values

Terminal Values – Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime.

Analysis: Freedom can be considered as Andy’s terminal value because he wanted to live a peaceful life after escaping from the prison.

Instrumental Values – Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values.

Analysis: Andy was co-operative, persistent & self-confident. These are the qualities that helped him to achieve his ultimate freedom. He engaged his surroundings through these qualities in such a way that no one can even think about his master plan.

Motivation

Literature Review: internal & external factors that stimulates desire & energy in people to be continually interested & committed to a job, role or subject or to make an effort to attain a goal. Three key elements are intensity, direction & persistence.

Intensity: how hard a person tries.

Analysis: Andy the leading character of this movie, he has this intensity motivation. He wrote a letter in every week to the state government for funds for the prison library & books. Finally he got some donation of $200 & some books for the prison library. This shows high intensity of motivation in Andy’s character.

Persistence: how long a person can maintain his effort?

Analysis: Andy continuously dug the wall for at least 20 years. Even though the goal was difficult (escaping through the wall from the cell of the prison with this tiny hammer) for him. He never gave up hope. This shows the persistency in Andy’s character.

Self-Determination Theory – People prefer to feel they have control over their actions, so anything that makes a previously enjoyed task feel more like an obligation than a freely chosen activity will undermine motivation.

Analysis: Andy wants to improve the library which is very old & not much taken care of. He decided to finance the library through the help of the state government. And finally he is able to reconstruct the library. When he’s able to generate fund from the government for the library that increased his intrinsic motivation. This shows the firmness & self-directness to his goal. He enjoys his work as a librarian. He also took the responsibility of the young lad Tommy to educate him.

Self efficacy theory – An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. It includes enactive mastery, vicarious modeling, verbal persuasion & arousal.

Verbal persuasion– Motivation through verbal conviction.

Analysis: In this particular seen Red demotivated Andy. But as we know Andy was a positivist so he motivated Red with quote. Besides this when Red tried to demotivate Andy regarding the dream he had even that moment Red was also motivated by him.

Justice and Equity Theory – It includes set of justice like- Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice, Interactional Justice & Organizational Justice.

Distributive Justice – Fairness of outcome.

Analysis: According to Andy he wasn’t the killed his wife & the court didn’t do justice with him. So he found the decision of the court unfair to him.

Procedural Justice– Fairness of outcome process.

Analysis: In the movie when Andy came to know from Tommy that his wife & her lover was killed by someone else that time Andy went to Warden to talk about the procedural fault. He got a hope to prove himself innocent.

Group

Literature Review: Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives

Interest group: Members work together to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned

Analysis: In the movie the SISTER group falls under the interest group. These group has been formed because they had the same interest & that was to assaulting new prisoners. They approached Andy for the same purpose.

Friendship group: Those brought together because they share one or more common characteristics

Analysis: ANDY tried to make friends by offering 3 bottles of beer for each of his fellow co- workers. And it actually did work. Red & other prisoners greeted him in the infirmary with RITA HAYWORTH poster & rocks. This indicates that they were bonding friendship.

Five stages of group development:

Forming: members feel much uncertainty

Analysis: ANDY approached the RED’S team by offering them 3 bottles of beer. This indicates that he wanted to join the group

Storming: Accepts the existence of group. Sometimes conflict between members of the group

Analysis: ANDY dreamt of living outside the prison wall. On the contrary, red was pessimistic about his life. This shows the personal conflict between RED & ANDY.

Norming: Members have developed close relationships and cohesiveness

Analysis: RED & his group members greeted him with poster & rocks. At the same time, ANDY gave musical instrument to RED. This shows that both had accepted each other as group member.

Performing: The group is finally fully functional

Analysis: ANDY wanted to reconstruct the library. So, everyone in the group came forward to fulfill ANDY’s vision.

Adjourning Stage: In temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance.

Analysis: at the end ANDY was parted away from the group by escaping from the prison. Few days later, RED also got leave from the prison. This is how their group has been adjourned.

Organizational Culture and Structure

Analysis: The movie Shawshank Redemption shows the bureaucratic environment in the prison. The routine of the prisoners and the uniformed chain of command among the guards show us that how strict a prison can be.

The prisoners were treated like rats and they had to face high levels of punishment if they break any rule. Most prisoners were long term jailed and some were life sentenced however Andy was double life sentenced to jail. Most prisoners had a good friendly relation with each other because of their long term stay in the jail. On the other hand Guards and Prisoners had a negative relationship but those who had a good relation were safe guarded. Andy was safe guarded too when he used to work with Warden and his guards.

The prison doors were opened and closed strictly so the prisoners had less time for everything. They had a very minimum amount of entertainment for example watching movies or playing cards. Ragging was a common culture among the old prisoners so the new prisoners were humiliated and called “fish”. Some prisoners used to bet cigarettes on the new prisoners those who get to mentally break down on their first day at Shawshank. In the scene11:45 Red betted cigarettes on Andy that Andy would be the prisoner to break down on his first day at Shawshank.

Power and politics

Analysis: the warden & the guards of the SHAWSHANK prison have power over the prisoners. Throughout the movie, we have seen that the guards have bitten up the prisoners to death for the slightest issues. When Tommy told truth regarding ANDY’S case, the warden gets him killed. This shows that they are the superior people & no one can point out their faulty deeds.

Formal power: Established by an individual’s position in an organization. It means what powers can do the branches/positions of government have.

Coercive Power: A power base dependent on fear of negative results. Forcing someone to do the job. Coercive power is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, being demotivated, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects taken away, etc.

Analysis: the warden has the power by his position to get the job done forcefully. He wants ANDY to continue his (wardens) dirty works. When ANDY refuses to continue, he threatens Andy that he will burn his library & also punish him for another month of staying on the hole.

Reward: Reward power is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes. This may be done through giving bonuses, raises, a promotion, extra time off from work, etc.

Analysis: authority has the power to reward someone for his good deed. The warden promotes ANDY from laundry work to library assistant. Though behind The promotion, he has some dirty plans for ANDY.

Legitimate: Legitimate power comes from having a position of power in an organization, such as being the boss or a key member of a leadership team.

Analysis: This power is gotten through threatening others. The warden with high Machiavellianism personality killed Tommy to suppress the truth of Andy’s innocence. Tommy was the last hope for Andy to prove his innocence.

Personal Power: Power that comes from an individual’s unique characteristics – these are the most effective.

Analysis: Andy, the leading character of the movie has some characteristics that attract other prisoners. Like he offers 3 bottles of beer for his fellow co workers but he didn’t drink any of this beer. He also plays music that no one can dare to do. He wants to reconstruct the library, for this purpose he wrote a letter in every week to the state government. He has persuading power & he handles difficult situations which none of his friends could do.

Expert: This power comes from one’s experiences, skills or knowledge.

Analysis: ANDY was a professional banker in his real life. He gained experiences from the banking sectors. And he used all his experience to solve the tax related problems of the guards & warden. Thus the prisoners & authority recognized his expertise.

Negotiation

Literature Review: Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties intended to reach a mutually beneficial outcome, resolve points of difference, to gain advantage for an individual or collective, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests.

Analysis: there is a scene where Andy approaches captain regarding the tax issues. Andy confirmed captain that he can help him & save him from paying the lawyers bill but demanded 3 bottles of beer for his friends.

Decision Making

Literature Review: Most of the decisions made by Andy were based on his intuition. Intuition was Andy’s only hope during his prison days.

Problem: A perceived discrepancy between the current state of affairs and a desired state known as problem.

Analysis: There were various problems throughout the movie. The most intriguing and notable problem was in the opening scene where Andy was getting ready with a gun while drinking alcohol. In that scene Andy was most probably attempting to do something about his wife’s extra marital relationship with a pro golfer. This was the root cause of all the problems thus Andy getting into prison.

Decision: Choices made from among alternatives developed from data. Most decisions were taken intuitively by Andy.

Analysis: In the opening scene Andy’s decision to go near that cabin actually led him to be falsely accused and convicted murderer. There might be a debate over this particular decision of Andy that even if he wasn’t accused of murdering but he would have definitely been accused of attempt to murdering.

Andy ordering the rock hammer so that he could pass his time craving stones or rocks also led him to formulate out the escape plan, so then he ordered posters of various actresses to cover up the escape.

Another intuitional decision of Andy to help out the Shawshank prison guards with banking and saving scheme actually led him to a greater opportunity where he got to work with the warden. Now this opportunity helped him to create a false identity by which he would use when he escapes out of the prison.

So, basically Andy’s intuitive decisions and proper evaluation actually led him to freedom.

Common Biases and Errors in Decision Making

Overconfidence Bias: Believing too much in our own ability to make decisions especially when outside of own expertise.

Analysis: This was showed in Red’s character where he had a strong negative belief about hope and on the other hand Andy was visionary. Red’s behavior actually bounded him to be in the prison and that’s why he was never approved freedom until he changed his perception and said to the committee “What do you really wanna know? Am I sorry for what I did!”.

Escalation of commitment: By this we mean an increased commitment to a decision in spite of it being wrong.

Analysis;when Andy was convincing Warden that he would get funds for the library extension well that actually made Andy committed to what he was doing but when the Warden started using him to bring corrupt funds under a false identity that’s when things were getting ethically wrong. In the scene 1:21:20 Andy quotes “It’s a river of dirty money running through this place!” and then Red explained to Andy that it would trace back to Andy himself because he is the one committed in doing such works of Warden.