Shawshank Revisited

Conformity at Shawshank

The meaning of conformity is constantly changing. Its different for every place, and has been different through different time eras. Actions and thoughts that were not acceptable one hundred years ago are considered normal now. What is considered over the line in Europe may not be so heinous in the United States. This same principle applies to the movie the Shawshank Redemption. Obviously, since this film takes place in a high security prison, morals and values are going to be different than for those in a normal society. Non-conformity in prison is different than non-conformity in the real world. Even though that is true, this film still challenged my own personal perceptions of what conformity and non-conformity is. I have always considered non-conformity to be a bad or rebellious thing. If you don’t follow the society you belong to, trouble will follow. People have to obey the laws, regulations, and principles set down by their society. Even if these said rules are unspoken. The Shawshank Redemption challenged my perception by showing me that not only can non-conformity be a positive thing, but a life-saving one.
Andy Dufresne was a perfect example of how not conforming to the society you belong to can be a good thing. Society can be defined as the setting where you live, you work, where your family is, or any place or group of people you belong to in one form or another. Even though he didn’t deserve to be, Andy belonged to the society at Shawshank prison. This society in itself was a non-conforming one in comparison to the “outside”. Within this convicted community though, Andy was a non-conforming outsider, and it showed. All of the men in the prison besides Andy, were uneducated, rough around the edges, and guilty of the crimes they were convicted with. In comparison Andy was educated, clean cut, well mannered, , and innocent of the murder he was accused with. Throughout this entire two and a half hour portrayal of his stay at Shawshank, he stayed innocent, educated, and well mannered. In the beginning of the movie, this proved to be a problem for Andy. A prime example of this would be how “The Sisters” took a violent homosexual liking to Andy because of the fact that he stood out. He was accused by Red of being a “wimp, with a silver spoon up his a**.” For the first two years of his life in prison, the way he stood out and silently refused to conform to the society of prison life kept him in a state of constant misery and weariness. He was brutally beaten and sexually attacked. Later on, it was the fact that he WAS different that saved him from this permanent cycle of misery. Without being the educated, seemingly meek man that he was, the warden and the guards would not have recognized him out of a crowd. His talents in financial situations is what saved him in the end. If Andy had conformed to the society around him, and let himself become rough, loud, and a criminal, he would not have been able to eventually escape from prison. Without the money laundering scheme the warden has, Andy would have had no money after he escaped, and people would have eventually found him and brought him back. Due to the fact that Andy exposed all of the evil activities in the prison, finding him was not of the highest priority. So, the fact that the warden recognized him as educated and different among a crowd of criminals was vital to Andy’s survival, and eventual escape.
Andy Dufresne changed my opinion about how conformity and non-conformity affects a persons life. Although I know this was a fictional movie, the principle that this movie portrayed can be applied to real life scenarios. For example, consider dictatorships in history and the mob mentality that ensued. If more people had refused to conform to the rules those dictators were putting down, it is likely that genocide could have been prevented. Not conforming to your social community is not always a bad thing as I once thought. By silently refusing to be a part of the physical, and sexual attacks on others, by using his energies towards positive things like building a library, Andy saved his own life. Without this mentality, this attitude, and this demeanor, his escape plan could have never have came through. The warden and the guards would have never picked him out of a crowd of convicts, and his success at Shawshank would never have happened. This setting a part, this non-conformity to the social rules and regulations of prison life, let Andy have a future outside of Shawshank.



The Benefits of Non-Conformity

Non-conformity is another term for “breaking the mold”. It can also be considered as defying the laws and principles of your society. A non-conforming choice a person makes doesn’t have to be on a major scale to fit into non-conformist territory. It could be as simple as wearing clothes outside the norm of your community, or as serious as breaking the laws of the government. The lead character Andy Dufresne from the movie The Shawshank Redemption fit into the category of both a major and a minor non-conformist. Everything from his dress, his mannerisms, his personality, and his future plans were as different from the rest of his community as night is from day. This film and the group discussion that followed changed my personal perceptions of what non-conformity is, and the results that follow. Before I saw this movie and the example the lead character set, I saw non-conformity as a bad thing. My brain has always put non-conformity equivalent to rebellious and rebellious equivalent to something bad. I had a narrow minded view of what situations a non-conformist could be put into. As this movie showed, non-conformity from a society that is doing something wrong can be a good thing, even a lifesaving one.

Andy Dufresne and his escape was a perfect example of how not conforming to the society you are placed in can be a good thing. Andy could not possibly have been more different than his prison-mates than was possible. If you had looked up the word “non-conformist” Andy Dufresne would have been there. He looked, dressed, talked, walked, thought, and acted in the complete opposite way of anybody else at the Shawshank Prison, including the people in charge. It was very easy to see from the beginning of the film that Andy was a well-educated man, who knew what he wanted and how to get it. Since all of the other prisoners were rough around the edges, dirty, guilty, and uneducated Andy stuck out like a fly in milk. Even after nineteen years of undeserved prison life, Andy’s demeanor had changed very little. This non-conformity throughout his stay in prison is what ended up providing him with a future outside of Shawshank. Andy could not have made his escape without the job that the warden has loaded him down with. The warden would not have given that job to Andy without knowing for sure that he could be the trusted, educated, and rightful person for the money laundering job. The warden knew that he needed someone who was quiet, educated with numbers, and ambitious. If Andy had decided to fit in with the rules and principles that were being employed by his fellow inmates, the warden would have overlooked him as a potential candidate. But Andy took initiative and used his intelligence to get him places he wanted to go at Shawshank. Even though he faced opposition for his non-conformist attitude, this is what saved him from an unjustified punishment in the end.

Non-conformity is a general term relevant to the location and time where you are at. One person’s conformity is another person’s non-conformity. Does this make the act or choice wrong? Of course not, conformity is relative. The same is true for Andy Dufresne’s situation. His attitude in a society outside of prison would have been considered normal and expected, but in prison it was foreign and unwanted. Even by his best friend in prison Red he was said to be “a wimp, with a silver spoon up his ass.” Yet it was this meek and intelligent attitude that allowed his escape. The warden would have never trusted a stupid and rough convict with the scheme he was a part of, but he knew that Andy was different. This non-conformity to the society of the Shawshank Prison allowed Andy the freedom he deserved.