Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

Plot
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is a short story (or novella, as us English profs call it) written by critically-acclaimed horror/suspense novelist Stephen King, and was first published in 1984. The plot centers around two characters, Red and Andy Dufresne, and their time at Shawshank Prison in Maine. The plot is revealed through Red, and the majority of the narration consists of stories of Red, Andy, or the two interacting. In the end, both men actually cause the other's freedom; Red smuggles in the rock hammer for Andy, and Andy's philosophies on the life of a free man lead Red to seek a new life rather than return to the prison. Although most of the story takes place in Shawshank, it is Andy's escape and journey to Mexico that carries significance in regard to the meaning of the work. With Andy's twenty-seven year long tunnel dig, we see that hope does exist even in the biggest "hellhole" on earth, Shawshank. This is reinforced by Red's final realization of the importance of this hope, and he himself hopes for the future in the closing lines.

"I hope Andy is down there. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope." -- pg. 107

Point of View
The entire story is a first-person narration (Red calls it a 'memoir' in the actual story) as told by Red, although most of the story he is talking about Andy.  In the novella, Stephen King does a huge favor by telling the reader (through Red) that, even though he talks about Andy, the story's main focus is Red.

"Well, you weren't writing about yourself, I hear someone in the peanut-gallery saying. You were writing about Andy Dufresne. You're nothing but a minor character in your own story. But you know, that's just not so. It's all about me, every damned word of it." -- pg. 100

Red narrates the story of Andy's trial, imprisonment, and subsequent escape as a medium with which to tell his own story.  By receiving details in the story (e.g. living conditions, bargaining with 'screws', solitary, etc.) from Red's relatively astounded viewpoint as a longtime 'lifer' directs readers toward an emphasis on Red's importance, as opposed to Andy's.

Characterization
A lot of characterization takes place in the short amount of pages allotted (107) for Shawshank.  Whether it's intense descriptions of the different types of homosexuals found in the prison, in-depth segments devoted to the interactions between Red and Andy that reveal more about who they are, or even the simple defiance (and hasty detraction of such insolence) Gonyar shows Warden Norton once Andy is found missing, King makes a great effort to name every character, even cursory ones, and build upon this by following up with at least a short sentence giving more scope for the reader.

"The skinny guard's name was Rory Tremont, and he was not exactly a ball of fire in the brains department." -- pg. 88

Ultimately, it is Red's character that impacts the meaning of the work the greatest, and this characterization is done both directly and indirectly.  Red tells the reader that he is the contraband king, that "I'm the guy who can get it for you", and other times we see his persona develop based on his reaction to Andy's words and actions.  When Tremont pukes due to all the sh- er, sewage, in the tunnel, Red laughs his way into solitary.  Ok, that part was really gross.

Setting
The majority of the story takes place in the actual Shawshank Prison, with most action happening there as well, ocassionally a story flashes back to past events like Andy's and Red's trials.  Later, Red is released on parole and spends the remainder of the story in local Maine, traveling frequently to Buxton and eventually deciding to leave for Mexico to join Andy.  The importance of the setting to me was the impact on the reader.  Prison is a pretty negative place in most's minds, and the connotation carried with it is not at all good.  The descriptions of the prison by Red help explain the lost hope most inmates experience, and makes Andy's release of the 'tiger' that much more captivating.  Even in an environment as depressing as Shawshank, Andy still defends himself on multiple occasions, from the sisters, from Hadley, and from Norton.  Rarely did he lose his composure in the hostile atmosphere and this stubbornness lends itself to both Andy and Red's ultimate goal, to be free.

Theme
Because we have already established (largely with help from ol' Red) that Red is the heart of the story, it stands to reason that the theme also primarily deals with Red.  Even though it doesn't seem to be so, Andy is a minor character with regard to the theme, because his role is simply to change our main character, Red.  Without Andy, Red probably still would've been released from prison on parole; however, as mentioned by Red himself, Andy was the reason he didn't commit some petty crime to get himself right back into the quiet routineness of Shawshank.

"If I had never known Andy, I probably would have done that." -- pg. 103

I suppose I'm not being entirely fair.  Andy Dufresne certainly plays a vital and key part in the story and contributes to the significance of the theme.  Andy's integrity, strong will, and total determination serve as an inspiration not only to Red, but to the reader as well.  Truly, Shawshank was a moving work of fiction.  In all honesty, I'm excited to watch the movie.  I've never seen it, and I hear it's good.  We shall see...

Poor Miss Brill!

Man, I didn't like this story.  I felt really bad for Miss Brill at the end, and the last thing I want to read about is a lonely and sad elderly lady whose only enjoyments in life are these Sunday strolls where she gets to 'act' in the play called life, only to have that one pleasure ruined by some snotty little PDA-oholic lovers who indecently talk mean about her right within earshot.  As if she couldn't hear!  Hmph, this post is getting me really worked up.  On to a question then, I suppose.

#7. What is the purpose of the fur piece? What is the source of the crying in the final sentence of the story?

I saw the fur piece as her little confidence booster.  She felt stylish with it on, and only wore it on what I would assume to be Sundays.  It made her feel special and important, and she obviously has a strong connection with it (at one point talking to it and fantasizing about simply stroking it), and so it possibly holds some sentimental value with her.  The source of the crying is Miss Brill, and this was the part that really got me the most.  She truly is acting in this life of hers, putting on an act and thinking that her life is some perfect little series of repetitions: going to the Jardins Publiques, listening to the band play, watching young couples mysteriously from 'her' special bench, even the trip to the baker where she may find an almond in her cake.  When she gets home, she realizes that these things don't fulfill her life, and that she is actually very lonely in her cupboard world.  This story made me want to cry.

And We Continue With the Weird Name Authors

This next story is by Eudora Welty, and is titled A Worn Path.  I've noticed from reading other people's blogs that this one wasn't exactly the favorite of the week, but I think it takes a lot of heat.  Sure it was a little too long for the message it was driving home, but all that boring descriptive stuff is necessary to get the point across.  The story was about an old woman's devotion to her grandson, and the measures that she takes (has taken, and will continue to take) in order to keep him healthy.  She is self-described as uneducated, yet she is able to make a journey that a strapping young hunter claims to be too much even for himself.  Her love for her grandson is intense, and although we don't realize that's why she makes this journey until the end, in retrospect we see that all the obstacles she faced must have been overcome with the thought of the boy always in her mind, the crazy old woman talking to herself was just a coping mechanism.  She steals from a hunter, which is kind of cool, and we don't really feel bad for him because he points a gun to her head to try and get a reaction.  The one thing I'm confused about is why everyone called her Grandma.  She's not your Granny.

I Have Irish Blood in Me!

Just go ahead and watch this video a few times before your read my next post.  You won't be able to concentrate/focus otherwise.  Multiple viewings are also completely necessary; personally I can't watch it once without viewing it about ten more times.



Phew. Now that we got that out of our systems, we can move forward with the post. Relevancy, you ask (as always)? Well, you try sitting through a small or large group discussion about a short story titled Eveline when all you can think about is a six second video of a girl named Eveline getting unsuspectedly smacked across the face. Now, to formally answer a question.

#8. Joyce said that this and other stories he wrote about Dublin dealt with the "spiritual paralysis" of its citizens. What evidence in this story supports that idea as a major theme?

Obviously, there is a clear physical paralysis of Eveline, as she gets cold feet at the last moment before boarding the boat to Buenos Aires with Frank and freezes on the dock. She literally cannot move. But there is evidence of this spiritual paralysis, for instance, when she does make a decision (or lack thereof) and stay in Dublin, her face registers no emotion, no pain or loss of a love as one might expect in the circumstances. Also, at the end of paragraph 9, she describes Dublin as "hard work - a hard life - but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life." This indecisiveness and nostalgia lends itself to a culture that is paralyzed, and in Eveline's case, afraid to make tangible choices that lead to change.

Well, It's Not Exactly 'Shrek'...



Imagine a kid tangled up in this bad boy. Queasy yet?

 
   Once upon a time, in an AP Lit class, I read a short story called Once Upon a Time, by Nadine Gordimer.  I decided to start off with this story because I read it last so it's the freshest in my memory, and also because it had a really twisted ending (no pun intended).  I liked the 'fairy tale' for the most part, but after doing a little research on the author, the relevancy of the context just added so much more credibility to the story.  Throughout the work, it is relatively easy to pick up on the disdain the speaker has for separated socio-economic class societies, and the story declares this message even when taken as an individual piece.  But there's more...

I understand that we have this strong sense of 'speaker does not equal writer' or whatever in this class, but I do believe that in this case that doesn't apply.  The opening section of Once Upon a Time describes the author, Nadine Gordimer, and her current living conditions in South Africa (at the time this piece was written in the late 80s, apartheid was still going strong and internal resistance was culminating).  Gordimer reflects on being afraid of break-ins because these were commonplace at the time, and the short story she writes about a rich, fairy tale, happily ever after family that lives in constant fear of riots from the lower class coincides with the situations occuring in South Africa perfectly.  With this in mind, and with the story ending with the family's only son graphically and gruesomely dying of their own accord, the theme can be defined as such: racial and social segregation leads to pain and suffering for not only the oppressed, but the oppressor as well.  Gordimer made a political statement by suggesting that apartheid destroys an entire country, and the rich or upper class are not spared.  Cool stuff.