The plot of this story is the fact that the main character, Andy Dufresne, is innocent but he remains in jail. There is a prisoner that comes around, Tommy Williams, has information that would have let Andy walk a free man. One of Tommy's former cellmates, Elwood Blatch, told him that he killed Glenn Quentin. Tommy said that Elwood told him this; "El said he thought the guy might have cash in the house, maybe as much as five thousand dollars. That was a lot of money back then, he says to me. So I go: 'When was that?' And he goes 'After the war. Just after the war.'" (62)
The structure of the plot is nicely put together. It was an easy story to follow along with. As a person who doesn't like reading I actually enjoyed this short story. It was easy for me to comprehend. There were lots of fascinating things. I've always liked to look at things that involved prison and murders. I found that most my favorite TV shows have something to do with both prison and murders (NCIS, Bones, CSI, etc.). The pace of the plot was nice and steady. As I already said, it was easy to follow along with.
Point of View
I enjoyed how the point of view was coming from another inmate. It made it feel more realistic because it was what someone else viewed Andy as. You could tell that the story was not gonna be about the narrator when he says, "I want to tell you about a guy named Andy Dufresne." (16) I felt as if the story was not in second person that it wouldn't have been as intriging for me. I enjoyed the point of view in this story because it was showing us how close the two had gotten by being at Shawshank together. Andy really began to trust the narrator, Red, by telling him things that he normally wouldn't have told anyone, especially about his pseudonym that he had his friend set up for him. "All of that's one hundred per cent illegal, setting up a false ID like that." (76)
Characterization
Narrator: "I was young, good-looking, and from the poor side of town. I knocked up a pretty, sulky, headstrong girl who lived in one of the fine old houses on Carbine Street." (16)
Andy Dufresne: "He was a short, neat little man with sandy hair and small, cleaver hands. He wore gold-rimmed spectacles. His fingernails were always clipped, and they were always cleaned...He always looked as if he should have been wearing a tie." (17)
These are the two main characters of the story I feel. The way they are described is realistic. It puts things in a more logical state of thought. It gives you a good way to imagine these kind of people and make them up in your head. Whenever I do read, I like to picture the story in my head as it goes along. It makes it easier for me to follow along. The way the characters are characterized just made it that much easier to do so.
Setting
"There is a guy like me in every state and federal prison in America..." (15)
The story tells you from the get go that it is set in a prison, Shawshank. I bet if it hadn't just come out and said where it was that I would have been confused. As I said in the Characterization part above i like to picture things when I read. During the first couple of pages I was able to picture where they were and what they looked like. The structure of this story over all was outstanding. I actually enjoyed reading this story which is a tremendous shocker for me. I never thought I would be able to enjoy reading. This was an eye opener.
Theme
"I committed murder." (15)
The theme of the story was one that interested me. As i mentioned in the Plot part of this blog, I am highly interested in murder stories and prison. I used to want to be a Forensic Scientists. Since the theme involved two of my great interest it was easy for me to read. If I would've chosen a different story I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did. I absolutely enjoy reading things that interest me. I wouldn't be shocked if i found myself reading this again. I know the citation I made is not exactly the theme of the story, I enjoyed how it was just straight out said. I would have to say that theme is probably about Andy and his journey into escaping out of the Shawshank Prison.
