Hope is a Good Thing: The Shawshank Redemption

I recently went on a baseball trip to San Francisco and Oakland with a couple of friends. One of my goals is to eventually visit the stadium of all 30 MLB teams.  The Oakland A’s are leaving Oakland after this season and I got to see their last game in the Coliseum as well as a San Francisco Giants, which brings my total to 18 out of 30. While in the Bay area we also toured Alcatraz Island and the infamous Federal Prison that was built there.  Also known as The Rock, Alcatraz Prison was closed in 1963 but lives on as a major tourist attraction. While touring the prison I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the inmates learned to hug their cactus and embrace the ugly parts of souls while on the rock.  Knowing I would be touring Alcatraz, I watched one of my favorite movies, the highly regarded prison movie, The Shawshank Redemption. This remains one of my favorite movies of all time and is a great example of the importance of not losing hope in the hug your cactus journey.        

One of the great aspects of hope is that hope allows you to endure over the long haul. The belief that things can and will get better despite the very real challenges of your current situation. In The Shawshank Redemption, one of main character’s, Andy is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. While in prison he develops a strong friendship with Red who is one of the more popular and influential inmates and serves as the narrator for the movie. Red takes Andy under his wing and teaches him how to navigate life in prison. At one point in their friendship Andy starts talking about being hopeful and Red quickly cuts him off saying.  “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

In contrast to this hopelessness and even despair, over the next several years and even decades Andy models and exhibits hope to Red and the other inmates in the midst of the very difficult reality of an apparent life in prison. In this he lives out the Stockdale Paradox, first by confronting the brutal reality of his situation. He is unjustly in prison and prison is a very difficult life. Yet he also maintains unwavering hope that things can and will eventually get better and that he will somehow regain his freedom.  Over time he develops and executes a brilliant scheme that not only exposes the corruption of the prison warden, but also allows Andy to break out of the jail unnoticed and to his freedom. Later Red is finally released from prison and struggles with despair in the difficulties of life on the outside after so many years inside the prison. Then he receives a letter from Andy that maps out how he might join his friend. In that letter Andy comments, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” The movie ends with Red risking hope and joining up with Andy in a new life. This movie shows the power of not losing hope and giving into despair. While in prison both Andy and Red embrace and come to terms with their cactus, the ugly parts of their souls. They also demonstrate that hope is lived out in community and friendship and is not something that you can maintain alone. This is seen as overtime Andy’s hope rubs off on the other inmates. They also show that genuine hope can help one go from crisis to a life of new meaning.[1]  Being at a place like Alcatraz and watching the movie Shawshank serves as a powerful reminder that if hope can be found and maintained in the extreme difficult environment of prison, it can be maintained anywhere.  So, wherever you might be and whatever you might be facing, don’t give up hope, because hope is truly a good thing!

[1] The Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont (Columbia Pictures, 1994).