I Got You All Out For Me

Shawshank Reading Journal 2 (Movie vs. Book)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Trailer

Movie vs. Book

What are the major differences?

Characters

Red: In the movie he is a black man, but in the novella it sounds like he's white. He says his name is Red because he is an Irish in the novella. It was really unpredictable: Red as a black.

Warden Norton: In the movie, he is the only warden. However, in the book there were two more before him.  At the end of the film, Andy gives the paperwork-with all of Norton's crimes-to the press and when the police came for him he suicides: he blows out his brain! In contrast, in the novella Norton resigns.

Brooks: In the film, Brooks has a pet bird named Jake, and it is freed when he got paroled. In the Literary Shawshank, the pet bird is some other inmate's bird. Also, Brooks hang himself short after parole in the movie but in the book he dies in 'a home for indigent old folks up Freeport way in 1953 (King, p.49)'.

Tommy Williams: In the book he is transferred to Cashman, a minimum-security prison in order to prevent him from witnessing for Andy. However in the film he is shot by Bryon Hadley, the vicious guard.

Bryon Hadley: In both the movie and the film he is the mean guard, but in the movie he is arrested with Norton( Norton suicides instead of getting arrested) and in the book he gets a heart attack and retires.


Events
Arrival of the New Prisoners: In the movie the old inmates bet on the new prisoners that they cry, but in the book there is no such scene. In the film the one who got beaten up on his first night in Shawshank because he made a loud fuss, crying for home and mom. No such scene in the novella.

The Poster: In the movie it was Rita Hayworth, and there was Raquel Welch when Andy escaped. However in the book the poster was Rita Hayworth, Raquel Welch, and when Andy escaped it was Linda Ronstadt on the hole.

The Escape: 1) The Fake Account: in the movie Andy makes second books for Norton, and he funnels money to a fake identity. When Andy escapes, he uses that identity as his and use the money he had saved until then (on the surface it was for Norton) to fund his new life in Mexico. However, in Stephen King's Shawshank Andy had the fake identity from the beginning: his friend had made it for him, and the money that was saved in front of him was Andy's own money. There is no such second books appeared in the novel.

2) The Specifics: In the movie it shows how Andy escaped through the hole, came out of the river and wear Norton's shoes and his suit, which were carefully packed in a plastic bag. However in the book, there is no definite explanation of how he escaped: only Red's various guesses. Also, it is said in the novel that what did he wear after he escaped was a mistery: Red could not guess it. On the tree beside the river the prisoner's clothes was found (in the book).

The Ending: The movie ends with the scene of Red recognizing Andy, fixing the boat on the lovely beach of Mexico. However, the novel ends with 'hope': hope that Andy's down there, hope that he can make it across the border, hope to see 'my friend', and hope 'the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams'.

"I have not read Stephen King's novella (his first non-horror), but some of the movie's deficiencies, such as the old-fashioned morality tale and portentous messge about camarderie and redemption--must have been in the source material."  

-Emanuel Levy (EmanuelLevy.Com)

If you don't love Shawshank, chances are you're beyond redemption.

-Ian Nathan (Empire Magazine)