Rhetorical Analysis of The Shawshank Redemption Film
The Shawshank Redemption film is about hope and the pursuit of freedom. The film narrates how Andy Dufresne, a banker, was imprisoned for killing his wife and lover. The film uses rhetoric appeals like pathos, logos, and ethos to impact their message to the audiences powerfully. Shawshank describes the resilience of the human spirit and its ability to overcome oppression from the world. Shawshank Redemption tries to show how Andy never lost hope even after being wrongly convicted. He tries to change the prison environment and seek redemption for the other prisoner’s souls who had already given up. Therefore, the film uses persuasive rhetoric speeches to ensure the intended lessons or message is passed to the audience.
From the beginning of the movie, one can see the ethical principle of justice portrayed. The film is based on the unjust imprisoning of Andy Dufresne (the main character) and the following injustices that he goes through while in prison. The warden refuses to recognize Andy’s innocence evidence and assigns him two months of solitary confinement when he tries to argue about it. Also, Andy Dufresne suffers from sexual assault injustices from other prisoners. Another ethical principle in Shawshank Redemption is that of power. Warden Samuel Norton uses his legitimate power unethically for personal gains. He goes to the extent of ordering someone to be shot to protect his illegal financial dealings. The guards also use their power unethically. For instance, Byron Hadley, the head guard takes advantage of his position and authority to mistreat the prisoners by beating them and even killing. Head guard behavior influences the other guards and makes them run the prison with fear.
Universally, it is considered ethical to treat human reasonably. Even the prisoners that are guilty of a crime should be treated following fair written and unwritten laws. In a situation where injustices take place repeatedly like in The Shawshank film, then the audiences get to learn how power and other societal factors can influence fairness. Anyone watching the movie can tell the unfairness happening to Andy and the other prisoners in the prisons. The film here used the ethical principle to let people learn how the world is morally unrighteous. Andy uses his financial power to gain benefits for the other prisoners and himself. The audience may look at Andy’s action as an ethical one since it helps enslave other people and himself from oppression. Thus, through the customs seen in Shawshank Redemption, the audience can see the significance of justices and fairly using power for the benefit of society.
The Shawshank Redemption prisoner (Red) uses pathos while in a meeting with the parole to build an emotional bond. At the starting of the meeting, Red questions the board’s question, which they posed to him. The board asks him if he feels like he had been rehabilitated, and instead of answering right away, he uses logos rhetoric appeal. He asks the board the meaning of the word ‘rehab.’ The speech appeal gives reasoning to his argument and sets a different direction of Red’s conversation with the parole board. Then Red follows by using emotional appeal. When the board questions whether he was remorseful, Red applies a strong pathos element that creates a passionate feeling for both the movie court audience and the watching audience. Red talks of how tormented he had been since he committed the crime. He says, “I wish I could go back and talk to that young kid who committed the crime.” Red’s way of conversing makes the audience connect to the way he is feeling. The regrets he has, and how much he needs the parole to change the life sentence imprisonment he was serving. Red uses rhetoric appeals significantly, and it helps him get out of jail and communicates the regrets he had of committing the crime to the movie audiences. From an ethical perspective, the viewers see how much Red has changed and emotionally feel sympathy for Red.
At the start of the movie, the lawyer convicting Andy uses Logos to convince the court Andy is guilt. ”They had sinned. But was their sin so great, as to result to a death sentence” the lawyer says this to the court. He starts his argument with a rhetorical question to emphasize that Andy was guilty and he deserved to be imprisoned. He uses logos in his statement in order to identity with the audiences. The lawyer argue that Andy had a motive for murdering his wife and her lover since she was cheating on him, and he was frustrated. Therefore, the lawyer presents logical facts to the court and to get the audience thinking that Andy is guilty despite him acting like he was innocent. The lawyer’s allegations to Andy are passed by the use of logos, as well. The lawyer says that the pistol found on the floor of the murder scene had Andy’s fingerprints. Hence, the facts presented in logos rhetoric appeal convince the audience to agree with the lawyer or perceive that Andy was guilty of murdering his wife and her lover.
However , Elmo Blatch confesses to Tommy Williams that he had killed Andy’s wife, and that brings different facts (logos) to the case. Elmo’s narrative of killing shows how he defies ethical behavior. He lets the audience see how immoral his action was.He says he went to the banker’s house and killed the women (Andy’s wife) just because he felt unhappy. Describing his murder action provokes emotional feelings to Tommy and the audience as well. Comparing the words of the lawyer and Tommy William’s words about the murder, Tommy’s logos are more convincing to the viewer. Since it states, Elmo confessed and showed the murder process.
In conclusion, the Shawshank Redemption film narrates an inspirational story of hope and seeking freedom. The film story is hugely influential because of the way it uses rhetoric appeals to convey the message to the viewer. The movie has an emotional incidence, which leaves the viewer’s sympathetically relating to the characters and understanding the film lessons they are passing. Also, the characters demonstrate different logical arguments to convince the audience to agree to their claims. Also, Shawshank Redemption is a movie whose foundation lies on injustices, and the ethical principles are clearly shown throughout the film.
References
Darabont, Frank, et al. The Shawshank redemption. Castle Rock Entertainment, 1994.
IZZUDIN, MUHAMMAD ZUL AMRI. AN ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES FOUND IN THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION MOVIE: A FORMALISTIC STUDY. Diss. Universitas Mataram, 2018.
Kermode, Mark. The Shawshank Redemption. British Film Inst, 2003.
Killingsworth, M. Jimmie. “Rhetorical appeals: A revision .” Rhetoric Review 24.3 (2005): 249-263.
Welsh, Andrew, Thomas Fleming, and Kenneth Dowler. “Constructing crime and justice on film: Meaning and message in cinema.” Contemporary Justice Review 14.4 (2011): 457-476.