“Shawshank Redemption” Film Analysis Essay

Lawrence Kohlberg, a famous psychiatrist, developed a theory which will entailed 6 stages of ethical development. The essence his theory is to allow individuals to always be characterised as one of the phases, based upon their very own moral & ethical well-being.

Life encounters usually let further expansion, thus going the individual to progress to higher phases. On the other hand, Abraham Maslow created a different theory based on human’s most basic requires which is displayed in a pyramid type figure containing five levels. The standard of needs appear at the end of the pyramid and the requirements concerned with mans highest potential at the top. Quite a few theory’s can be used to analyse Andy Dufresne, the main character inside the movie studied in class, Shawshank Redemption.

Andy Dufresne was a banker who was convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and provided for Shawshank penitentiary. Andy at some point becomes pals with a many other inmate called Ellis Boyd Redding (Red) who has a sizable impact on his moral & ethical development. The film follows the prison lifestyle of Andy Dufresne who have uses his intelligence and knowledge to help others. In the time at Shawshank, his energy and determination helped many persons and the welfare of the jail.

His campaign of one notice a week to he Condition Senate supplied a number of catalogs and documents, along with money which aided in the construction with the prison catalogue. This allowed Andy to teach a number of his fellow inmates and help these to achieve their particular high school equivalency. Andy utilized his past knowledge of financial to his advantage by doing the taxation statements for the majority with the guards and more as well as keeping the financial literature for the warden’s ill-gotten gains. This kind of advantage allowed him much more leniency compared to the other prisoners. It was these advantages that abled him to manipulate his way to his avoid.

His activities allowed him to obtain anything he needed to successfully break free. The 6 stages in Kohlberg’s theory are split up to three levels, with two stages in each. All the six periods is more advanced than the one particular before it.

Briefly, Kohlberg’s theory reveals three amounts: the pre-conventional, conventional, and post typical. Stages 1 and two in the pre-conventional level entail an “egocentric point of view” and an “individualistic perspective” when the individual makes decisions based on the elimination of abuse and the desire for reward. In stages three and four of the standard level, people make decisions from a “member of society” perspective, considering the goods of others, the upkeep of confident relations, and the rules of society. People in the final two periods (five and six) of the post-conventional level, reason coming from a “prior to society” perspective by which abstract suggestions take priority over particular societal regulations.

Maslow’s Pecking order of demands is based on different facets of moral & ethical expansion than Kohlberg but is still a relevant theory to characterise Andy. His theory includes five amounts applied in to the shape of a pyramid, which usually concentrate on a lot more basic of human needs. Each level of the pyramid can be dependant with the previous level. The largest and bottom level is made up of the physical requirements humans ought to survive. The other level is based on the safety and security requires followed by the next level which usually contains needs that provide the energy of love, affection and belongingness.

The final two levels happen to be based around respect and self esteem while using tip from the pyramid being self modernisation. Upon entry into the jail, Andy can be operating away of stage three of Kohlberg’s theory which is depending on gaining the acceptance more, and level two of two of Maslow’s. Penitentiary life is hard as it is incredibly routinal and respect by simply others isn’t just given, it has to be earned.

Due to Andy’s quiet mother nature, his first impression is misjudged by many of his inmates. Andy initially began to gain the respect of the inmates and representatives when he employed his bank knowledge to assist one of the representatives financially in addition to return he asked for several beers pertaining to the criminals involved in some outdoor function. He quoted to the expert, “… I do think a man doing work outdoors feels more like a person if he can have a bottle of suds…” The prison itself was a roof over Andy’s head and the blankets and clothes he received had been enough to provide basic comfort and ease.

Maslow’s initial and second levels are easily met inside the prison community. After the beer occurrence, Andy advanced to Maslow’s third level of belongingness and inclusion. It is evident that the inmates involved gain instant admiration for Andy during this event because while Red stated, “he sitting there viewing us drink his ale with a laugh on his face, ” a smile of belongingness. Andy eventually advances to Kohlberg’s stage four.

It can be obvious that he is quite aware of the principles within the jail and the punishments, but still he continues with certain occasions. It seems like this individual gets pleasure out of irritating the prison officials occasionally and uses his power against them, even though he is conscious of the punishments. This is evident when he played out a record within the intercom with the prison. Though he had to be able to give in for the officers and prevent punishment whatsoever, he seated there with a cheeky grin on his encounter and resulted in the music.

Currently, he developed to level four of Maslow’s theory. His requires for respect and identification are demonstrated by a handful of his fellow inmate if he returns by his amount of time in “the hole”. On his pickup bed was a note saying “welcome back- no charge” with a poster of Rita Hayworth. Usually every single item provides a price inside the prison so for him to receive something special, free of charge from his inmates shows a great deal of respect from their store.

Andy thought to Red, “I guess it is about down to one easy choice genuinely: Get busy livin’ or get busy dying. ” Andy produced Red promise that if he ever before was released from the prison that he locate a particular hayfield at Buxton and dig up something he had left for him. Andy escaped via Shawshank penitentiary in 1966, twenty years after he came there. He claimed cash from many banks that he had build as part of his plan while inside the penitentiary and set away to live out his fantasy: Renovating a classic fishing boat around the shores from the Pacific Ocean.

He stated, “the Pacific is without memory thus that’s exactly where I will get. ” Andy escaped to live out his “calling”, what he always wished for to do. This clearly implies that he reached the final level of Maslow’s theory – Self Mise a jour. The final progress that Andy made about Kohlberg’s theory was to level five. The feel of contentment that he had while driving in his red car to South america showed this kind of.

It was just like he didn’t see any wrong in his escape and he didn’t have a care in the world. The source of hope that Andy was helped many of his inmates develop morally, particularly Reddish who was eventually released coming from prison and travelled to spend the rest of his days along with his friend, Andy. As shown above, both equally Kohlberg’s and Maslow’s meaning development theory’s can be used to examine Andy. As he became more morally stable, he advanced to higher levels.

There is a feasible chance that Andy could reach stage six of Kohlberg’s theory, but this would just simply devote some time.