The Shawshank Redemtion-Red and a Tall Drink of Water

Red and a Tall Drink of Water

In a darkened room two passionate lovers eagerly embrace. Outside a destraught man sits in a truck, boozing it up. The old song " If I Didn't Care " , plays from a tinny radio. The drunk man fumbles with a gun while he tries to get out of the truck. He opens the door of the truck, stumbles, drops and breaks the bottle of alcohol, and the extra bullets spill onto the ground.

The next scene is in a courtoom where a lawyer is questioning a man. " I was upset. I was confused and drunk. I mostly wanted to scare them ", Andrew Dufresne tells the lawyer that was cross-examing him. " This was revenge", the lawyer shouts in his summation speech. The verdict is guilty and the sentence is two life sentences, back to back.

An older black man is sitting patiently in front of his parole hearing. The five men on the panel ask him if he thinks he is rehabilitated and he answers, yes. " It's the Gods honest truth, " says Red. " I'm absolutely rehabilitated. " His friends, ask him what happened at the hearing. Red replies, " Same old shit, different day." He had been rejected and denied parole again.

Outside in the exercise yard a loud siren wails. The incarcerated men all gather together to get a look at the new prisoners that have just arrived. Reds' first impression of Andy Dufresne was, " That one looks like a stiff breeze could knock him over. That tall drink of water with a silver spoon up his ass." Little did Red know, at this time, but the two men would develop a strong bond. The mutual friendship Red and Andy would cultivate, caused them both to grow an inner strength which helped them deal with prison life.

The new prisoners stand linked together with chains, scared to death, in front of the Warden. He says, " I believe in two things, discipline and the Bible. Here you"ll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord, your ass belongs to me. " That was the kind of attitude Andy would have to live with from now on, and this was just the beginning.

" Andy kept pretty much to himself at first...Wasn't till a month went by that he finally opened his mouth to say more than two words to somebody. As it turned out that somebody was me", Red pondered. " Yeah, I think it would be fair to say that I liked Andy from the start ", Red assured himself.

Andy and Reds' friendship starts up when Andy finds out that Red has a way to get things from the outside. Andy decides he wants a rock hammer to carve rocks with. " It was a hobby I used to have in my old life, " he tells Red. Sure enough, Red gets it for him. Later on Red gets Andy a poster of Rita Hayworth, he asks for, after they see her in a movie shown at the prison.

Their friendship strengthens after Andy helps the Captain of the guards,