Plot
The director of the movie did a good job of keeping the plot similar to that of the story. The audience in both is left wondering whether or not Andy was guilty. Andy also had a chance to have a re-trial, which proved to the audience that Andy was innocent. This also made the audience more sympathetic. Both stories also included Andy's method of escaping from prison. He tunneled through the wall and escaped to Zihuatanejo.
Point of View
Both the story and the movie were told from the point of view of Red. He is the narrator, and explained most aspects of Andy's background and personality. The point of view from Red is important to the fact that he doesn't know for sure whether or not Andy was innocent. The movie allowed for the audience to see more of the story from Andy's perspective, which was more entertaining than Red telling every story. The prisoners opinion of Andy as stuck up and conceited was consistent for the story and the movie. This was more important in the movie when the warden refused to allow Andy to try for a re- trial, because he was too self- centered.
Characterization
The movie made Andy seem much more outgoing than he appeared to be in the story. It took Andy only a few months to ask Red about a rock hammer in the movie, when it took about 7 years in the story. The movie made Andy a much more likeable character. The movie also made Red seem more likeable than the story. In the story, Red killed his wife, his neighbor, and her son. The fact that he killed his two women, and a child makes Red seem more of a villain or evil crook than the movie which showed he was always remorseful for something he could have avoided.
Setting
The movie also remained consistent with the setting of the movie. The prison was truly the only logical choice for an adaptation of this short story. Without the restraints of prison, the audience would not have seen the personalities of each character. The time period was also consistent. The early to mid 1900's was a time period that would have made a prison break easier than it would be now. The prison system was still more crooked than it is today.In the story, Andy's friend setup the false identity of Randal Stevens, but Andy set it up himself through the warden's dirty business in the movie. Without the warden's schemes in the movie, Andy would not have been able to escape with any money to his name.
Theme
The theme of hope was very evident in both versions of this story. Andy never lost hope that he would one day be free again. He was the victim of terrible luck, but he stayed consistent in his dreams and hope. The theme of both was to prove that if you never lose hope, you can achieve greatness. Andy escaped by crawling through 500 yards of a sewar pipe. His persistence and hope was obvious to the audience due to that fact.
