Examples Of Marxism In The Shawshank Redemption '

The Hopeful Proletariat Hope allows one to persevere is a bleak situation. It causes one to believe that there is a reason for suffering and that it will eventually reap reward. However, without hope, one will succumb to any dominating force that occurs, whether is be a person or situation. That person then ceases to exist as an individual, but rather as an embodiment of their oppressor’s ideology. This can be seen in The Shawshank Redemption, a movie about a wrongly-convicted man’s time in prison and his eventual escape. This mentality can also be seen among classes defined by Karl Marx: bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie is the smaller, wealthier group of people who control the larger, more needy proletariat. They rely …show more content…
This in turn increases their control over the working class because the blue-collar employees rely on the bourgeoisie for their wages. This vicious cycle can cause hopelessness among the proletariat class because of how viciously the bourgeoisie protect their status and wealth, and so members of the proletariat class succumb to the bourgeoisie ideals and exist only within standards set for their class. In The Shawshank Redemption, the sociological structure between the officers and prisoners simulates the sociological structure between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. The guards represent the bourgeoisie because of their position of authority over the prisoners, who represent the proletariat. This is demonstrated when the guards and warden of the prison rely on the use of abuse and physical force to control the inmates, and the prisoners’ demonstration of working class misery under the control of these authority figures. However, the protagonist Andy Dufresne defies these conventions of what it means to be proletariat by assimilating with the dominating bourgeoisie authority figures and escaping his stereotypical …show more content…
The prison staff can be interpreted as the bourgeoisie, and the prisoners under their control are the proletariat. In the prison environment, the guards use excessive physical force to control the inmates, which simulates the control of the working class by the bourgeoisie. This smothers the prisoners’ sense of hope of creating a more ideal environment because they fear unreasonable physical abuse if they challenge their superiors. This prison community also experiences working class misery among the inmates, which is caused by their tedious jobs and the seemingly inescapable status. Both of these aspects of prison life simulate the dreariness of being part of the proletariat class in real-life society. The prison setting of the movie can also represent the confinement that some people of the working class might feel because of the necessity of serving the bourgeoisie class, and their financial instability. This feeling could cause one to feel hopeless of improving their conditions, so they settle into the customary roles of their class. However, in the Shawshank Redemption, Andy overcomes this despair, is able to advance occupationally and eventually escape prison and build a successful life for himself. He is able to do this because he does not succumb to the conventional standards of his class. He