First, different from the book, the movie added an original plot when Red first met Andy. At the beginning of the book, Red just simply described his first impression of Andy, including his figure, hair, hands, the glasses he wore, and also his extraordinary refinement. “He was a short neat little man with sandy hair and small clever hands……that’s a funny thing to remember about a man, I suppose, but it seems to sum Andy up for me. He always looked as if he should have been wearing a tie.” (p.14) However, in the film, the director used a straightforward way to set Andy apart from others. Red and his friends bet that who was going to be the first one to cry and Red bet on Andy. Surprisingly, Andy, the neat and clean banker with gold-rimmed glasses, did not make a sound on his first night. The striking contrast between his behavior and appearance accentuates the unique personality of Andy in the movie. 

         Another difference is that the main characters in the film look very different from the book. At the beginning of the book, the author described Andy as a “short neat little man” (p.14), which is a foreshadowing for his escape from prison. However, in the movie, Andy is a head taller than any other prisoner. Red, the other main character, who is a white Irish man in the book; while in the movie, Red was played by Morgan Freeman, who is a famous African American actor. The director glossed over this difference by having Red make fun of his Irish heritage. Because of the different castings, you might have different feelings about the book and the film.

         Lastly, contrary to the book, the movie changed the ending of some characters. One of them is the cruel and corrupted warden, Norton. He appointed Andy to help him cope with the bribe. Compared to the film, his term of office is shorter. Besides, in the film, after Andy escaped from Shawshank, he revealed the corruption and murders of the prison, so Norton committed suicide. However, in the book version, Norton just resigned as the warden after the escape. Another is Tommy, who is a funny and hard-working man, and most importantly, he knows the real murderer of Andy’s wife. After he told Andy the truth, he was transferred to another prison as a trade with the warden in the book. While in the film, because Norton was afraid that Andy would leak the secret if he was released, and then there would be no one to help him cook the books from being caught stealing money; therefore, he shot Tommy to stop him from testifying in the court. Although these are not huge variations, the death of Norton and Tommy greatly increase the dramatic tension.

         In conclusion, despite these differences between the book and the film, including adding an original plot, the different appearance of Andy and Red, and the dissimilar ending of some characters, the essence of The Shawshank Redemption never changes— “Hope is a good thing, Red, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” (p.112) I am deeply moved and inspired to stick to my dream by both the film and book. That’s why The Shawshank Redemption can become one of the classics and never out of style.