Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

Content Warning: This section discusses sexual assault and violence.

Red is the first-person narrator of the story and an inmate at Shawshank prison. He confesses very early in the novella that unlike many of his fellow inmates, he is guilty of the crimes he has been convicted of: “I came to Shawshank when I was just twenty, and I am one of the few people in our happy little family willing to own up to what they did. I committed murder” (1). He also indicates that he comes from a disadvantaged economic background, and that prior to his imprisonment, he “was young, good-looking, and from the poor side of town” (2). Red uses simple, declarative sentences, which help establish him as an honest, reliable narrator.

Red is the man at Shawshank who knows how to get things, and operates a smuggling ring inside the prison. At the beginning of the story, he relays: “There’s a guy like me in every state and federal prison in America, I guess—I’m the guy who can get it for you” (1). He addresses the reader directly, referring to them as “you.” He also uses conversational language, such as “I guess.” This further establishes a connection with his