Probation and Parole in The Shawshank Redemption

Probation and Parole in The Shawshank Redemption

Introduction

The selected film for this essay is The Shawshank Redemption. This film is directed by Frank Darabont, and it was released in 1994. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman have played the two main characters of this film (Darabont, 1994). The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most successful drama films, which posses a multilateral meaning. It critically represents several significant aspects of prison life which are related to the abusive behavior of staff. In addition, it also illuminates the importance of hope in a figurative manner. Temporality and spatiality are remarkably defused in this visual narrative of a prisoner's sentenced life. However, for this essay, I will evaluate the relevance of this film with course theme of probation and parole.



Discussion

Description of the Film

The Shawshank Redemption is a remarkable portrayal of material imprisonment of the human body, which cannot captive the liberty of the human mind. This film portrays the capacity of the human self to congeal the unpleasant environment into a living place. This film is based on the life of Andy Dufresne, character played by Tim Robbins, who becomes convicted for the charge of two murders. The court announces him guilty for murdering his wife and her lover and sends him to the Shawshank prison. Andy experiences several unpleasant behaviors from the staff of Shawshank which further deteriorates his existence (Darabont, 1994).

After few distressed days in Shawshank, Andy becomes friends with another convict Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding, character played by Morgan Freeman. Red is an older prisoner in Shawshank, and he has adapted the prison life. Red becomes highly influential in the environment of prison due to his status as a marketer among all prisoners. Red attends several interviews to acquire a parole detention, but gets rejected every time. The film continues with several unusual incidents in prison, which keeps Andy as the center point of the narrative. In last, Andy successfully escapes Shawshank and discloses the corruption of controlling authorities of Shawshank. This follows by the approval of Red's parole detention after 40 years (Darabont, 1994).

Probation and Parole

The concept of probation and parole is the course theme which I have selected for my paper. Here, I will describe the concept of probation and parole in general terms. Probation and parole are terms which refer to a special form of detention which are not confined to the boundary of a prison. However, these two terms depict two different kinds of releases (Phillips, 2013). The term probation relates to the adult offenders who are guilty, but not convicts of any prison. However, courts place these adult offenders under the supervision of probation agencies within community instead of imprisonment in jails or prisons. Probation can follow incarceration, but incarceration does not lead to probation (BJS, 2013).

On the other hand, parole is the conditional release of incarcerated offender from prison to community. The concept of parole detention is to release an incarcerated offender to serve in the ...