The Shawshank Redemption is a film created by Frank Darabont and written by Stephen King. The plot of the movie is Andy Dufresne is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to years in prison. He struggles in the beginning in prison by ‘learning prison culture’, but with the help of his friend Red (who’s been in prison for over 20 years), he quickly learns the ins and outs of prison. Eventually these two men find solace and ‘redemption’ through decent acts. Furthermore, we see many acts of violence and rape happen within the film.
The book The Body Reader, provides some good insight on why prisons are so demanding and harsh to inmates. The book explains how, “the social pecking order among male prisoners is established and reinforced through acts of sexual subjugation, either consensual or coerced submission to sexual penetration” (Moore & Kosut, 95). There was a group of men in the prison called “the sisters”, they were considered deviant and people to not mess with. This label ultimately provided the ‘sisters’ with a lower self-concept and made them cause harm to other inmates, including Andy. The ‘sisters’ were abusing Andy by raping him, beating him up, and taunting him while in the prison. The way they abused Andy only confirmed and fulfilled their label of being deviant, making them well known as ‘people not to mess with’ at Shawshank. Going back to the quote from the book, you can in see how “the sisters” asserted their dominance over Andy by forceful acts of violence and rape, which in turn made them high in the hierarchy of the prison. By instilling fear in their victims, “the sisters” were able to keep their high ranking in the prison and in turn were never attacked/raped by others.
Unfortunately, through all of this, Andy had to deal with these violent acts of aggression by himself. “The sisters” took some of his agency away from him for a good portion of the film/ his first couple of years in prison. The book provided a great example how rape culture in prison feels, “Like all forms of slavery, these situations are among the most degrading and dehumanizing experiences a person can undergo” (Moore & Kosut, 95).
Lastly in the film you witness a lack of effort to stop these rapes from happening. The prison guards are aware of what’s going on, but they do not seem to care enough to stop the rapes. Even though it isn’t said in the film, I feel like the prison guards do not care because they feel like the prisoners are lower than them and that they deserve it for being ‘bad people’. The book also correlated with what the film was trying to present, saying “prisons officials condone these practices, leaving inmates to fend for themselves. Inmates reported that they received no protection from correctional staff, even when they complained” (Moore & Kosut, 95).
Hopefully in the future, the prison culture in America will change drastically. The rapes that happen in prison, which effect almost every prisoner will have lasting effects on these individuals for the rest of their lives. Most will go on without verbally telling another person for fear of masculinity and or people not believing them.
Unruly Bodies 
Accurate post. These are such harsh realities that have resulted from our criminal justice system that incarcerates more people per 100000 than any other country in the world. It is not hard to imagine that issues of overcrowding and neglect and rape might result from such large numbers that have to be managed. I personally believe that NO ONE should have to go to prison. Often times, the price that they pay in prison is much much more severe and steeper than what they did to get there.
I agree. It’s very sad the prison guard’s thought they were lower than them. It’s an issue that anyone is getting raped, but for them to just not care is unbelievable. When people enter prison it could be over something not too serious and end up getting raped. It’s just very sad. You did a good job explaining how the book correlated to this movie.
I also watched this movie and as detailed as it was I’m sure it only provided a glimpse of what prison really is. Based on various new reports over the past couple of years I believe the prison staff are accountable for many of the issues within the prison. Such as the violence of inmates towards one another and what behaviors are allowed in spite of the supervision that prison requires. I also believe the violence that the staff use towards the inmates also contributes to this hierarchy system that the prison holds. I think it creates an atmosphere that makes everyone feel like they have something to prove. This was a good example from the text that we read regarding prisoners.