Mr .Dufresne, describe the confrontation you had with your wife the night she was murdered .

 It was very bitter .

 She said she was glad I knew, that she hated all the sneaking around .

 And she said that she wanted a divorce in Reno .

 - What was your response? - I told her I would not grant one .

 "I'll see you in hell before I see you in Reno .

" Those were your words,according to your neighbors .

 If they say so .

 I really don't remember .

 I was upset .

 What happened after you argued with your wife? She packed a bag .

 She packed a bag to go and stay with Mr .Quentin .

 Glenn Quentin, golf pro at the Snowden Hills Country Club whom you had discovered was your wife's lover .

 Did you follow her? I went to a few bars first .

 Later, I drove to his house to confront them .

 They weren't home .

 I parked in the turnout and waited .

 With what intention? I'm not sure .

 I was confused drunk .

 I think mostly I wanted to scare them .

 When they arrived, you went up to the house and murdered them .

 I was sobering up .

 I got back in the car and I drove home to sleep it off .

 Along the way, I threw my gun into the Royal River .

 I've been very clear on this point .

 I get hazy where the cleaning woman shows up the following morning and finds your wife in bed with her lover riddled with .

38-caliber bullets .

 Does that strike you as a fantastic coincidence, or is it just me? Yes, it does .

 Yet you still maintain you threw your gun into the river before the murders took place .

 That's very convenient .

 It's the truth .

 The police dragged that river for three days, and nary a gun was found so no comparison could be made between your gun and the bullets taken from the bloodstained corpses of the victims .

 And that also is very convenient .

 Isn't it, Mr .Dufresne? Since I am innocent of this crime I find it decidedly inconvenient that the gun was never found .

 Ladies and gentlemen, you've heard all the evidence .

 We have the accused at the scene of the crime .

 We have footprints .

 Bullets on the ground bearing his fingerprints .

 A broken bourbon bottle, likewise with fingerprints .

 And most of all we have a beautiful young woman and her lover lying dead in each other's arms .

 They had sinned .

 But was their crime so great as to merit a death sentence? While you think about that think about this: A revolver holds six bullets, not eight .

 I submit that this was not a hot-blooded crime of passion .

 That at least could be understood, if not condoned .

 No .

 This was revenge of a much more brutal, cold-blooded nature .

 Consider this: Four bullets per victim .

 Not six shots fired, but eight .

 That means that he fired the gun empty and then stopped to reload so that he could shoot each of them again .

 An extra bullet per lover right in the head .

 You strike me as a particularly icy and remorseless man, Mr .

 Dufresne .

 It chills my blood just to look at you .

 By the power vested in me by the state of Maine I hereby order you to serve two life sentences back-to-back one for each of your victims .

 So be it! Sit .

 We see you've served - Yes, sir .

 - You feel you've been rehabilitated? Yes, sir .

 Absolutely, sir .

 I mean, I learned my lesson .

 I can honestly say that I'm a changed man .

 I'm no longer a danger to society .

 That's God's honest truth .

 Hey, Red .

 How'd it go? Same old shit, different day .

 Yeah, I know how you feel .

 I'm up for rejection next week .

 Yeah, I got rejected last week .

 It happens .

 Hey, Red, bump me a deck .

 Get out of my face, man! You're into me for five packs already .

 Four! There must be a con like me in every prison in America .

 I'm the guy who can get it for you .

 Cigarettes, a bag of reefer, if that's your thing bottle of brandy to celebrate your kid's high school graduation .

 Damn near anything within reason .

 Yes, sir! I'm a regular Sears and Roebuck .

 So when Andy Dufresne came to me in 1949 and asked me to smuggle Rita Hayworth into the prison for him I told him, "No problem .

" Andy came to Shawshank Prison in early 1947 for murdering his wife and the fella she was banging .

 On the outside, he'd been vice president of a large Portland bank .

 Good work for a man so young .

 You speak English, butt-steak? You follow this officer .

 I never seen such a sorry-looking heap of maggot shit in all my life .

 Hey, fish! Come over here! Taking bets today, Red? Smokes or coin? Bettor's choice .

 Smokes .

 Put me down for two .

 All right, who's your horse? That little sack of shit .

 - Eighth .

 He'll be first .

 - Bullshit! I'll take that action .

 You're out some smokes, son .

 If you're so smart, you call it .

 I'll take that chubby fat-ass there .

 The fifth one .

 Put me down for a quarter deck .

 Fresh fish today! We're reeling them in! I admit I didn't think much of Andy first time I laid eyes on him .

 Looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over .

 That was my first impression of the man .

 What do you say? That tall drink of water with the silver spoon up his ass .

 That guy? Never happen .

 -10 cigarettes .

 - That's a rich bet .

 Who's going to prove me wrong? Heywood? Jigger? Skeets? Floyd! Four brave souls .

 Return to your cellblocks for evening count .

 All prisoners, return to your cellblocks .

 Turn to the right! Eyes front .

 This is Mr .

 Hadley .

 He's captain of the guards .

 I'm Mr .

 Norton, the warden .

 You are convicted felons .

 That's why they've sent you to me .

 Rule number one: No blasphemy .

 I'll not have the Lord's name taken in vain in my prison .

 The other rules you'll figure out as you go along .

 Any questions? When do we eat? You eat when we say you eat .

 You shit when we say you shit, and piss when we say you piss .

 You got that, you maggot-dick motherfucker? On your feet .

 I believe in two things: Discipline and the Bible .

 Here, you'll receive both .

 Put your trust in the Lord .

 Your ass belongs to me .

 Welcome to Shawshank .

 Unhook them .

 Turn around .

 That's enough .

 Move to the end of the cage .

 Turn around .

 Delouse him .

 Turn around .

 Move out of the cage .

 Pick up your clothes and Bible .

 Next man up! To the right .

 Right .

 Right .

 Left .

 The first night's the toughest .

 No doubt about it .

 They march you in naked as the day you were born skin burning and half-blind from that delousing shit .

 And when they put you in that cell and those bars slam home that's when you know it's for real .

 Old life blown away in the blink of an eye .

 Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it .

 Most new fish come close to madness the first night .

 Somebody always breaks down crying .

 Happens every time .

 The only question is who's it going to be? It's as good a thing to bet on as any, I guess .

 I had my money on Andy Dufresne .

 Lights out! I remember my first night .

 Seems like a long time ago .

 Hey, fish .

 Fish, fish .

 What are you, scared of the dark? Bet you wish your daddy never dicked your mama! Piggy! Pork! I want me a pork chop .

 The boys always go fishing with first-timers .

 And they don't quit till they reel someone in .

 Hey, Fat Ass .

 Fat Ass! Talk to me, boy .

 I know you're there .

 I can hear you breathing .

 Don't you listen to these nitwits, you hear me? This place ain't so bad .

 Tell you what I'll introduce you around, make you feel right at home .

 I know a couple of big old bull queers that'd just love to make your acquaintance .

 Especially that big, white, mushy butt of yours .

 God! I don't belong here! - We have a winner! - I want to go home! And it's Fat Ass by a nose! Fresh fish! I want to go home! I want my mother! I had your mother! She wasn't that great! What the Christ is this horseshit? He blasphemed .

 I'll tell the warden .

 You'll tell him with my baton up your ass! Let me out! What is your malfunction, you fat barrel of monkey spunk? Please! I ain't supposed to be here .

 Not me! I won't count to three .

 Not even to one .

 You shut up, or I'll sing you a lullaby! Shut up, man .

 Shut up! You don't understand .

 I'm not supposed to be here .

 Open that cell .

 Me neither! They run this place like a fucking prison! Son of a bitch! Captain, take it easy! If I hear so much as a mouse fart in here tonight I swear by God and Jesus, you will all visit the infirmary .

 Every last motherfucker in here .

 Call the trustees .

 Take that tub of shit down to the infirmary .

 His first night in the joint, Dufresne cost me two packs of cigarettes .

 He never made a sound .

 Tier 3 north, clear count! Tier 2 north, clear count .

 Tier 3 south, clear .

 Prepare to roll out .

 Roll out! Are you going to eat that? I hadn't planned on it .

 Do you mind? That's nice and ripe .

 Jake says thank you .

 Fell out of his nest over by the plate shop .

 I'm going to look after him until he's big enough to fly .

 Oh, no! Here he comes .

 Morning, fellas .

 Fine morning, isn't it? You know why it's a fine morning, don't you? Send them down .

 I want them lined up just like a pretty little chorus line .

 Look at that .

 - I can't stand this guy .

 - Oh, Lord! Yes! Richmond, Virginia .

 Smell my ass! After he smells mine .

 That's a shame about your horse coming in last and all .

 But I sure do love that winning horse of mine, though .

 I owe that boy a big kiss when I see him .

 Why don't you give him some of your cigarettes instead? Lucky fuck! Hey, Tyrell .

 You pull infirmary duty this week? How's my horse doing anyway? Dead .

 Hadley busted his head up pretty good .

 Doc had gone home for the night .

 Poor bastard lay there till this morning .

 By then, there wasn't nothing we could do .

 What was his name? What'd you say? I was just wondering if anyone knew his name .

 What the fuck do you care, new fish? Doesn't fucking matter what his name was .

 He's dead .

 Anybody come at you yet? Anybody get to you yet? Hey, we all need friends in here .

 I could be a friend to you .

 Hard to get .

 I like that .

 Andy kept pretty much to himself at first .

 I guess he had a lot on his mind trying to adapt to life on the inside .

 Wasn't until a month went by before he opened his mouth to say more than two words to somebody .

 As it turned out that somebody was me .

 I'm Andy Dufresne .

 Wife-killing banker .

 Why'd you do it? I didn't, since you ask .

 You're going to fit right in .

 Everybody in here's innocent .

 Didn't you know that? - What you in here for? - Didn't do it .

 Lawyer fucked me .

 Rumor has it you're a real cold fish .

 You think your shit smells sweeter than most .

 Is that right? What do you think? To tell you the truth, I haven't made up my mind .

 I understand you're a man that knows how to get things .

 I'm known to locate certain things from time to time .

 I wonder if you might get me a rock hammer .

 A rock hammer .

 - What is it and why? - What do you care? For a toothbrush, I wouldn't ask .

 I'd quote a price .

 But a toothbrush is a non-lethal object, isn't it? Fair enough .

 A rock hammer is about six or seven inches long .

 - Looks like a miniature pickax .

 - Pickax? For rocks .

 Quartz? And some mica, shale limestone .

 So? So I'm a rock hound .

 At least I was in my old life .

 I'd like to be again .

 Or maybe you'd like to sink your toy into somebody's skull .

 No, I have no enemies here .

 No? Wait a while .

 Word gets around .

 The Sisters have taken quite a liking to you .

 Especially Bogs .

 Don't suppose it would help if I told them I'm not homosexual .

 Neither are they .

 You have to be human first .

 They don't qualify .

 Bull queers take by force .

 That's all they want or understand .

 If I were you, I'd grow eyes in the back of my head .

 - Thanks for the advice .

 - Well, that's free .

 You understand my concern .

 If there's trouble, I won't use the rock hammer .

 Then I'd guess you want to escape .

 Tunnel under the wall, maybe .

 What did I miss? What's so funny? You'll understand when you see the rock hammer .

 What's an item like this usually go for? Seven dollars in any rock-and-gem shop .

 My normal markup's 20 percent .

 But this is a specialty item .

 Risk goes up, price goes up .

 Let's make it an even 10 bucks .

 Ten it is .

 Waste of money, if you ask me .

 Why's that? Folks around this joint love surprise inspections .

 They find it, you're going to lose it .

 If they catch you, you don't know me .

 Mention my name, we never do business again .

 Not for shoelaces or a stick of gum .

 Now you got that? I understand .

 Thank you, Mr .

 .

 .

 Red .

 Name's Red .

 Why do they call you that? Maybe it's because I'm Irish .

 I could see why some of the boys took him for snobby .

 He had a quiet way about him a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here .

 He strolled like a man in the park without a care or a worry in the world .

 Like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place .

 I think it'd be fair to say I liked Andy from the start .

 Let's go! Some of us got a schedule to keep .

 Move it! Come on, move it! How you doing? How's the wife treating you? Andy was right .

 I finally got the joke .

 It would take a man about 600 years to tunnel under the wall with one of these .

 - Book? - Not today .

 Book? Delivery for Dufresne .

 Here's your book .

 Thanks .

 We're running low on hexite .

 Get on back and fetch us up some .

 This will blind you .

 Honey, hush .

 That's it .

 You fight! Better that way .

 I wish I could tell you Andy fought the good fight and the Sisters let him be .

 I wish I could tell you that but prison is no fairy-tale world .

 He never said who did it .

 But we all knew .

 Things went on like that for a while .

 Prison life consists of routine and then more routine .

 Every so often, Andy would show up with fresh bruises .

 The Sisters kept at him .

 Sometimes he was able to fight them off .

 Sometimes not .

 And that's how it went for Andy .

 That was his routine .

 I do believe those first two years were the worst for him .

 And I also believe that if things had gone on that way this place would have got the best of him .

 But then, in the spring of 1949 the powers that be decided: The roof of the license-plate factory needs resurfacing .

 I need a dozen volunteers for a week's work .

 As you know special detail carries with it special privileges .

 It was outdoor detail and May is one damned fine month to be working outdoors .

 Stay in line there .

 More than a hundred men volunteered for the job .

 Wallace E .

 Unger .

 Ellis Redding .

 Wouldn't you know it? Me and some fellows I know were among the names called .

 Andrew Dufresne .

 It only cost us a pack of smokes per man .

 I made my usual 20 percent, of course .

 So this big-shot lawyer calls me long-distance from Texas .

 I say, "Yeah?" He says, "Sorry to inform you, but your brother just died .

" - I'm sorry to hear that .

 - I'm not .

 He was an asshole .

 Ran off years ago .

 Figured him for dead .

 So this lawyer fellow says to me: "He died a rich man .

" Oil wells and shit .

 Close to a million bucks .

 A million bucks? - Incredible how lucky some assholes get .

 - You going to see any of that? Thirty-five thousand .

 That's what he left me .

 Dollars? That's great! That's like winning the sweepstakes .

 Isn't it? Dumb shit, what do you think the government will do to me? Take a big wet bite out of my ass is what .

 Poor Byron .

 Terrible fucking luck, huh? Crying shame .

 Some people really got it awful .

 Andy, are you nuts? Keep your eyes on your mop, man! You'll pay some tax, but you'll still end up- Yeah, maybe enough to buy a new car, and then what? I got to pay tax on the car .

 Repair maintenance, kids pestering you to take them for a ride all the time .

 Then if you figure your tax wrong, you pay out of your own pocket .

 I tell you! Uncle Sam! He puts his hand in your shirt and squeezes your tit till it's purple .

 - Getting himself killed .

 - Keep tarring .

 Some brother .

 Shit! Mr .

 Hadley do you trust your wife? Oh, that's funny .

 You'll look funnier sucking my dick with no teeth .

 What I mean is, do you think she'd go behind your back? Step aside, Mert .

 This fucker's having himself an accident .

 He'll push him off! If you trust her, you can keep that 35,000 .

 - What did you say? - Thirty-five thousand .

 All of it .

 - Every penny .

 - You better start making sense .

 If you want to keep it, give it to your wife .

 The IRS allows a one-time-only gift to your spouse for up to $60,000 .

 - Bullshit .

 Tax-free? - Tax-free .

 IRS can't touch one cent .

 You're that smart banker that killed his wife .

 Why should I believe you? So I can end up in here with you? It's legal .

 Ask the IRS .

 They'll say the same thing .

 I feel stupid telling you this .

 I'm sure you would have investigated .

 I don't need you to tell me where the bear shit in the buckwheat .

 Of course not .

 But you do need someone to set it up for you .

 That'll cost you .

 A lawyer .

 A bunch of ball-washing bastards! I suppose I could set it up for you .

 That would save you some money .

 You get the forms, I'll prepare them nearly free of charge .

 I'd only ask three beers apiece for each of my coworkers .

 "Coworkers .

" That's rich! A man working outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds .

 That's only my opinion sir .

 What are you jimmies staring at? Let's go! Work! And that's how it came to pass that on the second-to-last day of the job the convict crew that tarred the factory roof in the spring of '49 wound up sitting in a row at 10:00 in the morning drinking icy-cold beer, courtesy of the hardest screw that ever walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison .

 Drink up while it's cold, ladies .

 The colossal prick even managed to sound magnanimous .

 We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men .

 We could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses .

 We were the lords of all creation .

 As for Andy he spent that break hunkered in the shade a strange little smile on his face watching us drink his beer .

 Want a cold one? No, thanks .

 I gave up drinking .

 You could argue he done it to curry favor with the guards .

 Or maybe make a few friends among us cons .

 Me? I think he did it just to feel normal again if only for a short while .

 King me .

 - Chess .

 Now there's a game of kings .

 - What? Civilized .

 Strategic .

 And a total fucking mystery .

 I hate it .

 Let me teach you someday .

 Sure .

 We could get a board together .

 You're talking to the right man .

 I can get things, right? We might do business on a board, and I'll carve the pieces myself .

 One side in alabaster, one in soapstone .

 What do you think? I think it'll take years .

 Years I got .

 What I don't have are the rocks .

 Pickings are pretty slim in the yard .

 Pebbles, mostly .

 We're getting to be kind of friends, aren't we? Yeah, I guess .

 Can I ask you something? Why'd you do it? I'm innocent, Red .

 Just like everybody else here .

 What are you in for? Murder .

 Same as you .

 Innocent? Only guilty man in Shawshank .

 Where's the canary? How did you know? - How did I know what? - So you don't know .

 Come .

 This is where the canary is .

 Quite a surprise to hear a woman singing in my house, eh? That's quite a surprise .

 Wait, wait .

 Here she comes .

 I like this part when she does that shit with her hair .

 I know .

 I've seen it three times this month .

 Gilda, are you decent? Me? God, I love it .

 I understand you're a man that knows how to get things .

 I'm known to locate certain things from time to time .

 What do you want? - Rita Hayworth .

 - What? Can you get her? So this is Johnny Farrel .

 I've heard a lot about you .

 - Take a few weeks .

 - Weeks? I don't have her stuffed down the front of my pants right now, sorry to say .

 But I'll get her .

 Relax .

 Thanks .

 - Get out! - I got to change reels! I said fuck off! Ain't you going to scream? Let's get this over with .

 He broke my fucking nose! Now I'm going to open my fly and you'll swallow what I give you to swallow .

 Then you'll swallow Rooster's .

 You broke his nose .

 He ought to have something to show for it .

 You put it in my mouth, you lose it .

 No, you don't understand .

 Do that and I'll put all eight inches of this in your ear .

 All right, but you should know that sudden, serious brain injury causes the victim to bite down hard .

 In fact, I hear the bite reflex is so strong they have to pry the victim's jaws open with a crowbar .

 Where do you get this shit? I read it .

 You know how to read, you ignorant fuck? Honey! You shouldn't! Bogs didn't put anything in Andy's mouth .

 And neither did his friends .

 What they did do is beat him within an inch of his life .

 Andy spent a month in the infirmary .

 Bogs spent a week in the hole .

 Time's up, Bogs .

 It's your world, boss .

 Return to your cellblocks for evening count .

 All prisoners report for lock down .

 What? - Where's he going? - Grab his ankles .

 Help! Two things never happened again after that .

 The Sisters never laid a finger on Andy again .

 And Bogs would never walk again .

 They transferred him to a minimum-security hospital upstate .

 To my knowledge, he lived out the rest of his days drinking his food through a straw .

 Andy could use a nice welcome back when he gets out of the infirmary .

 Sounds good to us .

 I figure we owe him that much for the beer .

 The man likes to play chess .

 Let's get him some rocks .

 Guys! I got one .

 I got one .

 Look! Heywood, that isn't soapstone! And it ain't alabaster either .

 What are you, a fucking geologist? He's right .

 It ain't .

 - What the hell is it then? - It's a horse apple .

 - Bullshit! - No, horseshit .

 Petrified .

 Damn! Despite a few hitches, the boys came through in fine style .

 And by the weekend he was due back we had enough rocks saved up to keep him busy till rapture .

 Also got a big shipment in that week .

 Cigarettes chewing gum sipping whisky playing cards with naked ladies on them .

 You name it .

 And of course, the most important item: Rita Hayworth herself .

 Heads up .

 They're tossing cells .

 Heads up .

 They're tossing cells! On your feet .

 Face the wall .

 Turn around and face the warden .

 Pleased to see you reading this .

 Any favorite passages? "Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh .

" Mark 13:35 .

 I've always liked that one .

 But I prefer "I am the light of the world .

 Ye that followeth me shall have the light of life .

" John, chapter 8, verse 12 .

 I hear you're good with numbers .

 How nice .

 Man should have a skill .

 Explain this .

 It's called a rock blanket .

 It's for shaping and polishing rocks .

 A little hobby of mine .

 It's pretty clean .

 Some contraband here, but nothing to get in a twist over .

 I can't say I approve of this .

 But I suppose exceptions can be made .

 Lock them up! I almost forgot .

 I'd hate to deprive you of this .

 Salvation lies within .

 Yes, sir .

 Tossing cells was just an excuse .

 Truth is Norton wanted to size Andy up .

 My wife made that in church group .

 Very nice, sir .

 You enjoy working the laundry? No, sir .

 Not especially .

 Perhaps we can find something more befitting a man of your education .

 Hey, Jake .

 Where's Brooks? I thought I heard you out here .

 I've been reassigned to you .

 I know, they told me .

 Ain't that a kick in the head? Well, I'll give you the dime tour .

 Come on .

 Well, here she is .

 The Shawshank Prison Library .

 National Geographics Reader's Digest condensed books and Louis L'Amour .

 Look magazine .

 Erle Stanley Gardners .

 Every evening I load up the cart and make my rounds .

 I enter the names on this clipboard here .

 Easy, peasy, Japanese-y .

 - Any questions? - How long have you been librarian? I come here in '05, and they made me librarian in 1912 .

 And have you ever had an assistant? No .

 Not much to it, really .

 Why me? Why now? I don't know .

 But it'd be nice to have some company down here .

 That's him .

 That's the one .

 I'm Dekins .

 I was thinking about setting up some kind of trust fund for my kids' educations .

 I see .

 Why don't we have a seat and talk it over .

 Do you have a piece of paper and a pencil? Thanks .

 So .

 .

 .

 Mister Dekins .

 .

 .

 And then Andy says, "Mr .

 Dekins do you want your sons to go to Harvard or Yale?" He didn't say that! As God as my witness! Dekins blinked for a second then he laughed and actually shook Andy's hand .

 - My ass! - Shook his hand .

 I tell you, I near soiled myself! All he needed was a suit and tie and a jiggly hula gal on his desk he'd have been "Mr .

 Dufresne," if you please .

 Making a few friends? I wouldn't say "friends .

" I'm a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning .

 It's a wonderful pet to have .

 Got you out of the laundry, though .

 It might do more than that .

 How about expanding the library .

 Get some new books .

 If you ask for something, ask for a pool table .

 How do you expect to do that? I mean get new books in here, "Mr .

 Dufresne, if you please .

" I'll ask the warden for funds .

 Six wardens have been through here in my tenure, and I've learned one immutable, universal truth: Not one born whose asshole wouldn't pucker up tighter than a snare drum when you ask for funds .

 - The budget's stretched thin as it is .

 - I see .

 Maybe I could write the state senate and request funds from them .

 They have only three ways to spend the taxpayers' money for prisons: More walls, more bars, more guards .

 I'd like to try, with permission .

 A letter a week .

 - They can't ignore me forever .

 - Sure can .

 But you write your letters if it makes you happy .

 I'll even mail them for you .

 How's that? So Andy started writing a letter a week just like he said .

 And like Norton said Andy got no answers .

 The following April, he did tax returns for half the guards at Shawshank .

 Year after that, he did them all including the warden's .

 Year after that, they rescheduled the intramural season to coincide with tax season .

 The guards on the opposing teams all remembered to bring their W-2s .

 So Moresby Prison issued you a gun, but you paid for it .

 Right .

 The holster too .

 That's tax-deductible .

 You can write that off .

 Yes, sir! Andy was a regular cottage industry .

 In fact, it got so busy at tax time, he was allowed a staff .

 Could you hand me a stack of 1040s? Got me out of the wood shop a month out of the year, and that was fine by me .

 And still, he kept sending those letters .

 It's Brooks .

 Watch the door .

 Please, Brooks .

 - Calm the fuck down .

 - Stay back! - Stay back, goddamn it! - What's going on? One second he's fine, then out come the knives .

 We can talk about this, right? There's nothing to talk about .

 I'll cut his fucking throat .

 What's he done to you? It's what they done! I got no choice .

 You won't hurt Heywood .

 We all know that .

 - Right, Heywood? - Sure .

 He's a friend of yours, and Brooks is a reasonable man .

 Right, guys? So put the knife down .

 Look at me .

 Put the knife down .

 Look at his neck, for God's sake .

 Look at his neck .

 He's bleeding .

 It's the only way they'd let me stay .

 This is crazy .

 You don't want to do this .

 Put it, put it down .

 Take it easy .

 You'll be all right .

 Him? What about me? Crazy old fool damn near cut my throat! You've had worse from shaving .

 What did you do to set him off? Nothing .

 I come in here to say farewell .

 Ain't you heard? His parole's come through .

 I just don't understand what happened in there .

 Old man's crazy as a rat in a tin shithouse .

 That's enough out of you .

 - Heard he had you shitting your pants .

 - Fuck you .

 Knock it off .

 Brooks ain't no bug .

 He's just institutionalized .

 "Institutionalized," my ass .

 The man's been in here 50 years, Heywood, 50 years! This is all he knows .

 In here, he's an important man an educated man .

 Outside, he's nothing .

 Just a used-up con with arthritis in both hands .

 Probably couldn't get a library card if he tried .

 You know what I'm trying to say? I do believe you're talking out of your ass .

 You believe whatever you want .

 But I tell you these walls are funny .

 First you hate them .

 Then you get used to them .

 Enough time passes you get so you depend on them .

 That's "institutionalized .

" Shit .

 - I could never get like that .

 - Oh, yeah? Wait till you've been here as long as Brooks .

 Goddamn right .

 They send you here for life that's exactly what they take .

 Part that counts, anyway .

 I can't take care of you no more, Jake .

 You go on now .

 You're free .

 You're free .

 Good luck, Brooksie .

 Dear fellas: I can't believe how fast things move on the outside .

 Watch it, old-timer! Want to get killed? I saw an automobile once when I was a kid but now they're everywhere .

 The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry .

 The parole board got me into this halfway house called "The Brewer" and a job bagging groceries at the Food-Way .

 It's hard work and I try to keep up but my hands hurt most of the time .

 Make sure your man double-bags .

 Last time, the bottom near came out .

 Make sure you double-bag like the lady says .

 Understand? Yes, sir .

 Surely will .

 I don't think the store manager likes me very much .

 Sometimes after work, I go to the park and feed the birds .

 I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello .

 But he never does .

 I hope, wherever he is, he's doing okay and making new friends .

 I have trouble sleeping at night .

 I have bad dreams like I'm falling .

 I wake up scared .

 Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am .

 Maybe I should get a gun and rob the Food-Way so they'd send me home .

 I could shoot the manager while I was at it .

 Sort of like a bonus .

 I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense anymore .

 I don't like it here .

 I'm tired of being afraid all the time .

 I've decided not to stay .

 I doubt they'll kick up any fuss not for an old crook like me .

 "I doubt they'll kick up any fuss, not for an old crook like me .

 P .

S .

 Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat .

 No hard feelings .

 Brooks .

" He should have died in here .

 What the fuck have you done? It's a goddamn mess, I'll tell you that .

 - What's all this? - You tell me .

 They're addressed to you .

 Take it .

 "Dear Mr .

 Dufresne: In response to your inquiries the state has allocated the enclosed funds for your library project .

" This is $200 .

 "In addition, the library district has generously responded with a donation of used books and sundries .

 We trust this will fill your needs .

 We now consider the matter closed .

 Please stop sending us letters .

" Clear all this out before the warden gets back .

 Yes, sir .

 Good for you, Andy .

 Wow! It only took six years .

 From now on, I'll write two letters a week instead of one .

 I believe you're crazy enough .

 Get this stuff out like he said .

 I've got to pinch a loaf .

 When I come back this is all gone, all right? Do you hear that? Dufresne! Andy, let me out! I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about .

 Truth is, I don't want to know .

 Some things are best left unsaid .

 I like to think it was something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words and makes your heart ache because of it .

 I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream .

 It was like a beautiful bird flapped into our drab cage and made those walls dissolve away .

 And for the briefest of moments every last man at Shawshank felt free .

 It pissed the warden off something awful .

 Open the door .

 Open it up! Dufresne, open this door! Turn that off! I am warning you .

 Turn that off! You're mine now .

 Andy got two weeks in the hole for that little stunt .

 On your feet .

 - Hey, look who's here .

 - Maestro! You couldn't play something good, huh? Like Hank Williams? They broke the door down before I could take requests .

 - Was it worth two weeks? - Easiest time I ever did .

 - No such thing as easy time in the hole .

 - A week in the hole is like a year .

 - Damn straight .

 - I had Mr .

 Mozart to keep me company .

 So they let you tote that record player down there, huh? It was in here .

 In here .

 That's the beauty of music .

 They can't get that from you .

 Haven't you ever felt that way about music? Well, I played a mean harmonica as a younger man .

 Lost interest in it, though .

 Didn't make much sense in here .

 Here's where it makes the most sense .

 You need it so you don't forget .

 Forget? Forget that there are places in the world that aren't made out of stone .

 There's something inside that they can't get to that they can't touch .

 That's yours .

 What are you talking about? Hope .

 Hope .

 Let me tell you something, my friend .

 Hope is a dangerous thing .

 Hope can drive a man insane .

 It's got no use on the inside .

 You'd better get used to that idea .

 Like Brooks did? Sit down .

 Says here that you've served You feel you've been rehabilitated? Oh, yes, sir .

 Without a doubt .

 I can honestly say I'm a changed man .

 No danger to society here .

 God's honest truth .

 Absolutely rehabilitated .

 Thirty years .

 Jesus, when you say it like that .

 .

 .

 You wonder where it went .

 I wonder where 10 years went .

 Here .

 A little parole rejection present .

 Go ahead and open it .

 Went through one of your competitors .

 I hope you don't mind .

 I wanted it to be a surprise .

 It's very pretty .

 Thank you .

 You going to play it? No .

 Not right now .

 Roll in! Lights out! Andy was as good as his word .

 He wrote two letters a week instead of one .

 In 1959, the state senate finally clued in to the fact they couldn't buy him off with just a $200 check .

 Appropriations Committee voted an annual payment of $500 just to shut him up .

 And you'd be amazed how far Andy could stretch it .

 He made deals with book clubs, charity groups .

 He bought remaindered books by the pound .

 .

 .

 Treasure Island .

 Robert Louis- Stevenson .

 Fiction, adventure .

 What's next? I got here Auto Repair and Soap Carving .

 Trade skills and hobbies .

 Under "Educational," behind you .

 Count of Monte Crisco .

 That's "Cristo," you dumb shit .

 By Alexandree Dum-ass .

 Dumb ass .

 Dumb ass? Dumas .

 Know what that's about? You'd like it .

 It's about a prison break .

 We ought to file that under "Educational" too, oughtn't we? The rest of us did our best to pitch in when and where we could .

 By the year Kennedy was shot Andy had transformed a storage room smelling of turpentine into the best prison library in New England complete with a fine selection of Hank Williams .

 That was also when Warden Norton instituted his famous "Inside Out" program .

 You may remember reading about it .

 It made the papers and got his picture in Look magazine .

 It's no free ride .

 .

 .

  .

 .

 but rather a genuine progressive advance in corrections and rehabilitation .

 Our inmates, properly supervised will be put to work outside these walls performing all manner of public service .

 These men can learn the value of an honest day's labor and provide a service to the community at a bare minimum of expense to Mr .

 and Mrs .

 John Q .

 Taxpayer .

 Of course he didn't tell the press that "bare minimum of expense" is a fairly loose term .

 There are 100 different ways to skim off the top .

 Men, materials, you name it .

 And oh, my Lord, how the money rolled in! At this rate, you'll put me out of business .

 With this pool of slave labor, you can underbid any contractor in town .

 We're providing a valuable community service .

 That's fine for the papers, but I've got a family to feed .

 We go back a long way .

 I need this highway contract .

 I don't get it and I go under .

 That's a fact .

 You have some of this fine pie my missus made for you .

 You think about that .

 I wouldn't worry too much about this contract .

 I already got my boys committed elsewhere .

 You be sure and thank Maisie for this fine pie .

 And behind every shady deal behind every dollar earned there was Andy, keeping the books .

 Two deposits .

 Maine National and New England First .

 Night drops as always, sir .

 Get my stuff to the laundry .

 Two suits for dry-clean and a bag of whatnot .

 If they over-starch my shirts again, they'll hear from me .

 How do I look? - Very nice .

 - Big charity to-do up Portland way .

 Governor will be there .

 You want the rest of this? Woman can't bake worth shit .

 Thank you, sir .

 He's got his fingers in a lot of pies, from what I hear .

 He's got scams you haven't even dreamed of .

 Kickbacks on his kickbacks .

 A river of dirty money running through here .

 Sooner or later, he'll have to explain where it came from .

 That's where I come in .

 I channel it .

 Filter it .

 Funnel it .

 Stocks, securities, tax-free municipals .

 I send it out into the real world, and when it comes back .

 .

 .

 - Clean as a virgin's honeypot, huh? - Cleaner .

 By the time Norton retires, I'll have made him a millionaire .

 If they ever catch on, he'll wind up in here wearing a number himself .

 I thought you had more faith in me than that .

 I know you're good, but all that paper leaves a trail .

 Now anybody gets curious, FBI, IRS whatever .

 It'll lead to somebody .

 Sure it is, but not to me, and certainly not to the warden .

 All right, who? Randall Stevens .

 Who? The "silent" silent partner .

 He's the guilty one, the man with the bank accounts .

 It's where the filtering process starts .

 They trace anything, it'll just lead to him .

 But who is he? He's a phantom, an apparition .

 Second cousin to Harvey the Rabbit .

 I conjured him out of thin air .

 He doesn't exist, except on paper .

 You can't just make a person up .

 Sure you can, if you know how the system works .

 It's amazing what you can accomplish by mail .

 Mr .

 Stevens has a birth certificate driver's license, Social Security .

 You're shitting me .

 If they trace any accounts, they'll wind up chasing a figment of my imagination .

 Well, I'll be damned! Did I say you were good? Shit, you are Rembrandt .

 The funny thing is on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow .

 I had to come to prison to be a crook .

 Ever bother you? I don't run the scams .

 I just process the profits .

 A fine line, maybe but I also built that library and used it to help guys get their high school diploma .

 Why do you think he lets me do all that? Keep you happy and doing the laundry .

 Money instead of sheets .

 Well, I work cheap .

 That's the tradeoff .

 Tommy Williams came to Shawshank in 1965 on a two-year stretch for B and E .

 That's breaking and entering to you .

 Cops caught him sneaking TV sets out the back door of a JC Penney .

 Young punk .

 Mr .

 Rock 'n' Roll cocky as hell .

 Come on, old boys .

 Moving like molasses! Making me look bad .

 We liked him immediately .

 I'm backing out the door and I got the TV like this .

 A big old thing .

 I couldn't see shit .

 Then I hear this voice .

 "Freeze, kid, hands in the air .

" I was standing there, holding onto that TV .

 Finally the voice says: "You hear what I said, boy?" I say, "Yes, sir .

 I did .

 But if I drop this, you get me on destruction of property too .

" You done some stretch in Cashman, right? Yeah, that was an easy piece of time, let me tell you .

 Weekend furloughs .

 Work programs .

 Not like here .

 Sounds like you done time all over .

 I've been in and out since I was 13 .

 Name it, chances are I've been there .

 Perhaps you should try a new profession .

 What I mean is you're not a very good thief .

 You should try something else .

 Yeah, what the hell you know about it, Capone? What are you in for? Me? A lawyer fucked me .

 Everybody's innocent in here .

 Don't you know that? As it turned out, Tommy had himself a young wife and a new baby girl .

 Maybe he thought of them on the streets or his child growing up not knowing her daddy .

 Whatever it was something lit a fire under that boy's ass .

 Thought I might try for my high school equivalency .

 Hear you helped a couple of fellas with that .

 I don't waste time with losers, Tommy .

 I ain't no goddamn loser .

 - You mean that? - Yeah .

 You really mean that? Yes, sir, I do .

 Good .

 Because if we do this we do it all the way, a hundred percent, nothing half-assed .

 Thing is, see I don't read so good .

 "Well .

" You don't read so well .

 We'll get to that .

 So Andy took Tommy under his wing .

 Started walking him through his ABC's .

 Tommy took to it pretty well too .

 Boy found brains he never knew he had .

 Before long, Andy started him on his course requirements .

 He really liked the kid .

 Gave him a thrill to help a youngster crawl off the shit heap .

 But that wasn't the only reason .

 Prison time is slow time .

 So you do what you can to keep going .

 Some fellas collect stamps .

 Others build matchstick houses .

 Andy built a library .

 Now he needed a new project .

 Tommy was it .

 It was the same reason he spent years shaping and polishing those rocks .

 The same reason he hung his fantasy girlies on the wall .

 In prison a man will do most anything to keep his mind occupied .

 By 1966, right about the time Tommy was getting ready to take his exams it was lovely Raquel .

 Time .

 Well? Well, it's for shit .

 I wasted a whole year of my time with this bullshit .

 It's probably not that bad .

 I didn't get a thing right .

 It might as well have been in Chinese .

 Let's see how the score comes out .

 I'll tell you how the goddamn score comes out .

 Two points, right there! There's your goddamn score! Goddamn cats crawling up trees, Fuck this place! Fuck it! I feel bad .

 I let him down .

 That's crap, kid .

 He's proud of you .

 We're old friends, I know him as good as anybody .

 Smart fellow, ain't he? Smart as they come .

 He was a banker on the outside .

 What's he in here for anyway? Murder .

 The hell, you say .

 You wouldn't think it to look at the guy .

 Caught his wife in bed with some golf pro .

 Greased them both .

 What? About four years ago I was in Thomaston on a two-to-three stretch .

 I stole a car .

 It was a dumb-fuck thing to do .

 About six months left to go I get a new cellmate in .

 Elmo Blatch .

 Big, twitchy fucker .

 Kind of roomie you pray you don't get .

 You know what I'm saying? Six-to-twelve, armed burglary .

 Said he pulled hundreds of jobs .

 Hard to believe, high-strung as he was .

 You cut a loud fart, he jumped three feet .

 Talked all the time too .

 That's the other thing .

 He never shut up .

 Places he'd been in jobs he'd pulled, women he fucked .

 Even people he killed .

 People who "gave him shit .

" That's how he put it .

 So one night, like a joke I say to him, "Elmo, who did you kill?" So he says: I got me this job one time, busing tables at a country club so I could case all these big rich pricks that come in .

 So I pick out this guy go in one night and do his place .

 He wakes up and gives me shit .

 So I killed him .

 Him and this tasty bitch he was with .

 And that's the best part .

 She's fucking this prick, see this golf pro, but she's married to some other guy .

 Some hotshot banker .

 And he's the one they pinned it on .

 I have to say that's the most amazing story I ever heard .

 What amazes me most is you'd be taken in by it .

 Sir? It's obvious this fellow Williams is impressed with you .

 He hears your tale of woe and naturally wants to cheer you up .

 He's young, not terribly bright .

 It's not surprising he wouldn't know what a state he put you in .

 Sir, he's telling the truth .

 Let's say for the moment this Blatch does exist .

 You think he'd just fall to his knees and cry, "Yes, I did it .

 I confess .

 By the way, add a life term to my sentence .

" With Tommy's testimony, I can get a new trial .

 That's assuming Blatch is still there .

 Chances are, he'd be released by now .

 They'd have his last known address .

 It's a chance, isn't it? How can you be so obtuse? What? What did you call me? Obtuse .

 Is it deliberate? You're forgetting yourself .

 The country club will have his old timecards .

 Records, W-2s with his name on them .

 If you want to indulge this fantasy, it's your business .

 Don't make it mine .

 This meeting is over .

 If I got out, I'd never mention what happens here .

 I'd be as indictable as you for laundering that money .

 Don't ever mention money to me, you son of a bitch! Not in this office not anywhere .

 Get in here, now! I just wanted to put you at ease, that's all .

 Solitary .

 A month .

 What's wrong with you? Get him out of here .

 This is my chance to get out! It's my life! Understand?! Get him out! A month in the hole .

 That's the longest stretch I ever heard of .

 It's all my fault .

 Bullshit .

 You didn't pull the trigger or convict him .

 Are you saying Andy is innocent? I mean, for real innocent? It looks that way .

 Sweet Jesus .

 How long has he been here now? Nineteen years .

 - Williams, Thomas .

 - Yeah, over here .

 What you got? Board of Education .

 That son of a bitch mailed it .

 You going to open it or stand there with your thumb up your butt? Thumb up my butt sounds better .

 Skeets, come on .

 Give me that, you shithead .

 Floyd, come on .

 Will you throw that away, please? Well, shit .

 The kid passed .

 C + average .

 Thought you'd like to know .

 Warden wants to talk .

 Out here? That's what the man said .

 Warden? I'm asking you to keep this conversation just between us .

 I feel awkward enough as it is .

 We got a situation here .

 I think you can appreciate that .

 Yes, sir .

 I sure can .

 I tell you, son, this thing really came along and knocked my wind out .

 It's got me up nights .

 That's the truth .

 The right thing to do sometimes it's hard to know what that is .

 Do you understand? I need your help, son .

 If I'm going to move on this there can't be the least little shred of doubt .

 I have to know if what you told Dufresne was the truth .

 Yes, sir .

 Absolutely .

 Would you be willing to swear before a judge and jury with your hand on the Good Book and take an oath before Almighty God himself? Just give me that chance .

 That's what I thought .

 I'm sure by now you've heard .

 Terrible thing .

 A man that young less than a year to go, trying to escape .

 Broke Captain Hadley's heart to shoot him .

 Truly, it did .

 We just have to put it behind us .

 Move on .

 I'm done .

 Everything stops .

 Get someone else to run your scams .

 Nothing stops .

 Nothing .

 Or you will do the hardest time there is .

 No more protection from the guards .

 I'll pull you out of that 1-bunk Hilton and cast you down with the sodomites .

 You'll think you've been fucked by a train .

 And the library? Gone .

 Sealed off, brick by brick .

 We'll have us a little book barbecue in the yard .

 They'll see the flames for miles .

 We'll dance around it like wild Injuns .

 You understand me? Catching my drift? Or am I being obtuse? Give him another month to think about it .

 My wife used to say I'm a hard man to know .

 Like a closed book .

 Complained about it all the time .

 She was beautiful .

 God, I loved her .

 I didn't know how to show it, that's all .

 I killed her, Red .

 I didn't pull the trigger but I drove her away .

 That's why she died, because of me the way I am .

 That don't make you a murderer .

 Bad husband, maybe .

 Feel bad about it if you want, but you didn't pull the trigger .

 No, I didn't .

 Somebody else did .

 And I wound up in here .

 Bad luck, I guess .

 It floats around .

 It's got to land on somebody .

 It was my turn, that's all .

 I was in the path of the tornado .

 I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has .

 Think you'll ever get out of here? Me? Yeah .

 One day, when I got a long, white beard and two or three marbles rolling around upstairs .

 I tell you where I'd go .

 Zihuatanejo .

 Say what? Zihuatanejo .

 It's in Mexico .

 A little place on the Pacific Ocean .

 You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory .

 That's where I want to live the rest of my life .

 A warm place with no memory .

 Open up a little hotel right on the beach .

 Buy some worthless old boat and fix it up new .

 Take my guests out charter fishing .

 Zihuatanejo .

 In a place like that, I could use a man that knows how to get things .

 I don't think I could make it on the outside .

 I been in here most of my life .

 I'm an institutional man now .

 Just like Brooks was .

 You underestimate yourself .

 I don't think so .

 In here I'm the guy who can get things for you, sure, but outside all you need is the Yellow Pages .

 Hell, I wouldn't know where to begin .

 Pacific Ocean? Shit .

 Scare me to death, something that big .

 Not me .

 I didn't shoot my wife, and I didn't shoot her lover .

 Whatever mistakes I made, I've paid for them and then some .

 That hotel, that boat .

 .

 .

 I don't think that's too much to ask .

 You shouldn't be doing this to yourself .

 This is just shitty pipe dreams .

 Mexico is way down there and you're in here and that's the way it is .

 Yeah, right .

 That's the way it is .

 It's down there and I'm in here .

 I guess it comes down to a simple choice .

 Get busy living or get busy dying .

 If you ever get out of here, do me a favor .

 Sure, Andy .

 Anything .

 There's a big hayfield up near Buxton .

 You know where Buxton is? - A lot of hayfields up there .

 - One in particular .

 It's got a long rock wall with a big oak tree at the north end .

 It's like something out of a Robert Frost poem .

 It's where I asked my wife to marry me .

 We went there for a picnic and made love under that oak and I asked and she said yes .

 Promise me, Red .

 If you ever get out find that spot .

 At the base of that wall, there's a rock that has no earthly business in Maine .

 Piece of black, volcanic glass .

 Something's buried under it I want you to have .

 What, Andy? What's buried under there? You'll have to pry it up to see .

 No, I'm telling you .

 The guy is .

 .

 .

 He's talking funny .

 I'm really worried about him .

 Let's keep an eye on him .

 That's fine during the day, but at night he's all alone .

 Oh, Lord .

 What? Andy come down to the loading dock today .

 He asked me for a length of rope .

 Rope? Six feet long .

 And you gave it to him .

 Sure .

 Why wouldn't I? Jesus! Heywood .

 How was I supposed to know? Remember Brooks Hatlen? Andy would never do that .

 Never .

 I don't know .

 Every man has his breaking point .

 Lickety-split .

 Want to get home .

 Just about finished, sir .

 Three deposits tonight .

 Get my stuff down to the laundry .

 And shine my shoes .

 - I want them looking like mirrors .

 - Yes, sir .

 It's good having you back .

 Place wasn't the same without you .

 Lights out! I've had some long nights in stir .

 Alone in the dark with nothing but your thoughts time can draw out like a blade .

 That was the longest night of my life .

 Give me a count! Tier 3 south, clear! Man missing on tier 2, cell 245! Dufresne! Come out .

 You're holding up the show! Don't make me come down or I'll thump your skull for you! Damn it, you're putting me behind! I got a schedule to keep .

 You'd better be sick or dead in there .

 I shit you not! You hear me? Oh, my Holy God .

 I want every man on this cellblock questioned .

 - Start with that friend of his .

 - Who? Open 237 .

 What do you mean, "He just wasn't here"? Don't say that to me .

 Don't tell me that again .

 But sir, he wasn't .

 I can see that, Haig! Think I'm blind? Is that what you're saying? - Am I blind, Haig? - No, sir! What about you .

 You blind? - Tell me what this is .

 - Last night's count .

 You see Dufresne's name there? I sure do .

 Right there .

 "Dufresne .

" He was in his cell at lights out .

 Reasonable he'd be here in the morning .

 I want him found .

 Not tomorrow, not after breakfast .

 Now! Yes, sir .

 Let's go .

 Move your butts .

 Stand .

 Well? Well, what? I see you two all the time .

 You're thick as thieves, you are .

 He must have said something .

 No, sir, Warden .

 Not a word .

 Lord, it's a miracle! Man vanished like a fart in the wind .

 Nothing left but some damn rocks on a windowsill .

 And that cupcake on the wall .

 Let's ask her .

 Maybe she knows .

 What say there, fuzzy-britches? Feel like talking? Guess not .

 Why should she be any different? This is a conspiracy .

 That's what this is .

 One big, damn conspiracy! And everyone's in on it! Including her! In 1966 Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank Prison .

 All they found was a muddy set of prison clothes a bar of soap and an old rock hammer damn near worn down to the nub .

 I had thought it'd take a man 600 years to tunnel through the wall with it .

 Old Andy did it in less than 20 .

 Oh, Andy loved geology .

 I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature .

 An ice age here million years of mountain building there .

 Geology is the study of pressure and time .

 That's all it takes, really .

 Pressure and time .

 That and a big goddamn poster .

 Like I said in prison, a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied .

 Seems Andy's favorite hobby was toting his wall out into the exercise yard a handful at a time .

 I guess after Tommy was killed Andy decided he'd been here long enough .

 Lickety-split .

 I want to get home .

 I'm just about finished, sir .

 Three deposits tonight .

 Andy did like he was told .

 Buffed those shoes to a high mirror-shine .

 The guards simply didn't notice .

 Neither did I .

 I mean, seriously how often do you really look at a man's shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through 500 yards of shit-smelling foulness I can't even imagine .

 Or maybe I just don't want to .

 Five hundred yards .

 That's the length of five football fields .

 Just shy of half a mile .

 The next morning, right about the time Raquel was spilling her secret a man nobody ever laid eyes on before strolled into the Maine National Bank .

 Until that moment, he didn't exist .

 - Except on paper .

 - May I help you? He had all the proper ID driver's license, birth certificate, Social Security card .

 .

 .

 And the signature was a spot-on match .

 I must say I'm sorry to be losing your business .

 I hope you'll enjoy living abroad .

 Thank you .

 I'm sure I will .

 Here's your cashier's check, sir .

 Will there be anything else? Please .

 Would you add this to your outgoing mail? I'd be happy to .

 Good day, sir .

 Mr .

 Stevens visited nearly a dozen banks in the Portland area that morning .

 All told, he blew town with better than $370,000 of Warden Norton's money .

 Severance pay for 19 years .

 Good morning, Portland Daily Bugle .

 Byron Hadley? You have the right to remain silent .

 If you give up this right, anything you say can be held against you in court .

 I wasn't there to see, but I hear Byron Hadley sobbed like a girl when they took him away .

 Norton had no intention of going that quietly .

 Samuel Norton .

 We have a warrant for your arrest .

 Open up .

 Open the door .

 I'm not sure which key .

 Make it easy on yourself, Norton! I like to think the last thing that went through his head other than that bullet was to wonder how the hell Andy Dufresne ever got the best of him .

 Not long after the warden deprived us of his company I got a postcard in the mail .

 It was blank, but the postmark said Fort Hancock, Texas .

 Fort Hancock right on the border .

 That's where Andy crossed .

 When I picture him heading south in his own car with the top down it always makes me laugh .

 Andy Dufresne who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side .

 Andy Dufresne headed for the Pacific .

 Hadley's got him by the throat, right? He says, "I believe this boy's about to have himself an accident .

" Those of us who knew him best talk about him often .

 I swear, the stuff he pulled .

 .

 .

 "My friends could use a couple of beers .

" And he got it! Sometimes it makes me sad, though Andy being gone .

 I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged .

 Their feathers are just too bright .

 And when they fly away the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice .

 But still the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone .

 I guess I just miss my friend .

 Please sit down .

 Ellis Boyd Redding your files say you've served You feel you've been rehabilitated? Rehabilitated? Well, now, let me see .

 I don't have any idea what that means .

 It means you're ready to rejoin society- I know what you think it means, sonny .

 To me it's just a made-up word .

 A politician's word so that young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie and have a job .

 What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did? Well, are you? There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret .

 Not because I'm in here or because you think I should .

 I look back on the way I was then a young stupid kid who committed that terrible crime .

 I want to talk to him .

 I want to try and talk some sense to him .

 Tell him the way things are .

 But I can't .

 That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left .

 I got to live with that .

 Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word .

 So you go on and stamp your forms, sonny, and stop wasting my time .

 Because to tell you the truth I don't give a shit .

 Here you go, miss .

 Restroom break? You don't need to ask me every time you need to go take a piss .

 Just go .

 Forty years I've been asking permission to piss .

 I can't squeeze a drop without say-so .

 There's a harsh truth to face .

 No way I'm going to make it on the outside .

 All I do anymore is think of ways to break my parole so maybe they'd send me back .

 Terrible thing, to live in fear .

 Brooks Hatlen knew it .

 Knew it all too well .

 All I want is to be back where things make sense .

 Where I won't have to be afraid all the time .

 Only one thing stops me .

 A promise I made to Andy .

 There it i