40 pages 1 hour read

Stephen King

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1982

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Institutional Injustice and Corruption

In many of his works, such as Firestarter (1980), The Running Man (1982), The Long Walk (1979), and The Stand (1978), King explores the concept of corrupt authority. Often, a protagonist who is fundamentally good is treated unfairly and violently by a higher body, such as a toxic government or institution. In the process, they prove their mettle and resilience. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption falls into this tradition. Andy Dufresne is an innocent man, his trial an unjust spectacle. It is manipulated by a corrupt district attorney who cares more about political clout than justice. The system fails Andy. The media has determined that Andy is guilty; therefore, the DA needs to prove this rather than allow for the truth or risk compromising his own ambitions.

Warden Norton represents the worst of institutional corruption. Norton uses the prison as a personal money-making operation for himself. As Red says: “Norton was right in there on every operation, thirty-year church-pin and all; from cutting pulp to digging storm-drains to laying new culverts under state highways, there was Norton, skimming off the top” (51). Norton profits off the drugging of prisoners. He oversees an illicit drug-trade operation within the prison as prisoners are provided codeine pills, taking a cut from the distribution of pills.

Related Titles

By Stephen King

Plot Summary

logo

Bag of Bones

Stephen King

Bag of Bones

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Billy Summers

Stephen King

Billy Summers

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Children of the Corn

Stephen King

Children of the Corn

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Different Seasons

Stephen King

Different Seasons

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Doctor Sleep

Stephen King

Doctor Sleep

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Dolores Claiborne

Stephen King

Dolores Claiborne

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Elevation

Stephen King

Elevation: A Novel

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

End of Watch

Stephen King

End of Watch

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Fairy Tale

Stephen King

Fairy Tale

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Finders Keepers

Stephen King

Finders Keepers

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Firestarter

Stephen King

Firestarter

Stephen King

Plot Summary

logo

From a Buick 8

Stephen King

From a Buick 8

Stephen King

Plot Summary

logo

Full Dark, No Stars

Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Gerald's Game

Stephen King

Gerald's Game

Stephen King

Study Guide

logo

Gwendy's Button Box

Stephen King, Richard Chizmar

Gwendy's Button Box

Stephen King, Richard Chizmar