Villain: Warden Norton
We first see how evil Norton is when we witness Hadley beating a prisoner to death on Andy’s first night in prison. Hadley suffers no consequences for his actions so it is clear that Norton allows Hadley to do whatever he likes to keep the prisoners in line.
We see how corrupt Norton is when he sends the inmates out to work and makes huge profits from the men. He uses this money to bribe local officials and local contractors and the men get nothing in return. He uses Andy to launder the money and he is constantly breaking the law despite pretending to be a devout Christian.
His truly evil side is seen when Andy approaches him with new evidence that would exonerate him. He tells him the story that Tommy told him and that he could be freed if Tommy testified. Instead of agreeing to this, he sends Andy to ‘the hole’ for calling him ‘obtuse.’ While Andy is in ‘the hole,’ Norton arranges a meeting with Tommy outside. He asks Tommy if he would be willing to testify in court about Andy’s innocence and when he says that he would, he nods to a guard on the tower and Tommy is murdered in cold blood as Norton watches on. He has taken Tommy’s life so that Andy can remain in prison
He really is a villain because he hides his dirty deeds in a safe covered with a quote from the bible, which reads, ‘judgement cometh and that right soon.’ He pretends to be a religious man but he is a selfish and greedy person and when he is finally caught, he will not face his crimes, instead choosing to take his own life. For all of these reasons, I think that he is a villain.
Hero: Andy Dufresne
Andy Dufresne is the hero in the film, The Shawshank Redemption.
Our first impression of Andy in the film is that he is very quiet and wants to be by himself. He makes no attempt to make friends with anyone and we get the impression that he is a loner.
His first heroic deed is when the men are on the roof working and he overhears Hadley talking about an inheritance that he has to pay tax on and Andy quietly says, ‘do you trust your wife?’ Hadley grabs him and holds him over the roof threatening to drop him. He quickly explains that if he gives his wife the money he won’t have to pay any tax. He manages to get three beers for all his co-workers for doing Hadley’s paperwork and he doesn’t take any himself. He was just happy to help out the other men. I think that this was heroic.
The second heroic action from Andy is when he tries to improve the library for the men. He writes a letter every day for years looking for funds until the state finally give him what he wants. He then uses the library to help young men like Tommy to read, write and take state exams. He manages to help Tommy through the high school equivalency test, which will give him a chance of escaping the world of crime. Andy does all of this simply to help others, which shows that he is heroic.
Andy shows true heroism in the final stages of the film, when he escapes Shawshank through a hole that he has dug for over twenty years. Not only does he manage to escape but he has managed to take all of Warden Norton’s money with him. When we see him withdraw all the money from the bank, we think that Andy will head to Mexico and that life will continue for the inmates at the prison. However, Andy has other ideas, as he has kept a file of all the crimes that Norton has committed with all the evidence that the police need to arrest him. As Andy is making his way across the border to start a new life, Norton hears the sirens and realises that he cannot outrun his crimes. He takes a handgun from his desk and kills himself. Andy managed to bring down Norton, which is really heroic.