Raw and Shawshank Redemption’s Attitudes and Actions

There are many different attitudes and actions shown by the people in the text ‘Raw’ by Scott Monk and the film Shawshank Redemption that have had an impact on society and their image on institutions. The basic definition of an institution is an organisation which is founded for a religious, educational, social, imprisonment or similar purpose. The significance that these texts have on the image of institutions is so important through the elaborate actions and behavior of the characters and the roles in which they play in. The way in which Scott Monk in his book ‘Raw’ created his main character Brett was through many different attitudes that Brett has and his beliefs in the things around him. In the film Shawshank redemption the producers incapture a middle aged man who has been institutionalised for something which he didn’t do, where he goes through many experiences along the way.

Scott Monk, the author of the book ‘Raw’, uses 1st and 3rd person to give a better perspective and interpretation to the readers. Raw is the story of a teenager named Brett Dalton who has been sentenced to 3 months at The Farm which is run by an old man named Sam and his wife, for a breaking and entering charge. Brett learns a lot about himself during his time at the farm. While there he finds love and makes some new friends but at the same time makes some new enemies. When Brett first arrives at The Farm he reacts negatively and would often get into fights with the other people at The Farm, but as time progresses and through the different experiences that Brett has he slowly has a change in heart and he learns to like and to make friends. Brett wasn’t the brightest at his school although he was good at wood technology which he done at The Farm, after not being able to contribute in all of his other classes. As Brett progresses he becomes more aware of his surrounding and the other people at The Farm.

Another important role that is played in the book ‘Raw’ is the character Tyson who is a big teenager who gets into a lot of trouble. Tyson has been sentenced to the farm for committing many felonies in his life in side and outside of the farm. It is shown in many occasions through out the book that Tyson takes no regard for the rules or boundaries set on the farm. He continues to disobey Sam through the entire book, which eventually leads to him getting kicked out of the farm. As Brett was searching for money in order to call his mother from a pay phone he was approached from behind from a patron, this patron was Tyson who threw a punch and started a fight with Brett. The Quote, “Hey, Pretty Boy, remember me?” shows his inability to change his ways and the consistency in which he acts before and after.

This is evidence that Tyson continues to do the wrong things which shows that he is rebelling and as he continues on this path his perspective on life becomes negative. Through Brett’s different experiences and the setting at The Farm, as Scott Monk has described it in his book, the reader interprets this in their own way against an institution and how they are run and facilitated, and takes this as either a positive or a negative experience. Also through the different techniques and the use of power of language Scott Monk is able to give the reader a clear image of one type of institution. Through Tysons character the reader is able to insinuate that there are many different faces that can situate inside of an institution showing that this can be a good and a bad thing at the same time. In the text ‘Raw’ all of these factors contribute to the impact is has on the reader and how they image an institution as this might be the only time they have heard of or experienced through a narrative the different actions and attitudes that exist in an institution.

Shawshank Redemption is about a middle aged man named Andy Defresne who has found his wife dead sleeping with another man which in turn has caused the authorities to suspect him as the main suspect and soon enough was imprisoned under the charge of double homicide which was a sentence of two life times. When he firsts arrives at prison he is locked in a cell and placed on yard duty in which many of the other cell mates looked at him with weary suspicious eyes. As each day passed he grew to learn the roles of his cellmates and who to stay away from, one of these men was a man called Red who was the main person who supplied things. Andy met Red through a simple arrangement, for him to obtain a rock pick. This interested Red a lot and his interest in Andy grew as each day passed. Andy was a Banker in his old life and when he over heard a guard complaining about his tax Andy offered him a deal to help him with his tax in return for a couple beers with 5 of his inmates on top of the roof, the guard agreed. As they were on the roof 5 of his inmates enjoyed beers except for him, he didn’t react or want anything, all he wanted was to stare out into the blue sky and the trees that surrounded the imprisonment.

This has a great impact on the viewer as it shows his will is still strong and his thirst for freedom. As time progresses he becomes very popular and starts to do banking and help for all of the guards and even the Warden. At one point he starts to send letters to a library for them to send any unwanted books as a donation to the prison in order to start a library. Andy persists in this quest by sending a letter every week for an amazing year and a half. Because of Andy’s persistence the library sent a letter back with over 500 books. The viewer would see this as something amazing as for a library to give books to an inmate in a prison would be unheard of. Through being a banker for the prison he is able to receive many benefits for the prison and for him and his friends in the prison, such as instead of yard duty they would manage the prison library which had been supplied through Andy’s help. This shows the reader that the government or organisations might create the institutions but it’s the people inside that shape what it becomes.

Later on a new inmate arrives through being transferred and comes with a story about a psycho in his old prison and the thing that he did. It turns out this man was the person who framed Andy. Andy reacts to this with astonishment and slight joy as he saw this as a way to be free. One day Andy was talking to Red as if he wanted to kill himself and as if he’s lost all hope. Red later learned that Andy asked one of his friends for rope. Red was worried about this and found it to be the longest night of his life. This shows the different connections that people can experience and have in an institution. Through this the viewer can feel the different emotions that Red is experiencing through the different camera angles and expressions in his face. The next day in the morning during roll check everyone was required to stand outside their cells. When it came to Andy he wasn’t there, the warden repeated himself, but he still wasn’t there. When Red saw this he was immediately scared and worried. The viewer at this point realizes what has happened and is starting to worry themselves through the different experiences that have occurred in the prison they have got an idea and a feeling of how it is to be institutionalised.

Through the actions and attitudes of the Brett Dalton and Tyson in the text ‘Raw’ and Andy Defresne in the film Shawshank Redemption the impact this has had on the society and their image of an institution is a great one. Through the different techniques and language used in both texts, the author is able to incaptuate the key essence of being institutionalised and the different impacts and experience it can have on someone or something.