1. Take note of the visual imagery in the film. How does the Director convey the bleakness of prison life? When, how and to what is this imagery contrasted?

Red finally goes and wins his parole after a long 40 years in prison. He then goes and finds money that Andy had left for him under a rock in a field and sets off to the sunny coast of Mexico, where he finds his old friend, Andy, starting a business for boat-renting.

2. What is the significance of Andy asking the prisoner’s name – the ‘New Fish” beaten by the guards?

Though other prisoners consider Andy “a really cold fish,” Red sees something in Andy, and likes him from the start. Red believes Andy intends to use the hammer to engineer his escape in the future but when the tool arrives and he sees how small it is, Red puts aside the thought that Andy could ever use it to dig his way out of prison.