Shawshank Redemption - storage.cloversites.com

1 Shawshank Redemption Based on the Movie Shawshank Redemption 1994, R, Runtime 142 min. Film Description : Andy Dufresne is sent to Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and her secret lover. He is very isolated and lonely at first, but realizes there is something deep inside your body that people can't touch or get 'HOPE'. Andy becomes friends with prison 'fixer' Red, and Andy epitomizes why it is crucial to have dreams. His spirit and determination lead us into a world full of imagination, one filled with courage and desire. Will Andy ever realize his dreams? Content Advisory: Rated R for language and prison violence Discussion Focus: Hope For info contact or 706-869-0888 Additional copies at at Quick Links Movie Nights Leader s Hints: The Film Description is for you, not to be read to the group because it will spoil the movie.

2 The Discussion Focus should be presented to the group prior to watching the movie so they can know some of what to focus on. Allow the group immediately after the film to give their own casual assessment ( that was great or I didn't think it would end that way ). When the personal assessments have died out begin with the discussion questions. The biggest mistake most discussion leaders make is that they do not allow enough silence. Give people time to think it through. Give encouraging words after someone shares but avoid comments that designate their statements as right or wrong . Encourage multiple answers to the same questions. Statements like, That is really insightful, what does someone else think? encourage others to expand on the answer. Be sure to read through the questions ahead of time and when personal examples are asked for think of one for yourself in case no one responds.

3 When you are willing to share it really encourages others to open up. Be very careful to avoid sending the message to the group that you hold all the answers. The benefit of group discussion comes from the individual struggle to find truth for themselves not in the group landing on consensus. In other words, you may end up agreeing to disagree and that is fine. Keep the environment open and non-judgmental, we all come to truth in faith at our own speed. Allow some struggles to remain in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Please always end in a prayer. 1. After Andy endures two weeks of solitary confinement for locking himself in the warden s office and playing Mozart over the prison loudspeakers. Andy explains to Red that music fuels hope: You need it so we don t forget .. that there are places in the world that aren t made out of stone, that there s something inside that they can t get to, that they can t touch it s yours.

4 Red rejects this emphatically, saying, 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. Even when Andy gives Red a harmonica, Red can t bring himself to play it, because he fears hope. Why does Red fear hope? 2. Read 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. How are love and hope related? ? How does perfect love drive out fear? How does perfect love invite hope? Can you have hope in your life without love? Can you have love without hope? 3. Later in the movie Red says: 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'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it.

5 I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free. What happened to Red that caused this change in how he felt about hope? 4. When Brooks is released on parole, the best he can do is hope that Jake, the bird he rescued in prison, is doing okay and making new friends. His letter reveals what burdens his heart: I don t like it here. I m tired of being afraid all the time. If freedom from physical bondage didn t bring Brooks hope, how are freedom and hope related? 5. Read Romans 5: 2b-5 And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

6 And hope does not put us to shame, because God s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Does suffering lead to hope for all people? Why does it lead to perseverance, character and hope for some but not all? 6. Romans 5:13 states May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. How does your relationship with Christ fill you with all joy and peace ? 7. The most famous quote from Shawshank is Get busy living, or get busy dying Would you call this the core message of the movie? Why or why not?