Text: Su Beiyuren

"The Shawshank Redemption" is a very classic movie, and it still ranks first on Douban's TOP250 movies.

There are quite a few articles based on it on the Internet, with views involving hope, faith, freedom, courage, friendship, strength, system, etc., the list goes on and on.

After reading it three times, I dared to write down these five insights on life, hoping to inspire and think for you.

The story begins in 1947. Andy, 30, is the vice president of the Bank of Portland. He is in his prime and has a bright future. But his wife cheated on him and had an extramarital affair with a golf instructor.

One night, his wife and her lover were killed at the same time, but all the evidence pointed to Andy, leaving him unable to defend himself.

Unable to prove his innocence, Andy was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Shawshank Prison to serve his sentence. What awaited him would be a long sentence and an extremely painful prison life.

When Andy was first imprisoned, he did not show too much pain, despair, unwillingness and other emotions. On the contrary, he faced everything in front of him calmly and calmly.

The "Fat Man" who was imprisoned with him had an emotional breakdown, cried all night, and was beaten to death by prison guard Haley.

In life, there are always some things that you can't do anything about. You can watch it happen but you can't do anything about it.

Such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, unemployment, bankruptcy, illness, etc. These natural and man-made disasters can destroy everything you own in an instant.

You don’t know which one will come first, the accident or tomorrow. One moment, you may have children around your knees and enjoy a family life, but the next moment, your wife and children may be separated, and your family may be ruined; today you may be rich and surrounded by people, but tomorrow you may have nothing and be alone...

< p> In the face of misfortune and disaster, no matter how reluctant and unwilling you are, no matter how angry and hateful you are, you cannot make up for it or change it.

Now that it has happened and since you are unable to change it, accept it calmly and face it calmly!

During a job of renovating a roof, Andy heard prison guard Haley complaining: his brother left him an inheritance of thirty-five thousand US dollars, but he had to pay a large inheritance tax. It made him very depressed.

Andy seized this fleeting opportunity, risked his life, and used his professional knowledge to reasonably avoid the inheritance tax for Hailey and also for everyone who worked together. The inmate was rewarded with three bottles of beer.

This is Andy's first demonstration of the power of knowledge. From then on, it was impossible to stop.

He paid taxes for all the prisons in Shawshank;

He helped the warden launder money and became his indispensable right-hand man;

He also used Taking the opportunity to work for the warden, he successfully transferred a large amount of wealth and arranged a new identity for himself, paving the way for him to enjoy a free life.

Andy began to be able to protect himself, and the gay "three sisters" who had bullied him for more than two years got their due comeuppance;

He became the new prison librarian;

He has been living alone in a cell for many years.

To obtain these, he did not rely on luck, but knowledge and wisdom.

With his own personal experience, Andy once again verified the simple saying: "Knowledge changes destiny."

There was a famous saying about learning in the 1980s: "Learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, and you will not be afraid of traveling all over the world."

This sentence seems a bit outdated now. But one thing is at least expressed very clearly:

In this society where compulsory education is fully popularized, each of us has the opportunity to acquire various knowledge and master some skills through learning.

Although we may not all become social elites like Andy, we can at least support ourselves and create our own happy life with our own hands and labor.

In Shawshank, Andy is lonely.

Even among the crowd, he always goes his own way and is unique; he seems so out of tune with everything here.

In the first two years after he was imprisoned, Andy was repeatedly harassed by the "three sisters", but he never gave in. He resisted with all his strength every time, and then quietly licked his wounds alone.

Because of his resistance, he was always scarred;

Because of his resistance, he was placed in solitary confinement many times.

He took advantage of the opportunity of being alone in a cell to dig walls and tunnels alone for nineteen years. This process could not and could not be mentioned to anyone.

In the film, Rhett said of Andy: "He is very quiet. He walks and talks differently from the people here. He is like walking in the park. He neither cares nor cares about the things in the world." Troubled, here, he is like wearing an invisible coat."

In fact, being withdrawn and unsociable is not that he is inherently cold, these are just the outward appearance of his inner independence and calmness. refraction.

He thinks calmly in solitude and secretly accumulates strength in solitude, just like a bird flapping its wings, always ready to fly into the sky.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" said: "Life has never existed independently without loneliness. No matter we are born, we grow, we fall in love, or we succeed or fail, until the end, loneliness exists like a shadow. A corner of life. ”

Loneliness is the normal state of life. It is a kind of spiritual freedom and independence. Even in the bustling crowd, loneliness still exists.

Each of us may feel it at a certain period of time: when our thoughts are not understood, when we have nothing to put in our hearts, when there is no one to talk to, when everyone is drunk and I am alone. When...

Then seize this rare moment, calm down, block out all interference from the outside world, examine and reflect on yourself carefully, analyze and judge the situation objectively, and think and make decisions about the future rationally.

From the moment Andy entered Shawshank Prison, he has always been calm and rational. This continued until Tommy showed up.

Tommy, a new prisoner, told Andy that when he was serving time in Thomaston Prison, there was an inmate named Ermo Blatch who claimed to have killed a golfer and his Mistress, and his mistress's husband, a big banker, became the scapegoat.

Andy went to Warden Norton with high hopes and wanted Norton to help reverse the case, but was rejected. This move made Andy lose his mind. He called Norton a fool and threatened to help him launder money. As a result, he was locked up in a small cell.

During this period, Norton colluded with prison guard Haley to fake the escape scene and shot Tommy dead, leaving Andy unjustly accused.

After two months of living in a cell and the threat from the warden, Andy finally had to choose to compromise.

On the surface, he continued to help the warden launder money, but secretly he was making various preparations for his own escape. Finally, when everything was ready, on a night of thunder and lightning, Andy successfully escaped from Shawshank Prison and completed his own redemption.

For the strong, we have always had this understanding: when facing difficulties in life, do not bow down or escape, and have the courage to fight against fate.

In fact, this is just a cognitive misunderstanding.

A truly strong person will never make any decision without considering the actual situation. When they encounter a situation that they cannot change, they will choose to bend rather than bend, rather than bend rather than bend.

Compromising to the impossible in life is not escape, but wisdom.

Temporary compromise is a kind of forced dormancy, just waiting for a spring thunder to break out of the ground and become a blockbuster.

At the end of the film, Red was paroled after serving 40 years in prison.

His 40 years of prison life have made him dependent on the prison he once hated, and he is completely out of touch with society. He has also been "institutionalized".

Just like back then, he moved into the house where Lao Bu once lived, and worked the same job as Lao Bu in the supermarket where Lao Bu once worked.

He also carved his name on the door frame where Lao Bu had carved words.

At that time, he deeply felt the collapse and despair that Lao Bu had experienced.

But there was one thing he had not done yet. He had promised Andy: Go to a pasture with long stone walls and big oak trees in Buxton, and look for a black volcanic glass stone under the corner. There was something Andy gave him underneath.

In order to fulfill this promise between friends, Red came to the grassland and found the letter and travel expenses Andy gave him. Following the clues left by Andy, he came to the beautiful Mexican town-Chicago. Huata?o has started a new life!

Just imagine, what would Red’s life be like if he didn’t keep his promise?

There are only two answers: either commit another crime and go to prison; or end his life like Lao Bu.

He chose to fulfill his promise, so he got a new life.

Balzac once said: "If you want to be a promising person, then treat promises as the second religion. Keeping promises is as important as defending honor."

The same is true for each of us. Since you have made a promise, you must actively fulfill it, no matter how high the price is.

Fulfilling a promise is also an opportunity for yourself.

No one’s life is smooth sailing.

Whether you are in good times and are triumphant, or in adversity and are surrounded by enemies, you can choose a quiet moment to savor this movie that is regarded as a classic.

As long as you can understand it, it will definitely give you guidance:

Accept what cannot be changed and change what can be changed; actively learn, surpass yourself, hide your capabilities and bide your time, and accumulate more knowledge. ;Think when you are alone and hibernate in loneliness; dare to fight against fate, but also be good at compromising with life; be true to your words and be resolute in your actions.

If you do these things, you will surely win a gorgeous life.