''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'' is a novella by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

from his 1982 collection ''

Different Seasons ''Different Seasons'' (1982) is a collection of four Stephen King novellas with a more dramatic bent, rather than the horror fiction for which King is famous. The four novellas are tied together via subtleties that relate to each of the four se ...

'', subtitled ''Hope Springs Eternal''. The novella has also been published as a standalone short book. The story is entirely told by the character Red, in a narrative he claims to have been writing from September 1975 to January 1976, with an additional chapter added in spring 1977. It was adapted for the screen by

Frank Darabont Frank Árpád Darabont (born Ferenc Árpád Darabont, January 28, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career, he was primarily a s ...

in 1994 as ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...

'', which was nominated for seven

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

s in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, including

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

. In 2009, it was adapted for the stage as ''

''.

Plot

In 1947, in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, Andy Dufresne, a banker, is tried and convicted of the double murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. He is sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary to serve a double

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

. There, he meets Red, a prisoner who is known in the prison for his ability to smuggle in contraband items. Andy asks Red to get him a rock hammer, which he uses to shape rocks he collects from the exercise yard into small sculptures. He later requests a large poster of

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

, which he hangs on the wall above his bed. Over the years, Andy uses his financial knowledge to assist various prison staff. In October 1967, Andy tells Red about “Peter Stevens”, a pseudonym under which Andy had sold off his assets and invested the proceeds. Andy tells Red that one day "Peter Stevens" will own a small seaside resort hotel in

Zihuatanejo Zihuatanejo (), or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th century English mariners as Chequetan or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azue ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. On the morning of March 12, 1975, after 28 years in prison, Andy disappears from his locked cell. After a search, warden Samuel Norton discovers that the poster pasted to Andy’s cell wall covers a man-sized hole – Andy had used his rock hammer to slowly chip a tunnel through the wall. In September 1975, Red receives a blank postcard from

McNary, Texas McNary is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community (pop. ~250) at the intersection of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10 and State Highway 20 (Texas), State Highway 20. It is two miles from the Rio Grande and 23 miles west of Sierra Blan ...

, a "tiny town" near the Mexican border, and surmises that Andy crossed the border there. In March 1977, Red is

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

d. He finds a letter wrapped in plastic addressed to him from "Peter Stevens" inviting him to join Andy in Mexico and $1,000 in cash. The story ends with Red preparing to break his parole and follow Andy to

Adaptation

The novella has been adapted into a film, ''

'', starring

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film ''The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his role ...

as Andy, and Morgan Freeman as Red, and a play of the same name. The film version is considered one of the most celebrated movies of all time, being nominated for seven Oscars at the 67th Academy Awards in 1995, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Freeman. Morgan Freeman stated in an interview that this novella is his favorite book.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption Short stories by Stephen King American short stories 1982 American novels Novels set in prison Wrongful convictions in fiction Fiction set in 1948 Fiction set in 1951 Fiction set in 1963 Fiction set in 1975 Fiction set in 1977 Novels set in Maine

Plot

Adaptation

See also

References

External links