20 Things You Somehow Missed In The Shawshank Redemption
10. The Grass Is Always Greener
Like any movie worth analyzing in-depth, The Shawshank Redemption is overflowing with covert symbolism and subtext. From the hiding of the hammer within the pages of the Bible (“Salvation lies within,” as Andy is told) to the Phil make references to the great prison escape movies of the past (including 1963’s appropriately-titled The Great Escape), Darabont’s film is definitely one that rewards a careful eye.
One of the most symbolic shots in the entire film is also one that plays out incredibly subtly. Whenever Andy and Red are out in the prison yard, take a look at what the world looks like just beyond the prison walls its bleak exterior: Green grass.
Darabont relies on the age-old adage of the grass always being greener on the other side to foreshadow Andy’s own Shawshank redemption.