Snyder’s Concept of Hope in Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption: Psychoanalysis Study

This study attempts to analyze Andy’s hope in Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption. To conduct the analysis, the writer applies psychological approach namely psychoanalysis theory proposed by Sigmund Freud in his concepts of positive psychology, and hope theory by Charles R. Snyder from a literary perspective. The results of the study show some characters of Andy namely: (1) Stubborn, optimistic, and full of hopes, (2) Quiet, mysterious, cautious and full of secrets, (3) Intelligent, tactical, and full of strategies and (4) Cool, calm, patient and tough. The writer then finds that these characters of Andy are strongly represented the concept of hope proposed by Snyder. Another result that found is the fact that Andy’s idea of hope is able to affect other characters in the film and direct them to a better state in life. The first evidence is the beer that gives Andy fellow inmates hope because it helps them remember what it's like to be free, the second is the temporal state of freedom Andy gives to all Shawshank prisoners when he plays music record from the guard’s office, and the last one is the library that Andy builds for all prisoners so that they can use the books to study. Each one of those representations of Andy’s hope is different, but they all have similar effects on the characters in the story. Andy knows it, and he sends them out with a sense of the exact kind of effect they're going to have. Hope is what Andy is fueled by and is what gives him and the other characters willpower to survive and seek for freedom.
KeyWords: Hope, Psychoanalysis