American Value Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Value - Essay Example These are sets of values that we believe we, as a society, should, and often do, live by. Interestingly enough, even our entertainment industry propagates and furthers those values. In the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, also there were certain â€Å"American values.† The movie is based on a Stephen King novella by the name of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. It revolves around the friendship of two inmates at the Shawshank State Penitentiary, Andy and Red. Andy is a banker convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, though he always maintains his innocence. Red is known to smuggle contraband in the penitentiary, and he gets Andy a rock hammer and a poster of Rita Hayworth. The jail warden uses Andy’s skills as a banker to launder money the former makes through kickbacks and selling prison labor cheaply. When a fellow inmate, Tommy, tells Andy that he knows of another penitentiary’s inmate who had confessed to killing Andy’s wife and her lover, Andy takes the information to the Warden. However, the Warden is scared that his fraud will be revealed in case of Andy’s release, therefore, he has Tommy killed. Later, Andy escapes and exposes the Warden as a result of which the Warden kills himself. Red, upon his parole, goes to Mexico, where Andy has escaped to, and reunites with his friend. The movie touches upon the concept of justice, a value we Americans hold highly.