Shawshank Redemption Novella and Film Compare and Contrast

The 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption takes it inspiration from the Stephen King novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," the first of four stories collected in his 1982 book Different Seasons. While the film retains much of the novella's plot and structure, it nonetheless diverges in key areas, such as by adding, cutting, or conflating characters and scenes. The film makes these alterations for a number of reasons, and by examining the differences and similarities between the film and the novella one will be able to understand how casting decisions, time limitations, and an attention to visual drama unique to the film medium informed the major differences between the novella and the subsequent film adaptation.

Before examining the film and novella in greater detail, it will be useful to first address the critical reception of the novella, both as a means...
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