“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” (Jean-Jacque Rousseau, The Social Contract) Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World and Frank Darabont’s film The Shawshank Redemption have very different outlooks on the emphasis of freedom which overpowers their many situational similarities. Brave New World expresses their society as a world of chains meanwhile The Shawshank Redemption focuses on a world full of freedom. The novel and movie represent the contrast between mental and physical enslavement. The main differences between Brave New World and The Shawshank Redemption are humanities right for freedom, the power of hope and the different ways to escape a harsh reality. To begin, Brave New World and The Shawshank Redemption both show…show more content… Brave New World illustrates the strength of the mental enslavement that all of the members in the society face daily. When a newcomer in their dystopian society got overwhelmed by the insanity and lack of freedom, he decided to commit the horrible act of suicide where “just under the crown of the arch dangled [his] pair of feet.” (Huxley 259) The newcomer represented the amount of strength it would take to pull himself out of his cognitive dissonance, which he lacked. He had the capability to overcome it like Andy but he lacked the mindset to conquer the dystopian restraints. On the contrary, Andy faced physical enslavement but he had the ability to overcome the mental abuse that prison culture tried to force upon him. The inmates realize Andy’s ability to mentally escape the pressures of the prison society when his best friend Red stated that, “some birds are not meant to be caged.” (Darabont) Prison could not mentally enslave Andy despite his physical imprisonment. Andy found the strength to escape societies unfair pressure literally when he breaks out of the prison without being noticed. To conclude, Brave New World and The Shawshank Redemption illustrate different outlooks on humanities entitlement of freedom, the strength that developed from hope and the need to escape their harsh realities. The novel represents the dystopian society that refuses to acknowledge that humans have the right to be
