Evan Adams #10/13

"He said it was as if Tommy had produced a key which fit a cage in the back of his mind, a cage like his own cell. Only instead of holding a man, that cage held a tiger, and that tiger's name was Hope."

This quote is one of the most significant turning points in the story. A new inmate, Tommy, tells Andy about his cell mate. His cell mate is a high strung, insane man with irrational tendencies. One night, he tells Tommy that he killed a man and a woman, and that the woman's husband was serving time for it. This was obviously directly linked to Andy's case. Andy is shocked and awed. He knows that this is his chance to get out of Shawshank. I thought that the way the author wrote the scene where Andy finds out the killer is in prison was really interesting. The tiger cage analogy is direct and very easy to understand, but the meaning seemed much deeper to me.

Book: King, Stephen. "The Shawshank Redemption." Different Seasons. New York: Viking, 1982. Print. (Page 51)
Image: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/Violin/Violin0709/Violin070900022/1639695-face-of-tiger-in-cage-close-up.jpg