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I hope Andy is down there.
I hope I can make it across the border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.

Red’s words at the end of his narrative reinforce the central role hope plays in “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.” Finding Andy’s letter could not have come at a better time, because Red has reached an impasse within his first few tentative months of freedom after being paroled. Red’s difficult transition and struggle with finding his place in society place him at risk of violating the terms of his probation and intentionally returning to the familiar surroundings of Shawshank. Upon first entering prison, many inmates resent the loss of control of their lives, but they later miss that level of control once they’ve been released. The regulated, ordered lifestyle offers structure, routine, and discipline. Freedom and release, once so highly prized, become foreign and threatening. Women, for example, seem threatening to Red, and his job is unfulfilling. Andy’s request to join him in Mexico, however, gives Red the direction and purpose that he had lacked. Even though Red fears that the waters of the Pacific will not be as blue as he has imagined them to be and realizes that he may not even be able to find Andy, their friendship has once again infused him with a strength that he would not otherwise possess.

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