An inmate at Shawshank State Prison from to , Brooks had been imprisoned for most of his life for a crime that is not revealed in the film, although it can be gleaned that the charges involve a serious crime. After being paroled, Brooks steps out into the world-at-large, which appears alien to him after years of institutionalized imprisonment, and he is astonished at the pace at which the world has evolved since his absence. Per the letter received by the inmates at Shawshank, Brooks faced surmounting difficulty in adjusting to the outside world, which led to an existence mired in constant fear, making him long for the confines of Shawshank again.
This culminates in an utterly tragic end for Brooks, as he chooses to commit suicide by hanging a noose around his neck. As established prior, Red also underwent intense feelings of paranoia, mirroring the emotional circumstances that Brooks underwent prior to his suicide. Moreover, the thematic and visual parallels drawn between Red and Brooks is eerie, to say the least.
It is also plausible that Red feels that it is only through death, that one can achieve a Nietzschean form of guiltlessness, along with the amnesia offered in terms of the erasure of past sins. This is complemented with the comfort found in the company of his only friend in prison, Andy, who Red imagines reuniting with in the end - a common trope of friendship in almost all of Stephen King's non-horror works. Despite being driven to utter hopelessness, Red decides to follow up on his promise to Andy and says the following lines:.
Brooks Hatlen knew it. Knew it all too well. All I want is to be back where things make sense. Where I won't have to be afraid all the time. Over time they become even better and closer friends. After Bogs is beaten by Hadley and Andy is rescued, Red arranges for a Rita Hayworth poster to him as a gift, free of cost.
Red also helps him in small jobs when Andy does the accounting for prison guards. Red first describes the sense of freedom Andy gave him when they drank beer after tarring a roof in , a favor Hadley gives to Andy in return for his banking service. Red and Andy share the same fondness for chess and they play it often.
In , Brooks Hatlen is to be released from prison. When Brooks seems dismayed and sorrowful at his own parole, Red explains to Andy and other inmates that Brooks is 'institutionalized' which means Shawshank is Brook's home and only world now. Red says that with time, inmates depend on jail to survive and they have no life outside. Soon after, when Andy plays an opera song over the jail speaker, Red describes the same sense of freedom he feels due to Andy. Andy tells Red that he believes in the power of hope.
Red is a pessimist who dismisses hope and advises Andy to stop hoping for a better life. In , Red is eligible for parole after the first time he was denied. Red tries to convince the Parole Board that he is 'rehabilitated'.
However his application is rejected. Andy gifts Red a harmonica upon learning that he was a good player once. Red, who had given up playing it since it 'didn't make much sense in jail' starts playing it. In , with 'Inside Out' program being implemented, Andy tells Red a lot about the Warden's scams and how he is helping the Warden launder the money.
In , Red allows another inmate into their group, Tommy Williams. As Tommy is curious about Andy and why he is in prison, Red tells him he is in for murder. Andy learns of his wife's true killer from Tommy and when he confronts the Warden he is sentenced to the hole. After Tommy is murdered and Andy is released from the hole, Andy is regretful. Red tries to console him.
Andy asks Red if he thinks Red will ever get out of there. Red is pessimistic, saying that he is institutionalised and he will be released when he is old. Red also reflects how most of his life was wasted in prison. Andy then tells him of his dream to go to a Mexican island named Zihuatanejo. Andy describes his dream in detail to Red who is amazed at Andy's capacity to hope.
However Red tells Andy to stop dreaming so big. He also says that after spending 40 years in prison, he too is institutionalised. Andy then asks Red to visit Buxton, Maine and find an oak tree in a particular hay-field. Andy has buried a gift for Red in the hay-field.
After listening to this Red starts suspecting that Andy is about to commit suicide. He is convinced when Heywood tells them that Andy borrowed six feet of rope that day.
That evening Andy glances at Red as he goes back to his cell. Red spends the whole night worrying. That stormy night, Andy escapes from Shawshank Prison after being there for nearly 20 years. Red is brought in Andy's cell the next day where he sees that Andy has escaped. They then discover a tunnel behind the Rita Hayworth poster. Andy used the poster he got from Red to dig a tunnel using the rock hammer he purchased from Red. For 19 years Andy tunneled away. Red is profoundly impacted by Andy's escape.
He realizes that Andy made the best possible use of his time and skills and he also realizes that hope is the spirit that made Andy do this. Red is able to guess most of the escape plan. After the death of Norton and arrest of Byron Hadley , Red and his gang discuss Andy often but also miss him. Red then consoles himself by saying that Andy was like a free bird never meant to be caged. A few days later Red receives a blank postcard from Fort Hancock, Texas indicating that Andy crossed the border over it.
Red is very glad that Andy is no longer in jail. After 40 years of being in prison Red appears in front of the Parole Board for the third time in his life.
Unlike before when he only pretended that he was rehabilitated this time Red says that 'Rehabilitated' is a made up politicians word that means nothing.
It is only an excuse for politicians to place Parole Board members and pay them. Red confesses that his crime was terrible and he regrets doing it each day of his life not just because he is in jail or because he is expected to. He regrets it because he was a stupid foolish kid who had no sense.
Red says that he wishes to go back in time and stop the kid but he is now an old man and he has to live with that. Red then says that he doesn't care about Parole anymore. Red is paroled. As a parolee, Red finds it difficult to adapt to outside life. He works as a bag boy in Food Way and lives in the same house Brooks had. In the novel Red explains how he feels as a parolee, he says that it is the biggest change he ever adapted to.
The world outside is fast and much larger. King's novella reveals the truth about Red's past. The book character grew up without a father and then married a woman who came from a rich family. Knowing that his wife had a sizable life insurance policy in place, Red planned her murder by cutting the brakes on her vehicle.
In a dark twist, Red's wife had picked up her neighbor who brought along an infant. So, what The Shawshank Redemption doesn't reveal is that Red actually killed more people three than Andy two was accused of, though it turns out Andy didn't commit the crime. In the movie adaptation, Red becomes a less hardened individual over time. He theoretically lost all hope after serving multiple decades at Shawshank, especially after the suicide of his "institutionalized" friend Brooks Hatlen James Whitmore , but it's Andy who restores Red's humanity in The Shawshank Redemption.
It's that spirit of friendship - which runs through lots of Stephen King's non-horror stories - During a crucial moment, Andy returns from solitary confinement and explains that Mozart's music helped him pass the time, giving him hope. Andy later acquires a harmonica for his friend Red, who shows his appreciation for the symbolic gesture but acknowledges that he's not ready to play it meaning, he rejects the concept of hope, at least for now. Whereas Andy can't change the past and Brooks couldn't imagine a future outside Shawshank, Red is firmly rooted in the present.
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