Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. Short summary

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A bank vice president, Andy Dufresne, is wrongly found guilty of murdering his wife and her lover. Andy is sent to Shawshank Prison for life, where corruption and violence are rampant.

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The narrative is told on behalf of an inmate named Red, serving a life sentence at Shawshank Prison. Red has considerable weight among the inmates and can get his hands on anything.

One day Red is approached by a newcomer named Andy Dufresne. Andy is jailed for the murder of his wife and lover, even though he has pleaded not guilty. Andy asks Red for a geological hammer. He fulfills the order, and gradually he and Andy become friends. Andy is terrorized by a gang of «sisters,» but he resists and eventually prevails over them.

One day, Dufresne helps a security guard get away with his taxes. Word of his financial savvy spreads throughout the prison. Other guards turn to him, and then Andy becomes an assistant to the warden himself. Dufresne tries to help the other inmates by knocking out books for the library.

One morning, after nearly twenty-seven years in prison, Andy Dufresne disappears from his cell. He punches a hole in the wall with a small hammer and escapes from prison through the sewers.