Self-Made Man: 'The Shawshank Redemption' (Film as Text)

This article suggests that The Shawshank Redemption has an overt concern with the construction of masculinity, particularly as it relates to the history and ideology of the United States. This study is extremely pertinent to the current climate, in which it seems we are all subject to a particular interpretation of what it means to be an American (man). The article is a sensitive revisiting of this film, which is set to become one of the all-time classics.