Plot
The plot of the story and the plot of the movie are near identical. There are only a few differences and the rest is about the same. The movie is still narrated by Red but there is not too much dialog from a narrators standpoint. In the story Red was writing down what he recalled about the past about Andy and the situation in Shawshank, but in the movie Red's thoughts are actually happening rather than talked about. One slight difference between the story and the film is Norton is the warden throughout the film where in the story there are multiple wardens through the telling of the story. Another difference is in the movie Andy tells Red he made a fake person where he filters the money and when he escapes takes over that alias. In the story Andy's friend made that alias for him not himself. All and all the plot is almost identical minus Red getting side tracked and talking about other things when he is reminded of them.
Point of View
Since it is a movie, the story is acted out rather than told by Red. The point of view is more of a person looking into the life of a prisoner instead of Red describing it. It allowed the viewer to see the story unfold instead of being told about it. Even though Red is still the main character he does not exactly tell the story, it is actually happening throughout the film. We still see what is happening through the point of view of Red mostly. In the movie Red narrates his thoughts somewhat like he does in the story, but mainly the story is told through the actions of all the characters.
Characterization
The characters in the movie aren't described by Red as deeply as he describes them in the story, mainly because you can actually see the characters and he doesn't have to describe them. The movie also let the viewer get a visual representation of everything instead of just being told about it through the words of Red in the story. The only time Red characterizes anything is when he narrates about his feelings. The only thing he characterizes is how he feels about Andy and all his other pals in the joint. Most of the characterization is done through acting as opposed to told since it is a movie.
Setting
The setting is exactly the same, a prison named Shawshank. It gave a very good visual representation of a prison in the early 1900s would look like. It was nice to see the actual prison and get a better feel of it as opposed to it merely being described to the audience as it was in the story. The movie let the audience see the hardships of the prison and what the living conditions really were like. It let them see how crappy it was to be a prisoner in that time and how one would really want to get out. It helped the main theme of the story, hope.
Theme
The theme of hope is prevalent in the movie as much as it is in the story. Hope is shown in the acts of Andy Defresne as well as in Red. Andy is shown trying to make a difference in the lives of the prisoners and also in hoping to once be free of the life of a prisoner. Red is portrayed the same way. They are both always trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. They are both always searching for that hope, and at the end of the movie they both find that hope. As they did in the story, both Andy and Red make it to Mexico. This was their hope, it was the place that kept them going trough their imprisonment, and in end they reached their hope.
