The timeline of The Shawshank Redemption spans decades inside the walls of the infamous prison. Director Frank Darabont masterfully adapted Stephen King's novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and go on to direct two more of King's stories (The Green Mile in 1999, and The Mist in 2007). While it’s become an undisputed classic, The Shawshank Redemption's reputation actually grew over time. The Shawshank Redemption flopped at the box office in 1994, and while nominated for 7 Oscar nominations, it didn't win any. The movie though eventually found its audience via word of mouth through VHS and television broadcasts.
The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) after he receives two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover, despite protesting his innocence. Over the years he befriends fellow Shawshank inmate Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) and becomes embroiled in a money-laundering scheme, all while holding onto hope of escape. Red acts as narrator throughout The Shawshank Redemption's timeline, keeping the audience informed as the years pass behind bars.
The Shawshank Redemption timeline begins in 1947 with the arrival of Andy Dufresne to Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine. The murder of his wife and her lover takes place earlier that year. For the first two years, Andy's targeted and abused by a gang of inmates known as The Sisters and their leader, Bogs. In 1949 Andy starts to help the warden and prison guards with their taxes. This gets him away from the gang and out of manual labor, as he’s assigned to the prison library to assist elderly inmate Brooks as a front for his bookkeeping. In 1954 Brooks is paroled after serving 50 years, but can't adjust to civilian life and hangs himself. Throughout the rest of the 1950s and the early 1960s, Andy builds up the Shawshank library, and by 1963 has turned it into the finest prison library in New England. Also in 1963, the Warden starts a public service scheme to utilize prison labor for illicit profit, with prisoner Andy Dufresne laundering the money for him.
The Shawshank Redemption’s timeline then jumps forward another two years to 1965 when prisoner Tommy Williams arrives at Shawshank. One year later, Andy discovers Tommy has knowledge of his wife's real murderer and takes the information to the Warden. Not wanting to lose Andy’s financial skills, he throws him in solitary confinement for two months and has Tommy killed under the pretense of an escape attempt. Andy's escape from prison takes place in 1966, in one of The Shawshank Redemption’s best scenes. He'd spent 19 years tunneling through the wall of his cell, with posters of Rita Hayworth and Raquel Welch coving the hole. The following year Red is freed, having spent 40 years at Shawshank. Violating his parole, he reunites with Andy on a beach in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. In total, The Shawshank Redemption’s story spans 20 years, between 1947 when Andy arrives at Shawshank, and 1967 when he and Red are reunited.
The timeline of The Shawshank Redemption movie is actually different from Stephen King's novella. While Andy goes into prison in 1947 just as he does in the movie version, he's incarcerated for 28 years, rather than 19 years. It's 1975 by the time he makes his escape, and 1977 when Red is paroled and prepares to reunite with Andy. It's not clear why the timeline was shorted for the movie. Perhaps it was to save on makeup effect to age the characters further, or a narrative choice to give Andy and Red the chance of a longer happy ending outside of prison. Whatever the reason, The Shawshank Redemption remains one of the greatest movies ever made.