The Shawshank Redemption · written by Frank Darabont · 1994

Tommy asks Andy to help him earn his high-school equivalency.

Scene 144 of 249 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:14 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 144

After a banker is wrongly imprisoned for murder, he uses patience, expertise, and friendship to survive Shawshank and build a path to freedom.

Scenes 1–8
Andy’s former life and conviction frame a banker whose apparent control has vanished.
Scenes 9–10
Inside prison, Andy needs a way to survive without surrendering the inner self he is trying to protect.
Scenes 11–30
Andy enters Shawshank and confronts its violence, hierarchy, and rules.
Scene 31
Andy and Red begin the friendship that will carry the film’s argument about hope and connection.
Scene 51
Andy tells Red that prisoners retain an inner life and hope, though Red warns hope can be dangerous.
Scene 112
Andy broadcasts Mozart; the whole prison experiences a brief freedom of mind, revealing what hope can still do.
Just before
Scene 141
Tommy entertains the men with a story about a botched burglary.
Scene 142
Tommy plays cards with Andy, Red, and the others, comparing prisons.
Scene 143
Tommy visits with his young wife and baby through the glass.
Scene 144
This scene

144INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1965)

Tommy enters, the strut gone from his step. A little scared. He finds Andy filing library cards.

RED (V.O.)

Whatever it was, something lit a

fire under that boy's ass.

TOMMY

I'm thinkin' maybe I should try for

high school equivalency. Hear you

helped some fellas with that.

ANDY

I don't waste time on losers,

Tommy.

TOMNY

(tight)

I ain't no goddamn loser.

ANDY

That's a good start. If we do this,

we do it all the way. One hundred

percent. Nothing half-assed.

Tommy thinks about it, nods.

TOMMY

Thing is, see...

(leans in, mutters)

...I don't read all that good.

ANDY

(smiles)

Well. You've come to the right

place then.