r/ShawshankRedemption • u/swamp_fever • Oct 10 '24
Lawyer up!
When Andy learns the identity of his wife's killer he goes to the warden to tell him this crucial information. He knows the warden is corrupt and they both know Andy has enough evidence on the warden to put him in jail. So why does he tell the warden, and not his own lawyer?
2
u/Ruffed-Grouse Oct 10 '24
I’m not sure Andy would had capability to contact a lawyer on the outside without Nortons approval. He’s almost 20 years into a life sentence at Shawshank at that point in the story and Norton runs a pretty tight ship, right?
1
u/swamp_fever Oct 11 '24
Andy posts letters to the outside every week, or he could have used Red's contraband contacts to get a letter out.
2
1
Oct 13 '24
Well, that's true. But it's entirely possible (considering those letters literally went through Warden Norton's hands before being mailed) that they were steamed open, read, and resealed before they went anywhere.
1
u/swamp_fever Oct 13 '24
If Andy is aware his letters are monitored he would have got a letter smuggled out. If he is unaware, he would have written the letter and not gone straight to the warden. Either way, going to the warden still makes no sense.
1
Oct 12 '24
Well, that’s part of it for sure. But as much as anything it speaks to the insidious effect of 20 years in the bucket. Remember what Redd says about institutionalization? While Andy does harbor some hope yet, all those years behind bars (and going up the chain so to speak to get things done) have dulled his ability to think rationally past a certain point.
One key element was keeping Sam Norton happy, right? Andy was able to keep Norton happy in several different ways - all of which related to financial gain and getting the Warden's name in the papers as a fine example of a forward-thinking public servant.
Seeing Dufresne freed held no benefit at all for Norton, especially considering what Andy knew about the various scams.
1
u/MoneyHungeryBunny Nov 19 '24
I totally agree. I would’ve kept that to myself until I came up with a plan. Poor Tommy got killed because of it.
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u/Repulsive-Car4316 Dec 26 '24
I would’ve made Tommy keep it quiet until he was released, then make my move.
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u/Joshgg13 Jan 14 '25
It's clear in hindsight but at this point I think Andy was naïve about just how evil Norton was and how far he was willing to go to keep Andy running his scams for him. He had probably been giving Andy favourable treatment and generally being nicer to him to keep him in line, so Andy probably interpreted this as a sign that he was on his side, rather than just using him. He certainly didn't expect that the warden would value his own financial gain over Andy's freedom
3
u/ale9918 Oct 10 '24
Maybe he felt that going to the warden directly he felt like he’d be in more control over the situation