The Shawshank Redemption characters

Also known as Red

Appears from the start

A long-serving Shawshank prisoner and the narrator of Andy Dufresne's story. Red is known as the man who can obtain contraband from outside. Practical and observant, he initially regards hope as dangerous in prison, yet his friendship with Andy gradually alters what he believes remains possible.

Appears from the start

A quiet former banker sentenced to life at Shawshank for murdering his wife and her lover, crimes he consistently says he did not commit. Andy's financial knowledge makes him useful to guards and administrators, while his patience, self-possession and carefully maintained interests allow him to preserve an inner life the prison cannot fully control.

Appears from the start

The brutal captain of Shawshank's guards. Hadley responds readily to financial advice that saves him money, giving Andy a path to protection and influence, but remains willing to use violence whenever prison authority is challenged.

Appears from the start

A later warden of Shawshank who presents himself as devout and disciplined. Norton exploits prison labor and uses Andy's banking skills to conceal corrupt income. Protecting that arrangement matters more to him than evidence that could establish Andy's innocence.

Appears from the start

The leader of a group of predatory prisoners known as the Sisters. Bogs repeatedly targets Andy during his early years at Shawshank and represents one of the most immediate dangers of prison life.

Appears from the start

An elderly prisoner who works in Shawshank's library. Brooks has lived inside so long that the institution has become his familiar world. Andy first assists him and then expands the library far beyond what prison officials expected.

Appears from the start

A younger prisoner whose account of a former cellmate gives Andy the first substantial evidence that someone else committed the murders for which he was convicted. Tommy's information threatens the warden's control over Andy.

Appears from the start

A violent criminal whom Tommy Williams once heard boasting that he murdered a golfer and the golfer's lover while her banker husband was imprisoned for it. The story closely matches the crime attributed to Andy.