The Ending Of The Shawshank Redemption Explained

Red spent most of his life in Shawshank State Prison, and, free for the first time since he was a teenager, he’s uncertain of his place in the world. Upon his release, he ends up staying at a halfway house where a fellow inmate, a man named Brooks, had taken his own life. The parallels aren’t lost on Red, who feels he has no place to call his own anymore. As he settles into the halfway house, he ponders what to do next.  Remembering a previous conversation with Andy, he journeys to a field. There, he finds a tin box concealed in a stone fence and, upon opening it, discovers a letter from Andy and an envelope containing some of the stolen money. In the letter, Andy asks Red to come to Zihuatanejo, a town on the Mexican coast which he’d previously discussed with Red.

Red reflects on the words of his friend, who said the only thing to do was either “get busy living, or get busy dying.” Brooks chose to get busy dying, but, invigorated by Andy’s words, Red uses the money to journey to Mexico to see his friend, hopeful for the first time since his release that there’s something to look forward to beyond the walls of Shawshank. “The Shawshank Redemption” ends with the reunion of Andy and Red, both free men and beyond the reach of the law.