On the Psychology of the Main Character in the American Film The Shawshank Redemption:
A Humanistic Psychology Perspective
Abstract

The Shawshank Redemption, as one of the most influential and typical works of American horror-fiction writer Stephen King, was filmed by Frank Darabont, a celebrated director, and appeared on the Hollywood screen in 1994, which was even more shocking than the fiction, and also named as the stimulation of 1995. Till now, it is at the top of the ranking list of many famous movie websites.

Since the advent of The Shawshank Redemption, there are voluminous researches home and abroad: some from the respective of theology, from the theme of freedom and hope, from individualism and even from the perspective of Gothic conflict. But there are rare formal researches from the perspective of humanistic psychology, and this thesis attempts to analyze the jailbreak psychology of the main character from the perspective of Maslow’s humanistic psychology.

This thesis combines the self-actualization theory of humanistic psychology with the jailbreak psychology of the main character Andy, and respectively analyses Andy's self-awareness and self-reliance, which ultimately contribute to his self-actualization.

This thesis shows the humanistic care of Stephen King, enriches the study perspective of The Shawshank Redemption, encourages the reader to shape the meaningful lives with an optimistic attitude, and provides a possible perspective for further study of this novella.

Key words: The Shawshank Redemption, Humanistic Psychology, Self-awareness, Self-reliance, Self-actualization.