The Lifespace (Part I)

There was this movie I saw about life in prison. The title was "Shawshank Redemption". The stars were Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne), Morgan Freeman (Red Redding), and James Whitmore (Brooks Hatlen) among others.

Brooks Hatlen was paroled after 50 years. And, the world into which he stepped out was no longer the same world from whence he came when he went in. As anyone would expect, Brooks got the biggest culture shock of his life. The world outside was a totally different world; big, strange, and fast. Prison has made Brooks' world small. Unable to adapt, he hanged himself.

Brooks said in his letter to his friends in Shawshank:

" I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid but, now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry . . . . . . . I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have had dreams like I'm fallin'. I wake up scared. Sometimes, it takes me awhile to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway, so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that nonsense anymore. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me."

Home for Brooks was the prison. He wanted to go home to it so bad. The world outside of prison has become too big and too complicated for him. In his mind, he had become irrelevant. (more)