Accountant andy dufresne tim robbins is sent to prison in the forties for the murder of his unfaithful wife and her lover despite protesting his innocence he slowly comes to terms with the injustices of the corrupt prison system and quietly inspires some of his fellow prison inmates to have a more positive outlook on life meanwhile the governor of the prison discovers dufresnes book keeping talents and recruits him to do a spot of creative accountancy fellow inmate ageing gangster red