The Dynamic Interplay Between Agent and Structure in the Film The Shawshank Redemption

Abstract A social phenomenon in society as represented in a film can be analyzed from many different perspectives. One of the theories that can be applied to do that is Giddens’ structuration theory. It emphasizes on the duality of structure meaning that agency is inseparable from structure and both affect each other. It consists of three-tiered dimensions, namely the structure of signification, domination, and legitimation, and the interaction that agents carry out in the form of communication, power and sanction mediated by the modality of interpretive scheme, facility, and norm. This paper will analyze the interplay of agency and structure in the film Shawsank Redemption through the characters of Andy, Red, Brooks, Captain Hadley, and Warden Norton. The analysis result shows that the agents in the film indeed can make some changes on the structure, by only reproducing or transforming it