There is an incredible amount of corruption in the prison system caused by pressure on inmates and employees in Stephen King's Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. The aforementioned corruption contributes greatly to many of the story's major plot points such as; the harassment of prisoners, the smuggling of contraband into Shawshank, and the prisoners making their lives easier by using bribery for their own purposes. Corruption is a major cause of harassment and exploitation of prisoners. This is exemplified by the Inside-out programme, started by Samuel Norton. It is described as slave labor, which has never been described as fair. Without the corruption in the program, Norton would not have made as much money as he did (under the table) and the prisoners may not have been as exploited for their work. Red states that "Construction companies in the area were deathly afraid of Norton's Inside-out program, because prison labor is slave labor and you can't compete with that." (King, 57) This shows that the prisoners agree that the work is very unfair compared to the work done by ordinary construction workers, and it is also unfair to construction workers. Furthermore, Norton refused to allow Andy to have a new trial after hearing evidence that would have made a very convincing case, which was a corrupt and unfair thing to do, based solely on the fact that Norton did not want to lose Andy as a resource, also that he was afraid of what Andy might say in court about his corrupt dealings. When Red expresses his opinion, he says; “and I am convinced that what happened happened because Norton did not want to lose his good right hand. I go further... middle of paper... the prisoners are directly involved in the corruption, but a friend, a lover, a family member, etc., improves their life, and this would not happen if it were not for the corruption. The prisoners are familiar with the corruption in Shawshank and know how to use it to their advantage. Corruption at Shawshank Prison results in the harassment of prisoners, the smuggling of supplies into the prison, and the exploitation of said corruption by the prisoners themselves. This is still a problem in today's prison system, and one wonders what the consequences would be if our system were based more on healthy rehabilitation and attempting to reintroduce prisoners into society as functioning members, rather than punishment that does not. It seems to be effective. Works Cited King, Stephen. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption: A Tale of Different Seasons. Thorndike, Me.: Thorndike, 1982. Print.