Scene 41
- Brooks bids farewell to his crow. That sounds like some sort of euphemism, but nope. He says good-bye to his actual bird.
Scene 42
- Brooks steps through the gate and out of Shawshank Prison. Dressed in a suit and tie, he looks just like any other cute little old man. We know he's an ex-con, but we just want to put him in our pocket.
Scene 43
- In a series of short scenes, Brooks tries to assimilate back into normal life, but it doesn't take. "The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry," and Brooks isn't a fan of the hustle and bustle.
- Bagging groceries and feeding pigeons in the park gets old before too long, and Brooks decides he's ready to take a one-way ticket out of town.
- He hangs himself in his room, and if you don't feel your heartstrings getting tugged awfully hard, you're probably a robot.
Scene 44
- Andy and Red read the "so long" letter from Brooks in the prison yard, and Red says that the guy should have died inside Shawshank. We're not a fan of the place ourselves, but it's hard to disagree.
Scene 45
- What do you know? After six years of letter writing, Andy finally wore the state down, and they responded with a donation of used books and records, and a check for $200 (no small sum in those days).
- Andy's asked to get all the books out of the warden's office before he gets there and then is foolishly left alone for a few seconds. He puts one of the records on a phonograph, a beautiful opera duet, then locks a guard inside the bathroom while he's "pinching a loaf," and locks the other office door as well. He then turns on the P.A. microphone so the entire prison population can hear it.
- All those hardened cons in the yard are transfixed by the soprano's voice.
- Norton and the guards are not amused. Yep, that is definitely the warden's "not amused" face.