Analyzing Evil: Warden Samuel Norton From The Shawshank Redemption

Welcome everyone to the forty-fourth episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature villain for this video is Warden Samuel Norton from The Shawshank Redemption. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

The song in this video, So Cold, was provided by CO.AG Music. You can find more of their work here:

#TheShaswshankRedemption #StephenKing #WardenNorton

[cmxpantaloones]

I think you missed one small, but important detail. As the time goes by, warden Norton exchanges his crucifix lapel pin with a community service one. That leads me to believe his Christianity was really just a facade (at least in the film, didn't read the book) he was putting on because it was convenient for him during the earlier years. As the attitudes of the society change, he adjusts his carefully crafted image to suit them.

[quajay]

I always felt that Norton responded so heavily because he literally didn't know what "obtuse" means. It just triggered him

[rifles_up]

“ I’d like to think that the last thing that went through the warden‘s head ..other than that bullet..was “How did I ever let a man like Andy Dufrain get the best of me”

[OldschoolHIT]

My grandfather was a prison warden, he was an English gentleman and he even ate his meals with “his criminals” as he called them. I wonder what he would think of this character, to me it seems like he is antithetical to my grandfather.

[officernealy]

For such a god fearing villain, I feel the best scripture that applies to Warden Samuel Norton is Matthew 23:27-28 *"You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."*

[commandervile]

As someone who has spent 2 weeks in "The hole" or solitary confinement, it definitely plays on your mind. There's zero mental stimulation other than your reoccurring thoughts of all the mistakes you've made in life that brought you there in the first place, and how much better life is on the outside and how much you're just wanting to make it through the sentence. Complete loss of time, despair, anger, all of the emotions. I spent most of my time covering up the AC vent with wet toilet paper because they blasted the AC on all times of the day/night and the cell would be freezing. No tables to sit at, no bunk to lay in, just there squirming on the ground trying to get comfortable but it being impossible to. The guards never talk to you and only come to give you your food.

Yeah, it's pretty shitty, but atleast for me personally I felt it indeed played a part in "rehabilitating" me, so maybe it is effective, but mind-numbingly boring and uncomfortable as Hell. Gets repetitive real fast.

[MisterDTwenty]

I believe Norton's suicide in the film also strongly reflects the hollow nature of his seemingly divine faith proving at the very end he was a wrathful man who lacked the true strength of his convictions.

[JayDonagh]

He was definitely the worst type of villain due to how incredibly put-together his false persona of being a nice and fair Christian man, and the amount of power he had. Something very important about his character is the fact he never does any of his bad deeds on his own, he's always forcing others to do his dirty work. For example, he treats the head prison guard like his own personal guard dog; enforcing all types of cruelty on the prisoners for his sake. So he can deny any wrongdoings if confronted.

[melanoidmarkus]

Morgan Freeman should've won an Oscar for this performance. God-tier acting.

[ricardoaguirre]

If he weren't a warden he probably would have been a televangelist.

[SunnyIntervalsORG]

I've just noticed that when Norton opens Andy's bible to the page where you see where he hid the rock hammer, it's the book of Exodus: Definitely not an accident!

[alexs]

Love the little detail when he's loading the gun, why would a man intending to kill himself bother loading all six shots? He didn't resign himself to his fate or know any peace of mind (as many people who choose to commit suicide often do once they've made up their mind about it), his last moments were a terrified, panic-stricken mental break

[SniperCR]

The only thing I've never understood, is why in the hell would Andy run and tell the Warden about Tommy's testimony in the first place? That's a conversation for your attorney. Not the Warden...

[GuinessHangover]

"It's funny. On the outside, I was an honest man. Straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook." - Andy Dufresne

Norton is such an evil man that mere association corrupts good men into criminals.

[arterialtribal]

Norton represented the worst form of a sociopath: Straight narcissistic but highly calculating and always aware of how to behave in society to climb up the ladder.
I think one of the most interesting moments was when he talked to tommy. From the beginning of the conversation he knew that tommy would die and there really was some kind empathic glimpse on nortons face when he offered tommy a cigarette (knowing it would be his last one) and he even seemed somewhat compassionate when he ended the conversation just before he gave hadley the signal to shoot tommy. Norton had a formally idea of empathy but because of his deeply narcisisstic personality this idea couldn't reach his conscience or touch him emotionally. It was like: "Ok, now you will die because you stand in my way. Sorry, this is nothing personally. That's life" just before going back to everyday life.

[edwardnygma]

I like when Andy called Norton "obtuse" (warden thought he had control of his schemes) and Norton used the word against Andy later in the movie (when you're in a weaken state in the hole for months).

[wilji]

Honestly, I think a lot of what makes Samuel Norton so damn memorable as a villain is Bob Gunton's portrayal of him. I don't think that anyone else could've made Norton so terrifying to be quite honest.

[wiseone]

Self righteous hypocrisy really grinds my gears. This character was a brilliantly written (and acted) villain, the viewer absolutely hate and resent ever part of him. He has a mean and callous nature that makes you think of a nazi concentration camp warden. Regarding crime and punishment I agree with John Ruth line of justice: "You only need to hang mean bastards, but mean bastards, you need to hang.."

[theshakes]

I think at 10:30 when you describe the Warden as "still treating [Andy] well, to a certain degree" I would go so far as to say that actions like giving him the rest of the pie were less out of altruism and more because he knew Andy was incredibly intelligent and therefore dangerous so his intentions were to simply appear kinder than he was so Andy would be less likely to rebel against a more "caring" crook.

[neilefc]

The actor's performance as Norton was wonderful.
Interesting sidenote, Stephen King wrote in his afterword that he based the character albeit loosely on Richard Nixon.