Why does Andy wait for the lightning to strike when he is trying to break the sewer pipe?
During Andy's escape in The Shawshank Redemption it is clear that he sees the pipe so he doesn't have to wait for the lightning to enlighten it. Why does he wait for it?
Best Answer
He waits to time his strikes so that the thunder will distract or mask the sound of striking the pipe.
For his plan to work, he needs to escape without anyone being alerted to his exit. Banging on a sewer pipe transmits sound through the ground, foundation, walls, and out the pipe in both directions. So inmates in the bathroom would be aware of an unusual sound, and whoever is around that section of pipe, as well as guards in many places. They may not identify the source for awhile, but they surely would start looking and initiate a lock down.
Pictures about "Why does Andy wait for the lightning to strike when he is trying to break the sewer pipe?"
Why did Andy wait so long to escape in Shawshank?
Andy Dufresne's Escape After Tommy was shot by Hadley under the command of Norton because he knew information that could support Andy's innocence, Andy decided he had been there long enough.How did Andy break the pipe?
Here Andy lifts up a brick to pound the sewage pipe. If you're banging on a pipe, every prisoner in the cellblock is going to hear that. So I had the character wait for a big thunder clap so he could cover up the pipe breaking with the noise from outside. Outside of the window we had Lightning Strikes!How long was the sewer pipe in Shawshank Redemption?
How long was the sewer pipe that Andy crawled through to freedom in the movie "The Shawshank Redemption"? More information: The entire length of the sewer pipe that led outside the prison was 500 yards.How long did it take Andy to tunnel out of Shawshank?
His self-imposed goal: "Starting in the second year of his life sentence, it took Andy Dufresne nearly 17 years to tunnel his way to freedom.Shawshank Redemption - Andy Escapes
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Philippe Donn, Andre Furtado, Philippe Donn, Alexandre Bringer