Backstory
Brooks was an inmate at Shawshank state prison from 1905 to 1954. He was the librarian, and began his duty in 1912. Brooks found a small bird named Jake that fell from its nest outside a license plate shop, and cared for it throughout the movie. Brooks was first introduced to Andy at breakfast, where Andy had a maggot on his plate, and Brooks asked him for it to feed Jake.
Brooks was instrumental in getting Andy his rockhammer, and was paid in 6 cigarette packets by Red to receive and deliver it to Andy's cell. Andy was appointed Brook's assistant in the library, and Brooks found this strange, as there had never been an assistant in the 37 years of him being the librarian. Brooks doubted Andy's plans to get a grant for a new library. In 1952, Brooks was made Andy's accounting assistant, and worked for the prison guards. In 1954, Brooks was found holding a knife at Heywood's throat, in reaction to his parole. Andy managed to calm him down, but Brooks was still distressed. Killing Heywood would have been his way to stay in prison. Brooks had been in prison for so long, that he became institutionalised. As Brooks departs from prison, he lets Jake go free. Brooks is astonished at the changes in the world since his time before prison, and states that 'everyone got themselves in a hurry". As part of his parole, Brooks lived in a halfway house called The Brewer and had a job packing bags at a store named Food-Way. Brooks hated working there, and jokes about robbing the store and killing the manager, just so he can go back to prison, but then decides he is too old for it. Brooks writes to his friends back at the prison, and expresses his difficulties adjusting to the outside world. He states that he is tired of living in constant fear, and longs to break his parole. Brooks later decides that he is tired of being afraid, and commits suicide, after engraving "Brooks was here" on the ceiling beam. After his death, Andy began building a Memorial Library with the grant, in remembrance of Brooks Hatlen. |
Brooks Hatlen was an inmate at Shawshank state prison for roughly 50 years.
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