Normaden is a Native American (Passamaquoddy) man incarcerated at Shawshank prison who has “a harelip and a cleft palate” that impede his speech. The other men in Shawshank give him the racist nickname they give to all Native American prisoners: “Chief.” He shares a cell with Andy Dufresne for approximately eight months between 1959 and 1960, after a warden for whom Andy has been laundering money leaves but before Andy starts laundering money for the next warden, thus regaining the privilege of a cell without a cellmate. At one point, Normaden discusses Andy with Red; Normaden mentions that he likes Andy, who never mocks him, but that their cell was “cold” with a “bad draft.” This conversation foreshadows the later revelation that Andy has been digging a hole through his cell wall, a hole he hides behind pin-up posters.
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Normaden Character Timeline in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
The timeline below shows where the character Normaden appears in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
...use of a little reefer”—Andy only ever had one cellmate, a Native American man named Normaden.
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...arrives. For eight months, Andy receives no special treatment, and during this time his cellmate Normaden moves in. Then Andy begins working for the new administrators, and Normaden moves out again.
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At one point, Normaden—who has a speech impediment due to “a harelip and a cleft palate”—tells Red he liked...
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...Red will understand later. Red concludes that later he does understand—and it reminds him of Normaden complaining about the big draft.
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Red speculates about how, exactly, Andy went about escaping. Again he remembers Andy’s old cellmate Normaden, who complained about the cell’s draftiness. Red thinks having a cellmate must have slowed Andy’s...
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