The Green Mile is a 1996 serial novel by American writer Stephen King. It tells the story of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe's encounter with John Coffey, an unusual inmate who displays inexplicable healing and empathetic abilities. The serial novel was released in six volumes before being republished as a single-volume work. The book is an example of magical realism. The subsequent film adaptation was a critical and commercial success. The Green Mile won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 1996. In 1997, The Green Mile was nominated as Best Novel for the British Fantasy Award and the Locus Award. In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel"."BBC – The Big Read". BBC. April 2003, Retrieved 24 August 2017
Plot Featuring a first-person narrative told by Paul Edgecombe, the novel switches between Paul as an old man in the Georgia Pines nursing home writing down his story in 1996, and his time in 1932 as the block supervisor of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary death row, nicknamed "The Green Mile" for the color of the floor's linoleum. This year marks the arrival of John Coffey, a 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall powerfully built black man who has been convicted of raping and murdering two young white girls. During his time on the Mile, John interacts with fellow prisoners Eduard "Del" Delacroix, a Cajun arsonist, rapist, and murderer; and William "Wild Bill" Wharton, an unhinged and dangerous multiple murderer who is determined to make as much trouble as he can before he is executed. Other inhabitants include Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American convicted of killing a man in a fight over a pair of boots, Arthur Flanders, a real estate executive who killed his father to perpetrate insurance fraud; and Mr. Jingles, a mouse Del teaches various tricks.
Paul and the other guards are irritated throughout the book by Percy Wetmore, a sadistic guard who enjoys antagonizing the prisoners. The other guards have to be civil to him despite their dislike of him because he is the nephew of the Governor's wife. When Percy is offered a higher paying job, an administrative position at the nearby Briar Ridge psychiatric hospital, Paul thinks they are finally rid of him. However, Percy refuses to leave until he is allowed to supervise an execution, so Paul hesitantly allows him to run Del's. Percy deliberately avoids soaking a sponge in brine that is supposed to be tucked inside the electrode cap to ensure a quick death in the electric chair. When the switch is thrown, the current causes Del to catch fire in the chair and suffer a prolonged, agonizing demise.
Over time, Paul realizes that John Coffey possesses inexplicable healing abilities through touch, which he uses to cure Paul's urinary tract infection and revive Mr. Jingles after Percy stomps on him. Simple-minded and shy, John is very empathic and sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others around him. One night, the guards drug Wharton, then put a straitjacket on Percy and lock him in the padded restraint room so that they can smuggle John out of prison and take him to the home of Warden Hal Moores. Hal's wife Melinda has an inoperable brain tumor, which John cures by drawing the disease out through his hands and into his body, causing him terrible pain. When they return to the Mile, John discharges the disease from Melinda into Percy, causing him to go mad and shoot Wharton to death before falling into a catatonic state from which he never recovers. Percy is then committed to Briar Ridge as a patient.
Paul's long-simmering suspicions that John is innocent are proven right when he discovers that it was actually Wharton who raped and killed the two girls and that John was trying to revive them. Later, John tells Paul he had touched Wharton and saw how he coerced the sisters to be silent by threatening to kill one if the other made a noise, using their love for each other. Paul is unsure how to help John, but John tells him not to worry, as he is ready to die anyway, wanting to escape the cruelty of the world. John's execution is the last one in which Paul participates.
As Paul approaches the conclusion of his written story, he offers it to his friend Elaine to read. After she finishes, he introduces Mr. Jingles to her just before the mouse dies – it had been alive the past 64 years. Paul explains that those healed by John gained an unnaturally long lifespan. Elaine dies shortly after, never learning that, on the day of his wife's death, Paul saw the ghost of John Coffey. The novel ends with Paul all alone, now 104 years old, wondering how much longer he will live.
Characters Main characters Paul Edgecombe The protagonist and narrator of the book and the death row supervisor at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. He is 40 years old when the bulk of the story takes place, in 1932. He is a caring man and takes excellent care of the men on his block, avoiding conflict and keeping the peace whenever possible. He is the first character to discover John Coffey's amazing abilities, when the prisoner cures his urinary tract infection. It is also his idea to take Coffey to try to cure Melinda, Warden Hal Moores' wife, of her brain tumor. He transferred to Boy's Correctional with Brutus Howell shortly after Coffey's execution, and he is still alive at age 104 as of 1996, when he decides to write down John Coffey's story, possibly to publicly reveal the latter's innocence. Brutus "Brutal" Howell He is second in command on the Green Mile and Paul's best friend. He is a tall, imposing man but not violent at all unless necessary. His nickname of "Brutal" is intended as irony, as he is normally calm and soft-spoken. A former football tackle who had gone on to play at Louisiana State University (LSU) in his youth, he eventually suffers a fatal heart attack at home, presumably in his late fifties, about twenty-five years after Coffey's execution. John Coffey He is an African American with a massive build (6 ft 8 in tall), having been convicted of the rape and murder of two young girls and sentenced to death. He is very quiet and prefers to keep to himself, weeps almost constantly, and is afraid of the dark. Even at the end, during his execution, he asks Paul Edgecombe not to put on the traditional black silk mask used to block the view of the prisoner's face because he fears the dark. Coffey is described as "knowing his own name and not much else" and lacks the capability to do so much as tie a simple knot. At his trial, though, the prosecution contends he lured the girls away from their home, disposed of the watchdog, and carefully planned the crime using abilities Paul believes to be far beyond his reach. He is the calmest and mildest prisoner the guards have ever seen, despite his hulking form. He turns out to be innocent of the rape and murder of the two girls, but allows himself to be executed regardless because he is tired of all the cruelty in the world. Percy Wetmore The secondary antagonist of the story. He is a young and sadistic guard. He is disliked by Paul and the other guards because of his cruelty, but they can't do anything about it because he is the nephew of the state governor's wife. He is very homophobic and attacks Eduard Delacroix for allegedly touching him, although it was an accident caused by Del stumbling out of the prison truck. He is later attacked by "Wild Bill" Wharton, consequently wets himself, and is teased by Delacroix for it. In retaliation, Percy deliberately sabotages Delacroix's execution. John transferred Melinda's sickness into Percy, causing him to kill Wild Bill in a catatonic state. Percy never recovers and he was therefore sent to the Briar Ridge Mental Hospital. He later lived through a fire at Briar Ridge and died in 1965 at another mental asylum. William "Wild Bill" Wharton The main antagonist of the story. He is on death row for various crimes, including an armed robbery in which he killed a pregnant woman and two other innocent bystanders. He does not like the nickname "Wild Bill" but prefers to be called "Billy the Kid", a name he has tattooed on his forearm. When he first arrives he manages to convince the guards he is in a drugged stupor, only to attack and attempt to strangle to death Dean Stanton when they reach E Block. He continues to wreak havoc on the Mile and plays tricks such as urinating on the guards and spitting a chewed-up Moon Pie into Brutal's face. He is punished by being placed in solitary confinement countless times, but never learns his lesson. As John Coffey is being smuggled to Hal Moores's house, Wild Bill grabs his arm and Coffey sees that he actually committed the crimes for which Coffey was convicted. Therefore, Coffey gives Percy the "sickness" he took from the warden's wife, indirectly killing Wild Bill. Eduard "Del" Delacroix He is a Cajun prisoner with a fairly slow grasp of the English language, and has no family. He raped and murdered a young girl before starting a fire, which caused the deaths of six more people (including two children), resulting in his being sent to death row. While on the Mile, Del befriends a mouse named Mr. Jingles, who becomes his best friend in his last days on death row. Percy, his enemy, sabotages his execution, causing Del to die a slow and gruesome death in the electric chair. Mr. Jingles / Steamboat Willie Called Steamboat Willie by Brutal, he is an unusually intelligent mouse. He becomes a friend to Eduard Delacroix, who renames him Mr. Jingles in the few days before the man is executed. He is healed by John Coffey after being stomped on by Percy Wetmore. This gives him increased longevity and he finally dies 64 years later.
Minor characters Arthur "The President" Flanders An inmate on death row, convicted of killing his father in an insurance fraud scheme. His sentence is commuted to life imprisonment, but he is later murdered by another inmate 12 years after Coffey was put to death. Arlen "The Chief" Bitterbuck A Washita Cherokee death row inmate, convicted of killing a man in a drunken brawl over a pair of boots. His execution is the first of three mentioned in Paul's story. Janice Edgecombe Paul Edgecombe's wife. Dies at the age of 59 in a bus accident on the way to her grandchild's graduation in 1956. Hal Moores The warden at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. After Coffey cured his wife, he somehow suspected the truth of Coffey's supposed guilt of the double murder he was convicted of. Hal died from a stroke around the same time as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Melinda Moores Warden Moores's wife, who is dying of a brain tumor and is cured by John Coffey. She dies of a heart attack ten years later.Page 482: 'She died—of a heart attack, not a brain tumor—ten or eleven years later' Curtis Anderson The assistant warden. Dean Stanton A guard on E Block who is strangled and nearly killed by William Wharton. A father of young children, Paul ensures he takes no part in the taking of John Coffey to Melinda Moores due to the risk of losing his job. He applies for relocation to C Block after John Coffey's death, where he is murdered by an inmate four months later. Harry Terwilliger One of the main guards on E Block along with his friends Paul Edgecombe, Brutus Howell and Dean Stanton. He eventually dies of cancer in 1982, 50 years after John Coffey's execution. Bill Dodge A "floater" guard on E Block (not permanently assigned there). Jack Van Hay A guard who is part of the execution team. He operates the switch room. Toot-Toot A trustee who stands in for the condemned during execution rehearsals and sells snacks to prisoners and guards. Burt Hammersmith A reporter who wrote on the Detterick twins' murders and John Coffey's trial. Despite believing himself to be an "Enlightenment" man, he displays prejudice in his stance on "Negroes" and tries to convince Paul of John Coffey's guilt. Elaine Connelly