Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Green Mile by Stephen King


I absolutely love the works of Stephen King and plan to read more of his novels this year. So far, I am completely fascinated by The Green Mile, the story of prison guard Paul Edgecombe, set in Depression Era 1932. At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, "Boss Edgecombe" supervises convicted killers until their DOE (date of execution) when he and his fellow guards will take the condemned on their last walk down The Green Mile, a lime green colored path of sorts that leads to 'Old Sparky', the electric chair, where justice awaits. Paul tells of the final days of several convicted killers, including one Eduard Delacroix (who "tamed" a mouse by the name of Mr. Jingles that most on E Block are taken with, and who suffered a horrific death by arrogant, politically connected Percy Wetmore), William Wharton, (an absolutely psychotic youth), and the curious John Coffey, a colossal man with solemn eyes, who was convicted for the rapes and murders of twin girls. Found with their lifeless bodies cradled in his arms, a group of men reported Coffey's continuous screams of "I tried to take it back, but it was too late."
Unexplainable events took place soon after John Coffey's arrival at E Block. The giant of a man seemingly cured a urinary infection that had mercilessly plagued Paul. Another was that John Coffey took the dying Mr. Jingles in his hands and restored life to the odd little mouse after Percy Wetmore had crushed him on the eve of Delacroix's execution. After both these episodes, little black bugs emerged from Coffey's mouth, turned white and disappeared into oblivion. No other word can describe Coffey's actions except a miracle.
Now, being so far into the book and having read of Coffey's unique ability, I wonder. I wonder if Coffey had only been trying to help the two Deterick girls. What if he had been trying restore life to them just as he did the mouse only they were too far gone and were beyond his help? "I tried to take it back, but it was too late." I wonder if Coffey had been trying to take back what the real murderer had done to the twins. I wonder if John Coffey had been wrongly convicted of this heinous crime.

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