Reading Comprehension: The green mile

The green mile 

Summarize the text:

The Green Mile is the story of John Coffey, a convicted murderer and rapist, told through the standpoint of Paul Edgecombe, a prison guard on the “green mile,” their term for the cell block where those on death row reside.  Over the course of the story, Paul notices that Coffey exhibits odd qualities.  As if to prove this theory, once, agonized and confused by a urinary infection, he enters Coffey’s cell, violating prison regulations.  Coffey seizes his chance, and touches Paul where he hurts.  Although appalled at first by the inmate’s action, realizes before long that his infection has been cured. 

At a later point in the story, Percy, another guard and antagonist, steps on the pet mouse of prisoner Eduard Delacroix, nicknamed Mr. Jingles.  Delacroix, a convicted arson and murderer, screams at demise of his beloved rodent.  Coffey calmly looks up at Edgecombe, and demands that the mouse be handed to him.  Paul momentarily hesitates, then complied, hence Mr. Jingles is healed. 

Some time passes, and it is brought to Paul’s attention that the wife of the warden, whom he knows very well, is sick with brain cancer.   Paul decides that he has a chance to save Mrs. Moore’s life.  He convinces his fellow guards to aid him in smuggling Coffey out of the prison.  They do so, and soon arrive at the Warden Moore’s place of residence.  Amazingly, he does not prevent the inmate from going to his wife, and allows him to cure her of the disease.  She seems to awaken, as if from sleepwalking, and is unaware of the passed time since the cancer began to hurt her.
The guards return to the prison, and to an infuriated Percy.  Yet, he turns to leave, and goes buy John Coffey’s cell.  Coffey reaches through the bars, and grabs the guard.  He breathes the disease from his mouth into Percy’s, who instantly goes insane.  He pulls out his pistol, and shoots the inmate, William Wharton, in the cell behind him.  He presently becomes comatose, and is taken to a mental institution.  Percy Wetmore never utters another word again.

Analyze the text:

The Green Mile is a masterpiece among the variety of masterpieces that have been written by Stephen King.  It imbues an assortment of values, symbols, and other literary devices.  Coffey holds the archetypal status of wise fool, being unintelligent by the standards of the others surrounding him, yet holding the power of healing, that which no other can have.  He also personifies the never ending struggle between life and death.  While Coffey may hold all the power of healing, and therefore, life, inside himself, he is unable to prevent his inevitable demise at the electric chair.  Everything must come to an end.  The Warden Moore imbues the Archetype of Law in this story.  While it is clear to those that Coffey has effected that he has done nothing to warrant his punishment, the nature of law is unstoppable, and the sentence must be carried out.

Coffey is also the centerpiece for religious symbols in the story.  He symbolizes Jesus, and the archetype of the Hanged Man.  While innocent of the crimes of which he has been convicted, Coffey allows himself to be led to his death.  The reader may infer the possibility that Coffey may simply heal himself, therefore making himself essentially unkillable.  Yet is the nature of his role in the story that he cannot do so.  He is given the power to help, but only in an unselfish manner. 

Another religious symbol found is in the character of Percy Wetmore.  He displays the archetype of the Devil.  He is a source of negative powers, relentlessly aimed in the offense against the protagonists.  Fighting against the power of Percy and those who bend to his will give them the power to continue.

The Green Mile has a variety of conflicts that ensure the smooth running of the story.  Possibly the most prominent is that of Person versus Nature, found in Mrs. Moore’s struggle against her body’s cancerous invader.  The conflict is ended by the unbalancing of the sides, when John Coffey heals her, ridding her of her figurative opponent.  A secondary, yet still important conflict is the Person Versus Person struggle between Percy Wetmore, and the other prison guards on the green mile.  This conflict is resolved, again by John Coffey, when he passes Mrs. Moore’s disease unto him.