Part 1. Two girls and their death
Paul is the head of the death row guard at the Green Mile prison. He is a good worker and not a bad person. Percy is the new guard on the same block. He recently entered this service and has already managed to harm others. Percy is cruel and cunning.
One day, John Coffey, a black man with a huge build, goes to prison. He was sentenced to death for the brutal rape and murder of two girls. John is constantly silent and crying. There is some secret hidden in his eyes. Coffey himself is calm and balanced.
Paul maintained a certain order and discipline in his block. When Percy came to work, everything changed. Percy was a bad person and everyone hated him.
Before John arrived, a mouse appeared in prison. This animal wandered around the cells as if looking for someone. It didn't cause any inconvenience, only Percy didn't like it.
Plot explanation
What is the meaning of the film “The Green Mile”?
The thriller tells about a man who, despite all the difficulties in life and the position of a warden, remains kind, sympathetic, and understanding. Paul treats his prisoners as if they were his own children. Regardless of the actions of the past, he tries to ease the fate of the condemned prisoners, to help them survive the path to death.
The meaning of the film “The Green Mile” is how important it is to remain human in any life situations. It turns out that even criminals sentenced to death need understanding and support. We are all human - the slogan of the main character of the film.
Looks are deceiving
John Coffey - huge, healthy, black - is the true hero of a horror film. When he is brought to death row, everyone looks at him with a genuine sense of fear. But what kind of hero turns out to be: kind, gentle, vulnerable, sympathetic. He helps people by giving them himself, his strength and energy. A real black angel.
Suddenly! Michael Duncan and David Morse, who played Coffey and Howell, are actually the same height.
The hidden meaning of the “Green Mile” is in the deceiving appearance. To discern a person's merits, you need to get to know him better. And not every warden is capable of this.
“Their love destroyed them...” Coffey said these words about the two dead girls. The sisters were silent to save each other. So they helped Wharton kill them.
Life is insanely cruel. John could no longer see how some kill with impunity, while others easily become victims of murderers, unwittingly helping criminals. Therefore, he prefers death in the electric chair to contemplating earthly horrors.
The meaning of the name "Green Mile"
The Green Mile is the passage along which prisoners walk to the electric chair. Why a mile? Even at the moment of an accident, in a matter of seconds, a person’s whole life flies before his eyes. And everyone sentenced to death on the way to it will be able to experience and realize all the good and bad, good and evil, worthwhile and meaningless in the past life. And this is certainly no less than a mile.
Part 2. Mouse on the Mile
The mouse only appeared on the Mile when Percy was away. Edouard Delacroix goes to prison. He was convicted of rape and murder. His fellow inmates nicknamed him Del. The man behaves quietly and peacefully. In it, the mouse finds his best friend. Del gave the pet a nickname, now the mouse was called Mr. Jingles.
Warden Paul was later diagnosed with a genitourinary disease. Warden Moores learned of his wife's cancer.
A new prisoner appears in the Green Mile. His name is Wild Bill. He committed many atrocities. As soon as he arrived at the prison, he immediately quarreled with the guard and almost killed him.
Film adaptation of the novel "The Green Mile"
In 1999, director Frank Darabont shot the cult mystical drama “The Green Mile,” which received a large number of awards in various categories. Many critics recognized this film as a masterpiece, and the film's box office grossed over $280 million. This is the only movie based on Stephen King's novels to cross the $100 million mark. The performance of the actors, the created scenery and the work of the director were highly appreciated by the audience.
The book and film “The Green Mile” is recommended for viewing by all those who are looking for a decent psychological novel that will make you think about your existence. After them you will look at your life differently. I guarantee it.
Part 3. The hands of John Coffey
Paul's illness worsened. Today it was especially painful. The warden wandered around the prison exhaustedly. At this time, Paul was called by Coffey. The guard violated prison rules and came close to the convict. John touched Paul's sore spot with his palm, and he felt better. Coffey took the guard's illness and black midges flew out of his mouth. Paul recovered.
The head of security did not believe that John was capable of crime. He believed Coffey had been punished unfairly. Paul is trying to find out the details of this case.
The day of Delacroix's execution was approaching. Percy had to carry out the sentence. Bearing a grudge against Del, Percy steps on his mouse and crushes him. Percy is jubilant.
Brief plot of the novel by S. King “The Green Mile”
The novel “The Green Mile” is an atypical work for the work of Stephen King, who is usually perceived as the “king of horror.” It touches on very serious, deep philosophical, sociological and psychological issues of good and evil, crime and punishment, retribution and forgiveness, compassion and cruelty, and the mystical-fantastic element is just part of the background against which they are revealed.
The setting of the novel is America in the thirties of the last century, the time of the “Great Depression,” when losing a job means dooming yourself and your family to a miserable existence. The heroes of the book are, on the one hand, prison guards who carry out death sentences. On the other hand, there are prisoners waiting for the moment when they will walk along the “green mile” and turn either to the right - to life, or to the left - to the electric chair. In such isolated conditions, a strange psychological closeness develops between prisoners and guards. Most guards begin to empathize with suicide bombers, unwittingly putting themselves in their place.
It becomes scary when the author talks about how on the verge of life and death, which is only occasionally illuminated by bright, even funny moments, such as the performance of the “mouse circus” by the prisoner Ed Delacroix. Sentenced to execution, Delacroix, communicating with a trained mouse, involuntarily tries to isolate himself from the inevitable, makes plans for the future, thereby creating a psychological barrier before death, which helps him live his last days with positive emotions.
From this unity of prisoners and guards, the warden Percy Wetmore falls out, who has sadistic tendencies, who likes to beat physically and psychologically humiliate prisoners. Edgecombe and the other wardens tolerate Percy and are forced to put up with him only because of his family connections in high places. In a sense, the analogue of Percy on the other side of the bars is the killer - maniac Bill Wharton, who causes a lot of problems for the guards. The thought involuntarily arises that the similarity of the surnames Wetmore and Wharton is not at all accidental, and the wild aggression of the half-crazy Bill is something that could be revealed in Percy, in his hidden sadism. One gets the strong impression that Bill and Percy are “alien” elements on the “mile”, and she herself expels them: Percy loses his mind and kills Bill, who also “unconventionally” ends his days on the “mile” without ever completing it.
And yet, the main line of the work is connected with another prisoner - the huge black man John Coffey, accused of the brutal rape and murder of two young girls. He cannot read or write, is unable to express his thoughts clearly, and behaves strangely. But we do not see a drop of aggressiveness in him, and Edgecombe involuntarily asks the question: “How could such a harmless person commit a brutal crime?” Subsequently, it turns out that his suspicions turned out to be correct, and Coffey was convicted innocently, and it was the same “Wild Bill” Wharton who raped and killed the girls. There is a clear miscarriage of justice, but Edgecombe and other warders are unable to resist the cumbersome administrative machine, and Coffey is doomed to innocently die in the electric chair.
The incredible fact that Coffey has amazing healing abilities does not change the essence: he heals Paul and the terminally ill wife of the prison warden, and even revives the trained mouse Delacroix. Unfortunately, such a phenomenal person is alien to society. Instead of using Coffey's miraculous gift, he is condemned to death. Moreover, he himself wants death, wanting to get rid of the pain of other people's suffering, which he constantly feels. It is symbolic that Coffey, like Christ, heals and helps people, and just like Christ, he dies not understood and not accepted by society.
The limited world of the Green Mile is in many ways similar to our reality. The work reveals the characters of people, shows their cruelty. Unfortunately, our world is far from perfect; harmless people who bring goodness and relief to others must die in it. But when they leave, they take with them some of our evil and cruelty and make this world a better place, just as the death of John Coffey ultimately makes the world of The Green Mile and its heroes better.
Part 4. The terrible death of Delacroix
Coffey asks to give him the dying animal. The man covers the mouse with his palms, and black insects again appear from his mouth and dissolve in the air. Mr. Jingles came to life.
Paul and the other guards inform Percy that he needs to change his duty station or he will get into trouble.
The day of execution arrived. Percy gave Del real torture. He did not follow the necessary rules and roasted the prisoner alive on a chair. Delacroix died in terrible agony. Percy was due to leave the Mile in a month.
Paul decides to help the warden with his sick wife. It was Coffey who had to heal her.
Part 5. Night journey
The guards tranquilize Wild Bill and lock Percy in the storage room. So, they manage to quietly get John out of prison. Walking past Bill's cell, John accidentally touched him with his hand. His consciousness was clouded, there was wild horror in his eyes.
When this whole company arrived at the house of the chief of Mili, he did not approve of their visit. Coffey silently approached the dying woman and took her illness for himself. This time he did not release the midges with his mouth. The woman recovered. There was no trace left of the terrible disease. Moores did not appreciate the prisoner's help.
On the way to prison, John becomes ill. He faints. The guards barely brought him to the cell.
Part 6: Coffey Walks a Mile
When the entire night party was in the Green Mile, and Coffey was in his cell, the guards released Percy. He was angry. While walking past John's cell, he was grabbed by the arm. The prisoner released black midges into Percy's mouth. John immediately felt better, and Percy headed towards Wild Bill. He killed the prisoner and then lost his mind.
Paul again tries to justify John. He goes to the father of the girls whom Coffey allegedly killed. After the conversation, it becomes clear to Paul that Bill killed the children, and John just wanted to revive them. The warden understood how Coffey punished Bill.
The morning of John's execution arrived. He told Paul that he was tired of taking people's illnesses and wanted to leave. Coffey took the guard's hand and they said goodbye. When John was executed, all the guards wept. Afterwards they all quit.
A lot of time passed, Paul was already more than a hundred years old, he saw the death of that same mouse from Mili, who lived a long life. Paul himself still has many years to live, thanks to the wonderful touch of John Coffey.
This work teaches justice.
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Read summary The Green Mile. Brief retelling. For a reader's diary, take 5-6 sentences
What guaranteed the Green Mile success?
The success of The Green Mile was guaranteed due to the fact that it perfectly combines philosophy and the chilling horror of impending death. It is worth noting that Stephen King, until the very end of writing, could not decide whether to leave the main character, prisoner John Coffey, alive. Surely not only fragile ladies, but also strong men will shed a few tears after reading the book from cover to cover. Nothing can compare with this most daring work of the King of Horror, who masterfully described the story of “Death Road” and “looked into” the soul of each character in the novel.
Despite the fact that the book has a rather long plot, this did not affect its quality at all. Stephen King seems to be preparing his reader for what will happen next. "The Green Mile" helps to understand the feelings of those who are between life and death in the death row of the Cold Mountain prison.
