Summary
It's the present day and Paul goes on an early morning walk at the Georgia Pines nursing home. He passes by an abandoned shed and goes inside. Paul notices that time behaves differently in Georgia Pines. He witnesses how many residents quickly decline after moving there, losing their memory and desire to live. Paul actively tries to fight this trend by taking walks and writing. Brad Dolan, who works at Georgia Pines, is a mean-spirited man and dislikes Paul. Dolan sees Paul walking and forcefully interrogates him. Dolan reminds Paul of Percy, a bully who uses his position of power to pick on those weaker than him. Paul worries Dolan will find out his secret.
The narrative returns to 1932, where everyone is horrified by what Percy has done. Mr. Jingles lies in a pool of blood on the floor, barely breathing. Coffey tells Paul to give him the mouse while there is still time; his voice has the same sense of urgency as when he healed Paul. Picking up Mr. Jingles, Paul can feel the splintered bones of the mouse’s body. Brutal, Dean, and Harry all question what’s happening, but Paul quiets them. Cupping Mr. Jingles between his hands, Coffey inhales. Coffey’s face transforms with pain and his skin takes on an ashy parlor; he gags and coughs out a swarm of black insects through his mouth and nose. They swirl around and then disappear. At the same time, Mr. Jingle’s once limp tail begins to twitch. Coffey lets the mouse down and it runs back to an overjoyed Delacroix. Brutal orders Delacroix to toss the spool. Just as before, Mr. Jingles runs after it but this time he has a minor limp in one of his legs. Coffey looks tired but relieved, smiling when Paul acknowledges that Coffey helped the mouse. Meanwhile Delacroix is kissing Mr. Jingles and singing him a lullaby.
Paul and Brutal find Percy polishing the wooden arms of “Old Sparky” in preparation for Delacroix’s execution. They inform him that Mr. Jingles is fine, omitting how Coffey healed the mouse. Percy is incredulous and goes to check. He comes back to accuse them of pulling a prank on him. Brutal and Paul are furious. They back him up until he’s sitting in “Old Sparky,” and intimidate Percy by telling him that after the execution tomorrow he has to hand in his notice. Percy is affronted and, as always, threatens them with his political connections. Paul and Brutal retort that if he does, they’ll let everyone know Percy did nothing while Wharton almost killed Dean. Percy finally gives in, complaining about how the guards in E Block push him around, never giving him a chance.
The night of Delacroix’s execution begins smoothly. Delacroix bids a tearful farewell to Mr. Jingles, and makes Paul promise to send Mr. Jingles to Mouseville. The priest prays with Delacroix in French, which has a calming effect. Meanwhile 25 witnesses are seated to watch the proceedings. Delacroix’s calm evaporates when he sees that Percy will be in charge of the execution. Outside there is a powerful thunderstorm, rain beats down violently on the roof and the heat in the storage shed is nearly unbearable. While strapping Delacroix into the electric chair, Percy reveals to Delacroix that Mouseville is not real. At about the same time, Paul and the other guards start to feel that something is off. Hiding his actions from view, Percy puts a dry, rather than wet, sponge into the cap and places it on Delacroix’s head. Paul notices that no water is running down Delacroix’s cheeks and realizes at the last minute what Percy has done. Panicked, Paul tries to grab Percy’s arm to stop him but Percy gives Paul a look and quickly signals for the electricity to begin.
Without the soaked sponge to channel the electricity to Delacroix’s brain, the heat of the electric surge burns Delacroix’s scalp and he catches fire. The guards are the first to realize what’s happening. Over the pounding of thunder, they hear Delacroix’s screams and smell burning hair and flesh. Delacroix’s body jerks back and forth violently, and the witnesses panic. None of the guards are quite sure what to do. They cannot throw water on Delacroix because of the electricity and shutting down the electric chair will just cause Delacroix to suffer more. Reluctantly, Paul and Brutal decide not to intervene. The execution seems to stretch on forever. The storage shed is in pure chaos. Witnesses are fainting and vomiting; many try to leave, but the door is locked. The mask covering Delacroix’s face catches fire, as do parts of his flesh. Finally the execution ends. The guards are able to put out the fire with fire extinguishers and Paul declares Delacroix dead.
The moment they get Delacroix’s burnt body out to the tunnel, Brutal lunges at Percy. Paul holds him back, cautioning prudence and warning they could all lose their jobs. In a rehearsed manner, Percy denies any knowledge about using a wet sponge. Later, Paul discovers Percy’s lie when he learns that Percy specifically asked Jack Van Hay, the guard in charge of flipping the lever to electrocute the convicts, about the purpose of the sponge. Harry and Dean join the others outside the shed. All the guards are furious and together they gang up on Percy, threatening to leave him alone with Wharton if he does not hand in his notice and leave Cold Mountain. Percy is indignant at being called incompetent and careless, but cannot defend himself without giving away that his use of a dry sponge was deliberate. Curtis Anderson, the second in command at Cold Mountain, comes outside yelling that the whole prison smells of burnt flesh and vomit. By then all the guards stick to the same story: sometimes things go wrong with an execution but the important thing is that Delacroix is dead. Percy maintains his innocence about the accident with the sponge, and the guards inform Curtis that Percy is handing in his notice.
Back on E Block, Paul writes up a report about the execution. Wharton and Coffey’s reactions to the execution could not be more different. Wharton is gleeful, having composed a song about Delacroix burning like barbeque. Meanwhile, Coffey is silently weeping for Delacroix. Mr. Jingles has run away, and is never seen again on E Block. Returning home, Paul tells his wife Janice what happened. It is during this telling that he starts to form a plan about how Coffey could help Melinda. That night, Paul dreams of Coffey holding the two dead twins, when he was found by the search party. In the dream, Coffey repeats what he said when they found him, “I couldn’t help it. I tried to take it back, but it was too late.” This time Paul actually understands what Coffey was trying to say.
Warden Moores calls to inform Paul that Percy handed in his notice. Moores is taking time off to care for Melinda, who is declining quickly. His voice is strained, as if he's aged years in the past few days. Warden Moores confides that Melinda is acting differently. She’s swearing at him and using crude language, something she never used to do. Paul invites Brutal, Dean, and Harry to his house. Paul tells Janice he’s planning something that could get them in trouble, and that it’s better she does not know the details. The other three guards come over for lunch and Paul lays out his plan.
Paul wants to sneak Coffey to Warden Moores’ house and see if he can cure Melinda. He tells them how Coffey cured him and reminds them how Coffey brought Mr. Jingles back from near death. The others bring up the risks of losing their jobs or imprisonment if they are caught. Paul is closest to Melinda and Warden Moores but his motivation goes beyond that. Paul feels they all share some responsibility for what happened to Delacroix and he wants to atone for his part. They all knew Percy was unfit to work on E Block, but went along with it so as not to risk their jobs and to get rid of him faster. Paul eventually convinces the others and the four men talk through details of how to distract Percy and sneak Coffey out of the prison. Then Dean reminds everyone Coffey is a murderer and questions what they would do if Coffey tries to escape. Paul reveals that he’s convinced Coffey is innocent.
Analysis
Paul is working himself up to write about Delacroix’s execution when he’s accosted by Dolan. As with Percy’s hatred towards Delacroix, it is unclear why Dolan dislikes Paul so much. Dolan looks down on the elderly. His attitude is completely at odds with Paul’s approach, which was to treat the inmates at Cold Mountain with dignity, even though they were criminals. Paul feels that in writing about Cold Mountain he’s bringing the past into the present. He draws comparisons between Georgia Pines and Cold Mountain, both institutions where people are waiting to die.
Coffey reacts to seeing others in pain with an urgent need to heal them. Seeing how injured Mr. Jingles is, Paul wonders if Coffey will be able to help Mr. Jingles, but figures it is worth a try. The other guards look on in shock and confusion as he hands Mr. Jingles to Coffey and Coffey heals the mouse’s injuries. Having experienced Coffey’s healing ability before, Paul is the only one who understands what is going on. Mr. Jingle's limp is a small reminder of his nearly deadly injuries. It is a detail that makes the miracle they witnessed all the more real. Witnessing this second demonstration further cements Paul’s belief in Coffey’s supernatural ability and sets the stage for the plan for Melinda that Paul will come up with.
Paul and Brutal are furious with Percy. This most recent act of unnecessary cruelty to a man already sentenced to die pushes them to act. Percy constantly hides behind his connections but, for once, this threat does not work. Paul and Brutal judge that Percy is still young and impressionable enough that they can threaten him into leaving. Percy tries to play the victim but Paul cuts him off, retorting that they have tried to teach him how things work on E Block but Percy is unwilling to listen. Their threats work. Percy is fine breaking the rules as long as he does not get caught, but being exposed as a coward is far worse. Paul and Brutal leave the conversation feeling relieved they’ll finally be rid of Percy. They do not realize how much trouble he is about to cause.
Throughout the novel, King creates tension around Delacroix’s death, foreshadowing that something terrible will happen. The severe lightning and thunder the night of Delacroix’s execution heighten the foreboding mood. Between the extreme heat and the smell of fear and sweat rolling off of Delacroix, the mood in the storage room is oppressive. The loud thunder makes both guards and witnesses jumpy. Finally, all of the tension and suspense that has been building up boils over.
Paul narrates the events both as they happen in the moment and with the clarity of hindsight. In the moment, events are happening too quickly and Paul feels trapped. Although Percy pleads ignorance, Percy’s discussion with Jack Van Hay proves he was fully conscious of what he was doing. He wanted to cause Delacroix pain for laughing at him. The result of his revenge is truly horrific. King describes with frighteningly vivid imagery the sights, smells, and sounds of Delacroix burning alive before everyone’s eyes. Everyone feels trapped: the witnesses cannot get out and the guards feel helpless. One way or another Delacroix has to die but, if they stop the execution halfway through, it will only prolong his pain. As Brutal mentions later, there is a twisted poetic justice to Delacroix burning alive. Delacroix killed six people in a fire; that he should meet the same fate can be seen as an act of judgment. Yet, as the reader and guards know well, Delacroix’s fate is not one of divine punishment but of petty revenge enacted under the guise of the legal system.
The guards are dazed and enraged. They all take their job seriously, and Percy’s refusal to play by the rules makes a mockery of their work. He reveals how arbitrary and flawed the criminal justice system can be. Brutal is incensed that the system protects someone like Percy, who will get to walk out of Cold Mountain with a clean record. However, to keep their jobs the guards downplay what Percy did, blaming it on incompetence.
Despite Delacroix’s crimes, Paul acknowledges his humanity and does not think Delacroix deserved to die as he did. Paul believes strongly in treating all the inmates he oversees with dignity. As a religious man, Paul considers it his duty to ease convicts’ passage until they face judgment day, both legal and religious. Paul feels somewhat responsible for what happened because he ignored his own intuition and let Percy control the proceedings. His plan to help Coffey save Melinda’s life is a chance to atone for his sins. Paul knows it’s risky, yet he feels morally compelled to do it. The others are convinced to go along with him in part by the sheer audacity of the plan. Up until now, Paul has harbored doubts about Coffey’s guilt. Yet recent events and insights have completely convinced Paul of Coffey’s innocence.
