Summary
Paul falls asleep at the desk while writing. He’s so close to reaching the end that he decides to skip his morning walk and finish the story. Dolan comes in and starts bullying Paul. As always, Dolan calls him Paulie; he forcefully tries to grab the pages Paul is writing on. Just then, Elaine comes in and with a voice of authority orders Dolan to stop. Dolan is not intimidated by Eliane and at first he laughs. Elaine informs Dolan that her grandson is a powerful politician in Georgia and threatens to get Dolan fired if he bothers Paul again. Dolan realizes she’s not bluffing and grudgingly leaves. Grateful for her help, Paul gives Eliane his story and asks her to read it.
As the night journey that saves Melinda comes to an end, Coffey’s health declines rapidly. When they return to Cold Mountain, he is at death's door. The guards half carry a stumbling Coffey into his cell. The muscles of his mouth pull down, mimicking Melinda’s symptoms. Dean is relieved to see them back and reports that all has been quiet in their absence. The four guards go to the restraint room to release Percy, who smells of sweat and fear. When Paul pulls the tape off Percy’s mouth, Percy immediately yells to be freed. To everyone’s shock, Paul slaps him. Again, the guards threaten Percy. If Percy speaks of what they did, they’ll send criminals after him to beat him within an inch of his life. Percy sullenly agrees not to say anything, but both Paul and Brutal know that when Percy regains composure, he’ll tell.
Angry and distracted, Percy marches down the Green Mile. He passes too close to Coffey’s cell and Coffey’s arms shoot out and grab him. Coffey pulls Percy to him, and places his mouth on Percy’s. Percy tries to fight him off, but Coffey is too strong. All the sickness Coffey absorbed from Melinda goes rushing into Percy’s mouth in a black swirling tide. The power of what’s happening shatters a lightbulb overhead. Sluggishly, Paul tries to intervene, but just as suddenly Coffey lets go. Percy’s eyes are blank and unseeing. Brutal claps his hands in Percy’s face, trying to snap him awake. It appears to work. Percy’s eyelids flutter and he stumbles in a daze down the hall. Stopping outside Wharton's cell, Percy pulls his gun and shoots six rounds, killing Wharton in cold blood. Wharton, who has been sleeping his deep, drugged sleep, never wakes up. The guards rush at Percy. He drops his gun, but his eyes remain unseeing. Having expelled the sickness, Coffey’s health returns. Percy coughs and out comes the swirling swarm of insects, but his mental faculties do not return. The guards are panicked and dismayed by how quickly events spun out of control. Paul calms them and outlines a plan.
Warden Moores returns to Cold Mountain to handle everything. Now that Melinda is recovered, Moores is back to his usual strong self. Paul lies to Moores, saying that what happened to Percy was unrelated to Coffey healing Melinda. He and the other guards stick to a simplified version of events: Percy was quiet when he came out of the restraint room, he walked up to Wharton’s cell and started shooting. Paul does share with the Warden that Wharton had sexually harassed Percy in the past. In a side note to narration to the reader, Paul adds that Percy does end up at Briar Ridge, but things do not work as planned. Percy ends up being institutionalized for the rest of his life and remains catatonic until he dies in 1965.
The news that a prison guard became mentally unstable and shot and killed an inmate causes a media and political storm. Paul lies low during this time, afraid to do anything that will garner attention. The date is set for Coffey’s execution on November 20th. With this reality looming, Paul sets out to investigate the Detterick twins' murder. Paul speaks with the sheriff who oversaw Wharton’s case and then returns to Trapingus County and speaks with deputy sheriff Rob McGee, who had led the search party that found Coffey. Returning home, Paul informs his wife that Wharton was the one who killed the Detterick girls.
Paul calls another meeting with Harry, Brutal, and Dean to share what he has discovered. This time, Janice joins them. When Wharton grabbed Coffey’s arm in his drugged state, Coffey realized Wharton was the rapist and murderer of the Detterick girls. That is why Coffey’s demeanor changed so suddenly. With this knowledge, Coffey chose to keep Melinda’s sickness inside him and then pour the sickness into Percy to use him as a type of weapon to kill Wharton. Paul’s investigation of Wharton uncovered a history of pedophilia which was not on his criminal record because the family of the victim did not want the information becoming public. When McGee spoke with Klaus Detterick, Detterick shared that in mid-May, less than a month before the murders, he hired a young man to help paint his barn. The man ate at his table and met the whole family. The man said his name was Will Bonney, the birth name of Billy the Kid and the outlaw Wharton admired. A day after Wharton left the Detterick’s farm, he robbed a railroad office in the nearby area.
They now have evidence that Wharton was in the area where the murders were committed, had a proclivity for young girls, and knew the Detterick girls. Hearing all the evidence, Janice is hopeful that they will be able to prove Coffey’s innocence. However, Paul and the rest of the guards know the failures of the system. Paul creates serious doubt in McGee’s mind about Coffey’s guilt, but it’s not enough. McGee plainly states that the county never offers retrials for Black convicts. As the deputy sheriff, McGee does not have the authority to make the call and is not willing to risk his career or cause a public outcry. Janice is infuriated, pushing the guards to take action even suggesting they help Coffey escape. When Janice sees that Paul and the rest are resigned to the horrible situation, she loses her patience. Pushing the plates off the table, she yells that if they knowingly send an innocent man to his death then they’ll be murderers too, just as bad as Wharton. Later, Janice apologizes to Paul, admitting that she knows he is in an impossible position. However, she insists that Paul has a moral obligation to stand by and support Coffey throughout the entire execution. During the rehearsal for Coffey’s execution, Brutal shares that he’s worried he’ll go to hell for killing a gift of God.
At work, Paul talks with Coffey about his last meal and getting a priest. Coffey holds Paul’s hands as they talk. Coffey knows Paul and the others feel immense guilt for what they are about to do, but Coffey reveals he’s ready to die. Coffey shares that he’s exhausted from feeling and hearing others’ pain all the time. Coffey feels all the pain and darkness and he cannot always help heal it. As they talk, Paul feels as if a part of him is waking up that he was not aware existed; Coffey is accidentally passing his awareness to Paul. Paul panics, worried he’s going to explode, but Coffey assures him it will pass. Before Paul goes, Coffey answers a nagging doubt Paul has about the Detterick twins’ murder. Wharton threatened each girl that if she screamed he’d kill her sister. “He kill them with they love,” Coffey says and now he is crying. For a moment, Paul can see Wharton on the porch threatening the twins. Leaving Coffey’s cell, Paul realizes he can also hear Brutal’s thoughts and the sound of the train miles away. Paul is full of anxious energy and runs around through the rest of his shift trying to distract himself. By the time he gets home, Coffey’s abilities have passed, but Paul decides not to tell anyone, not even Janice.
Not wanting to witness Coffey’s execution, Moores goes home early. He still believes Coffey is guilty, but is conflicted after Coffey saved his wife’s life. Paul envies Moores’ ignorance. As Coffey requested, he prays with Paul instead of a priest. Coffey is calm until he enters the storage room but then he feels the hate emanating from Mr. and Ms. Detterick who are there to witness the execution. Brutal and Paul try to reassure him that all will be over soon, but they can do nothing to stop the pain Coffey feels. In her grief, Ms. Detterick yells hateful things at Coffey during the execution. Harry starts crying and the other guards are blank as sheets. None of them want Coffey to die and Paul feels like he’s going to vomit. Coffey’s last words are, “I’m sorry for what I am.” Scared of the dark, Coffey begs for them not to use the mask on him. Although it’s against protocol, Paul agrees. Strapped in the electric chair, Coffey looks like a trapped and terrified animal. In the end, Paul gives the order since Brutal is too emotional to do so. The execution is over quickly. Coffey dies with tears running down his face. They turn to steam from the electricity and heat.
Back in the present, Paul gives Elaine the last pages of his story to read. Elaine has read up to the point of Delacroix’s execution, and Paul can tell she’s been crying. When Elaine asks Paul’s age, he reveals that he was born in 1892. It is 1996, which makes him 104 years old. Paul wants to share the secret about the shed with Elaine. Dolan is gone for the day, so Paul waits for Elaine outside while she finishes the last of his story. As they walk to the shed, Paul shares that he is the only one left alive who knows about the events. Inside the shed is an incredibly old mouse with a limp, Mr. Jingles. Elaine is shocked. Paul shares that one day Mr. Jingles just showed up at Georgia Pines, which makes him at least 64 years old. Paul rolls a spool to prove it’s really him. Mr. Jingles chases after the spool with the same enthusiasm, but his movements are slow and painful to watch. The power that passed through Mr. Jingles and Paul when Coffey healed them has given them both unusually long lives. However, Paul can see that it’s wearing off on Mr. Jingles and knows that soon it will be his time to die. Just then, Dolan surprises them in the shed. He had faked leaving and then snuck back to catch Paul and discover his secret. Paul yells at Dolan to leave the mouse alone, accidentally calling him Percy. Dolan retorts that the mouse is already dead. Satisfied that he discovered Paul’s secret, Dolan leaves. Elaine and Paul bury Mr. Jingles.
Paul had promised to tell Elaine about how Janice died, but he never gets the chance. Three months after their conversation in the shed, Elaine passes away. In the final chapter, Paul shares how Janice died with the reader. In 1956, the two take a Greyhound bus to see their granddaughter graduate from university. The bus gets into an accident, splits in half and everyone goes flying. Of the 74 people on the bus, 69 died. Paul is the only one left uninjured. He wanders around the crash site looking for Janice, and finds her with a severe head injury. Paul holds her trembling body in his arms as she dies. He screams for help and under the shadows of the underpass sees Coffey standing there. Paul blinks and only sees shadows, but believes he saw Coffey’s ghost. After this accident, Paul realizes how Coffey permanently changed him. Throughout his long life, he is protected from accidents or injury and only gets sick one time. Paul knows he’ll die eventually but reflects that sometimes the Green Mile is so long.
Analysis
Paul is exhausted from the writing process but is so close to the end. He is genuinely afraid of Dolan and confuses him in his mind with Percy. When he was younger, Paul could easily stand up to Percy’s bullying ways. Yet now, Paul feels old and vulnerable. Elaine, however, stands up to Dolan and defends Paul. In a mirror of what Percy used to do, Elaine uses her family connections to threaten Dolan, and Paul is grateful.
The guards release Percy and, though their threats work temporarily, Paul and Brutal know that in questions of pride Percy can never let anything go. Eventually, Percy will tell on them for locking him up. Paul accepts the risk, feeling it was worth taking to save Melinda’s life. Percy never did listen to the guards’ advice about using the center of the corridor. Once again, this time with Coffey, his carelessness costs him. After realizing Wharton is the true killer of the Detterick girls, Coffey chooses to hold Melinda’s sickness inside him until he gets back to the prison. He nearly kills himself in the process. Revealing the darker side of his magic, Coffey uses his powers to enact retribution. When Percy passes his cell, Coffey seizes Percy and passes Melinda’s sickness to Percy, using him as a weapon to punish Wharton for his sins. In a dazed, almost hypnotized state, Percy kills Wharton. Coffey is a deeply empathetic person, accustomed to feeling other people’s pain. For Percy, who is entirely self-absorbed, feeling the depth of another person’s pain and illness is too much and drives him insane. Although Percy is able to physically expel the sickness from his body, his mind is never the same again. Through these events, King illustrates the relative moral and physical strength of the two characters.
As the chaos of the night journey and its aftermath subside, the reality of Coffey’s impending execution sets in. Paul believes in truth, fairness, and justice. This compels him to once again take the investigation of the twins’ murder into his own hands. He confirms what Coffey already knew: that Wharton raped and murdered the Detterick girls. The details of what happened reveal the depth of Wharton’s deception. Wharton was perfectly comfortable sitting quietly and politely at the Detterick’s dinner table, hiding his true nature and then, with no hesitation, committing ghastly crimes against the family whose table he shared. The contrast between Wharton and Coffey, who risks his life and freedom to try and save the Detterick girls, provides a sharp contrast to the guards’ moral decision about Coffey’s execution.
The guards of E Block know the truth about the twins’ murder, but the rest of society does not appear to be interested. Racism clouds their interpretation of events, and Deputy Sheriff McGee’s comments imply as much. No one will be willing to risk their career for a Black man’s life, even if he’s innocent. Simply put, most of society puts little value on Black life. The guards are in charge of Coffey’s execution and face a moral dilemma. Do they follow the law and murder an innocent man or risk their jobs and freedom to do the morally right thing? King highlights the hypocrisy and erroneous nature of society’s morality and exposes the flaws in the criminal justice system. The guards feel trapped and guilt weighs heavily on all of them. Brutal worries he’ll face God’s judgment when he dies because Coffey is not just innocent of the crime, but “a gift of God.” Killing someone so pure, who has been put on earth to heal others' pain, is a morally reprehensible act.
Even though Coffey is the victim of this situation, he takes on the role of healer in an effort to ease the guards’ guilt. Coffey absorbs all of the cruelty and pain in the world and is unable to heal all of it. This burden explains why Coffey is always crying. His unique gift isolates him, and he feels lost and lonely with no one to guide him. The weight has become too much and Coffey sees death as a release from the overwhelming pain he feels on behalf of others. As Coffey opens up, he accidentally shares some of his gifts with Paul. For Paul, the results are overwhelming. For a few hours, he can hear people’s thoughts, has flashes of other’s memories, and feels a crushing tingling of senses that are normally dormant. In a rush, Paul realizes the extent and burden of Coffey’s gifts.
Although Coffey is ready to die, he is scared of the actual act of dying, especially in such a violent and public way. The calm he feels leading up to his death evaporates in the face of the brutal reality of his execution. Coffey absorbs all of the misdirected hate people have toward him. This moment reveals the contrasting natures of Coffey’s character: the compassionate healer and the lost and scared child. Coffey’s death is a tragedy. Paul knows it was a terrifying and painful death for Coffey, not what such a gentle and healing soul deserved.
The power that passes through Mr. Jingles and Paul when Coffey heals them changes them permanently. In the present, King reveals that both have lived abnormally long lives. After over sixty years, Mr. Jingles returns and brings the past into the present for Paul. Seeing how close Mr. Jingles is to death pushes Paul to write down his story. After holding onto it for sixty years, Paul feels immense relief in writing it all down.
The novel ends with Paul, an old man, ruminating on death. Paul was surrounded by death for most of his career. Just as each inmate had to wait, knowing their death was imminent, so does Paul. And yet, the wait stretches on. King returns to the metaphor of walking the Green Mile to speak of how Paul awaits his death. Paul has witnessed the death of everyone whom he cared for during his life. When Paul lost Janice, the love of his life, in the bus accident, he realized how permanently Coffey changed him. Paul remains unscathed by the accidents and sickness that claim everyone else’s lives. Paradoxically, Coffey saves Paul’s life, yet Paul reflects that there is a fine line between salvation and damnation. As Coffey understood, loneliness can be worse than death.
