The Green Mile Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Green Mile is narrated by Paul Edgecombe, an old man recalling 1932, when he ran the death row block of a Louisiana prison. A huge, gentle prisoner named John Coffey, condemned for killing two little girls, turns out to have a miraculous gift for healing, and Paul comes to believe he is innocent.
Stephen King first published the novel in six short monthly installments.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Paul Edgecombe | Head guard on death row |
| John Coffey | Gentle giant convicted of murder |
| Percy Wetmore | Cruel young guard with powerful connections |
| Brutus Howell | Paul's trusted fellow guard |
| Eduard Delacroix | Prisoner who tames a mouse |
| Mr. Jingles | The clever mouse |
| William Wharton | Violent, unpredictable prisoner |
| Hal Moores | Prison warden |
| Melinda Moores | Hal's very ill wife |
What is the Green Mile?
The old Paul writes his story at a nursing home. In 1932 he was in charge of E Block at Cold Mountain Penitentiary, where condemned men waited for the electric chair. The floor is green linoleum, so the guards call it the Green Mile. John Coffey arrives, a huge man found holding the bodies of two murdered sisters, weeping that he tried to take it back.
↑ Back to the topWhat is John Coffey's gift?
Paul suffers from a painful infection. Coffey calls him over, touches him and breathes out a cloud of black insects, and Paul is cured. Coffey also brings Mr. Jingles, Delacroix's pet mouse, back to life after Percy stamps on it. Percy, a sadistic guard, is the governor's wife's nephew and cannot be fired.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens at Delacroix's execution?
Percy deliberately leaves the sponge dry at Delacroix's execution, and the man dies horribly. The guards decide Percy must go. Meanwhile the violent William Wharton arrives and causes chaos.
↑ Back to the topHow does Coffey heal Melinda?
The warden's wife Melinda is dying of a brain tumor. Paul and his guards lock Percy in a restraint room, drug Wharton and secretly drive Coffey to the warden's house. Coffey draws the tumor out of her, but this time he keeps it inside himself. Back at the prison, he grabs Percy and breathes the sickness into him. Percy shoots Wharton dead and falls into a catatonic state.
↑ Back to the topHow does The Green Mile end?
Coffey shows Paul, by touching him, that Wharton was the real killer of the girls. Paul offers to help him escape, but Coffey says he is tired of all the pain he feels in the world and wants to go. He is executed, with the guards in tears. Paul quits soon after.
In the present, Paul reveals he is 104 years old and that Mr. Jingles, the mouse, is still alive, both touched by Coffey's power. Paul has outlived his wife, his friends and everyone he loved, and wonders how long his own green mile will be.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Green Mile
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.