Bohème Magazine Online

This article contains spoilers (i.e. the plot of the story is revealed!)

When you name Stephen King in front of other people, you can be sure that most of them will immediately stop taking you seriously, as images of gooey one-eyed monsters come to their minds. As successful and famous as Stephen is, it seems that his talent is never truly acknowledged by those who never had a chance to read his books. The literary establishment also seems to refuse to see him as a real writer, and would rather simply leave him in the guy-who-writes-creepy-nutty-stories section. Yet, there's a lot to be said about King's talent as a simple storyteller, and an overview of his novels should also prove that he didn't only write fantastic or "supernatural" stories. The Green Mile is a perfect and recent example of a story that never really falls into the fantastic genre, despite the prejudices against its author.

I remember reading in Stephen King's autobiography On Writing that he often found inspiration for his books by asking himself "What if...?" and finishing the phrase with an original, unusual (and yes sometimes scary!) situation. As I was reading The Green Mile, I started wondering what this phrase (or actually wonder) could have been. The answer came to me later, and most people who also figured it out could tell that the point of the story is a lot more profound than it may seem at first.

The Green Mile was first written as six episodes, each being published in 1996. The story takes place in 1935 in the penitentiary of Cold Mountain in the south of the United States (Stephen King points out that it is actually located in the state of Louisiana, although it looks like Trapingus County cannot be found in Louisiana). The story focuses on the every day job of the guards in E block (the death row of Cold Mountain) and the arrival of John Coffey, an impressively tall, illiterate Black male, charged with the rape and murder of two little girls, and who soon shows supernatural healing powers. The events are told from the point of view of the chief guard, Paul Edgecomb, a cynical but fair man who shows more humanity and understanding than the average prison guard, and who will eventually doubt the culpability of John Coffey.

Throughout the story, Stephen King introduces us to a complete gallery of characters who build the everyday life of the block and create a cloistered atmosphere between the prisoners and the guards. The most outstanding characters are, without a doubt, the loathsome Percy Wetmore (a young guard who abuses his power over the prisoners and benefits from the support of the governor), the amiable Eduard Delacroix (a Cajun prisoner convicted with rape and murder) and the evil William "Wild Bill" Wharton (a young and extremely violent prisoner). The other central character is a mouse named Mister Jingles who is "adopted" by prisoner Eduard Delacroix and who shows vivid intelligence as well as acrobatic skills. He soon becomes the main curiosity in E block, impressing both prisoners and guards.

Last, of course, is John Coffey, the most important character along with guard Paul Edgecomb, with whom he builds a complex, ambiguous relationship. Astonished by the miraculous healing powers and candid personality of the prisoner, Paul Edgecomb starts doubting his guilt and soon convinces the other guards (except for Percy Wetmore) of his innocence as well. Unfortunately, and as you would expect, John Coffey will eventually be executed.

It was easy for the readers, and later for the audience of the movie, to automatically assume that The Green Mile was another one of these stories that denounce the death penalty, as well as the usual injustice applied against African Americans in the Deep South in the 30s. And yet, a close look at the story and its symbolism proves that Stephen King's point is totally different, and only has vague implications regarding social or racial issues. In fact, The Green Mile doesn't deal with the story of a Black male who is unfairly executed; it deals with the life (at least part of it) and execution of Christ.

Without any doubt, The Green Mile is loaded with religious symbolism. Less obvious in the filmed version, the references to Biblical facts are omnipresent in the book. As a result, an attentive reader will easily realize that the life and death of John Coffey are similar to those of Jesus Christ (you'll notice, by the way, that their names have the same initials). First of all, John Coffey is amazingly tall, symbolizing the greatness of God. Secondly, he has the miraculous power of healing the sick and the dying; we know that he cures guard Paul Edgecomb from his urinary infection, and brings back to life the almost dead mouse, Mister Jingles, both by imposing his hands. Later, he cures the warden's wife Melinda Moores from the cancer she is dying of, by breathing the disease out of her, similar to a "breath of life." Yet, as Janice Edgecomb (Paul's wife) is dying in a bus accident, John (or actually his apparition, since this happens long after his execution) refuses to help her, despite Paul's incredulity. Was this meant to symbolize that the Lord works in mysterious ways?

After John uses his healing powers, he lets a swarm of flies out of his mouth, which represents the disease or injury that he breathed in and is now expelling. We know that several references were made in the Bible related to flies. "Beelzebub," the name given to Satan, is found in the New Testament (Matthew 10:25; Matthew 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22) and is the same as "Baalzebub," which means "the lord of flies." Flies symbolize Evil, as well as God's judgment, like in one of the plagues (Exodus 8:21-31, Psalm 78:45), where "[God] sent vast swarms of flies to consume them." The use of this symbol and the power of John are the only "supernatural" events found in The Green Mile - in a more spiritual than scary way.

The other obvious connection between John Coffey and Jesus Christ is that of their unfair judgment and execution. Both were victims of injustice, misunderstood, accused and judged when they were simply trying to help others, and they are eventually executed under unfair circumstances. We even know that guard Paul Edgecomb dreams, one night (Book 5, Chapter 9), of John Coffey being crucified along with two thieves (who are actually prisoner Eduard Delacroix and guard Percy Wetmore, the first one representing the "good" thief and the second one, the "bad" thief). Furthermore, John Coffey's life before his arrest is nebulous; his lawyer says: "he seemed to have dropped out of the sky," which reminds us of the miracle of Jesus' conception and birth.

John Coffey has the ability not only to help others but also to feel their pain. He can see what's in other people's hearts and read their thoughts. He feels the pain and savagery around him, and suffers from the violence of humans killing each other, often with their own love. As he tells of the murder of the two little girls that he's charged with (a crime he didn’t commit, obviously), he explains:"[The murderer] killed them with their love … Just the way it happens every day all over the world" (Book 6, Chapter 7). As a Christ figure, John Coffey has the ability to bear the sins of others and take on their pain. The guards soon notice that he spends most of his time silently crying in his cell, comparing his eyes to an injury that never heals and keeps bleeding. Lastly, John Coffey tells the guards (Book 5) that he can hear the cries of dead prisoners when walking into the execution room, thus highlighting again his supernatural sensitivity.

Also, if you take a close look to the characters around John, you'll soon realize that they can easily relate to someone involved in the life or death of Jesus. First, at the time in the story of John's execution you have the four guards (Paul Edgecomb, Brutus "Brutal" Howell, Dean Stanton and Harry Terwilliger - guard Percy Wetmore being in a psychiatric hospital at this point) who represent the centurions that accompanied Jesus and crucified him, not out of their will but simply because they had to accomplish their job, much like the prison guards. Warden Hal Moores symbolizes without a doubt Judas, as he signed John's act of execution after the latter saved Moores' wife from her cancer, thus appears like a traitor. John's public defender, Burt Hammersmith, relates to Pontius Pilate for his indifference and lack of emotion regarding the sentence to death of an innocent man; he does his job without putting too much effort in it and never questions it. In the end, Bill Dodge definitely has a "I wash my hands clean of him" attitude.

An interesting character is that of Melinda Moores, warden Hal Moores' wife, who is cured from cancer by John's miraculous powers. It looks like this scene refers to the Biblical scene "Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac" (Matthew 8.28-34; Mark 5.1-20; Luke 8.26-39), where Jesus exorcises the demons out of the body of a man who calls himself "Legion" (because he says he's possessed with many demons). When the guards take John to try his power on Melinda she's only a mere shadow of what she used to be, and is compared to someone who is "possessed." Her bedroom has a horrible smell, and Melinda has an evil, malicious look on her face; also she keeps saying obscene, blasphemous words. This particular scene is directly followed by the one where John Coffey transmits the swarm of flies to guard Percy Wetmore and the latter, in a sudden fit of madness, shoots prisoner William Wharton.

It seems like a lot of people misunderstood the meaning of this scene, wondering why the caring, Jesus-John Coffey would have consciously committed such a violent act of revenge and punishment. To understand why this scene happens, we have to go back to the Legion episode of the Bible and the healing of Melinda Moores. In the Bible, once Jesus exorcises the demons out of the possessed man, he fools them by proposing to possess the souls of pigs; but the possessed pigs go crazy and throw themselves from a cliff, thus expelling the demons with no more soul to possess. Stephen King follows the same pattern in The Green Mile. Once John Coffey "inhales" the evil out of possessed-like Melinda Moores, he eventually transmits it to Percy Wetmore (his unpure soul can probably relate to that of the pig). Obviously, Percy doesn't run off a cliff to get rid of the evil and therefore expels it by shooting to death prisoner William Wharton.

Indeed, William "Wild Bill" Wharton is the personification of the devil. Ultra-violent, literally introduced as a "demon" by guard Paul Edgecomb, sly and manipulative, he is the one who actually raped and killed the two little girls, the crime that John Coffey is charged with. We know that he also tried to kill guard Dean Stanton on his arrival at the penitentiary with a strength that seems supernatural. Often introduced as someone who doesn't care and has nothing to lose, his pride and ego enjoy being flattered (a good example is that of the nickname he's given himself, "Wild Bill," and the temper he gets into when guard Paul Edgecomb mocks him and calls him "Buffalo Bill" instead), reminding us of Satan's vanity. More than a simple revenge from John, the killing of William Wharton (and the madness that permanently hit Percy Wetmore) shows that divine justice is eventually administered, in spite of human justice.

Last, there is the mouse that prisoner Eduard Delacroix named Mister Jingles and adopted for the time he was staying in his cell. His role is central and has a double aspect. The first one is that of revealing the real personality of the other characters. He highlights the humanity of the prison guards (the mouse entertains them and the guards give him food), of Eduard Delacroix (who literally adopted the mouse and took care of him) and the extreme sensitivity and caring personality of John Coffey (who shows a serious interest in the mouse and brings it back to life). The mouse also reveals the evil personality of guard Percy Wetmore (as he tries to kill it and almost succeeds).

The second aspect of Mister Jingles' role is that of symbolizing human beings and their condition. The prison is compared to a circus, and the prisoners and guards are themselves compared to mice. When the guards see the mouse, Paul Edgecomb even wonders how it would feel to be the mouse and have to face impressive beings (such as humans) and relates it to human beings facing their creator for the Last Judgment (Book 1, Chapter 7). We can even oppose the tiny white mouse (a human being) to almost gigantic black John Coffey (Jesus Christ) to highlight the contrast of both symbols.

You can now easily see what Stephen King's real point was. The fable he's telling us is based on the life of Christ and the Passion and, in the end, has very little to do with the traditional anti-death penalty story most people think it's about.

Something also has to be said about the movie adaptation of the book, which was released in 1999 and directed by Frank Darabont (who directed The Shawshank Redemption, which is also based on a story by Stephen King). You know how rare it is to watch a movie and find it as good (or almost) as the book it was adapted from. Darabont surely did a great job when making this three-hour long movie, which perfectly recreates the atmosphere and context described in the book. The cast is remarkable, from Tom Hanks (as Paul Edgecomb) to Michael Clarke Duncan (as John Coffey), from David Morse (as Brutus "Brutal" Howell) to Doug Hutchinson (as Percy Wetmore), and it is no surprise that the movie was nominated for 38 awards (including the Academy Awards, the Bram Stoker awards and the Golden Globes), and won 7 of them (among them, the People's Choice Award, the First American in the Arts Award and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award).

The outstanding performance of the cast definitely gives you this rare feeling that you're watching something that is really happening, and not just a movie.

Filled with emotion, Darabont's Green Mile was also criticized for showing some violent scenes, such as the execution of prisoner Eduard Delacroix (played by the late Michael Jeter). We can wonder, though, how diminished the impact on the audience would have been if Darabont hadn't shown this disturbing scene, which also contributes in explaining why guard Percy Wetmore is such an abominable character.

The only disappointing aspect we can find about the movie is the fact that the religious symbolism is so subtle (compared to the book) that one will probably not notice at all that the story actually deals with the life of Jesus. And yet, the same elements are there, including some interesting views of the prison itself; its design reminds us of a sanctuary, with streams of light coming from the ceiling. Also, a close look at the execution room reveals a church-like setting, the witnesses sitting in pew style rows, with the electric chair standing in front of them like an altar.

In the end, the film The Green Mile is definitely a must-see, for its emotional power as well as its spiritual points.

In fact, there are a few different conclusions that you can draw from The Green Mile. You can wonder if, in this case, Stephen King's "What if...?" question might have been something like "What if Jesus had appeared to us in the 1930's, as a Black male, somewhere in Deep South of the United States? How would things have been different?" Well, the story teaches us that things would not have been any different. 2000 years later, Jesus would still be executed by humans for being simply different, and accused even when innocent. Humans, unlike Jesus, cannot see what's in people's hearts, and therefore judge them from what they can only see on the outside (race, in Coffey's case). Still blinded from the obvious truth by prejudices, humans are just as likely, today, to commit mistakes as they were when Christ was crucified.

Beyond the religious conclusions, The Green Mile reveals a few philosophical points as well. One of them is to dispute the traditional human fantasy of being immortal. Touched by the grace of God, guard Paul Edgecomb and Mister Jingles are given the opportunity to live much longer than their average respective fellow. But is it really a good thing? One can doubt it. Paul Edgecomb finds his life too long, which leads us to wonder how we would feel about being immortal. What kind of meaning would life have if we were to be immortal? Or if we were to live to be a couple of hundred year old? Wouldn't it make our existence pointless and wouldn't we desire some kind of end to it?

The Green Mile also points out the idea that we are all, in some way, condemned (and imprisoned). It is true, of course, for the prisoners of E block (who are sentenced to death), but can also apply to the animal in its cage (Mister Jingles) and even, ironically, to the elderly who stay in retirement homes, patiently ... waiting.

There are probably a lot of other conclusions one could draw (both on religious and philosophical levels) from The Green Mile. Profoundly Christian, this story has the obvious goal of making its audience (whether they believe in God or not) think about our society, and how little we have evolved in our judgement of others in 2000 years. From a religious angle, The Green Mile gives a concrete image of Jesus' life and execution, making those events "closer to us." Stephen King's point might have been to make us examine Jesus' fate with a deeper look, keeping in mind that what happened so long ago could happen again.

Thanks to Eamon Graham for helping me put some pieces of the puzzle together!

Copyright © 2003 by Sabrina Laurent. May not be reproduced or used without permission of the author.
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