Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Gollancz
Publication Year: 2008
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 433
At Cold Mountain Penitentiary killers such as Billy the Kid Wharton and Eduard Delacroix await death in Old Sparky. But no-one is prepared for the arrival of the evil new prisoner, John Coffe.
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Paul Edgecomb is the supervisor of the death row cell block in Cold Mountain Penitentiary. The color of the cellblock floor’s linoleum is green, thus gaining the nickname as the green mile. In 1932, a new inmate named John Coffey arrived after being convicted for raping and murdering two young white girls. John Coffey is a huge black man. Despite of his appearance, his behavior while being an inmate shows the opposite of what he’s being convicted for. Paul began to question whether John was the one who raped and murdered those girls, especially after John helped Paul with his unexpected abilities.
The Green Mile was originally published in volumes, six volumes to be exact. Although the edition that I read is a collected edition, it is still divided into 6 parts like the original. It is helpful, if you can’t read it in one sitting you can stop right where the supposedly volume ends. Though I don’t recommend to read this book in one sitting.
I went into this book expecting a horror book. The Green Mile is horrifying alright, just not in the way that I expected. Having read other King’s books, I notice that regardless of the presence of supernatural beings or monsters, the actual evil in his books is often the human themselves. In my opinion, that’s what makes his stories more grounded and that’s the case with this book.
The Green Mile itself is written from Paul’s point of view. It’s written as if Paul is in his golden years and he’s recounting his year when he worked in Cold Mountain, specifically the year John Coffey arrived there. Paul is writing a book that tells his extraordinary experience with John Coffey. Sometimes in the flashbacks the narrative jumps around just as Paul remember things.
I don’t think I can say enough how I admire King’s writing skill. He is such a good storyteller. He successfully makes me feel angry, sad, scared, and hopeful just by reading his words. He made me feel attached to his characters, human or not. Even when I was reading the Green Mile, I cried because of a mouse. My heart ache for John Coffey. It’s easy to root for Paul Edgecomb and John Coffey, easier to hate Percy Wetmore and William Wharton. It was such an emotional roller coaster reading this book.
“He kill them with they love. They love for each other. You see how it was?”
The theme of this book is racism and injustice. These two are closely related since the racism is what makes the judgment biased and causing the injustice. John Coffey, an African American who is physically huge misjudged by the police as a sadistic rapist and murderer. Although Coffey was caught in an unfortunate position, the police refused to hear the whole story and already decided that Coffey was guilty. When there's a possibility that Coffey was at the wrong place and time. All through the book, Paul helped us follow along the clues and figuring out what really happened on the day Coffey was found with the two dead girls.
In the end, every justice system has its flaws. Moreover, when it’s clouded with racial prejudice. The Green Mile shows us how dangerous it is. We thought it’s the thing in the past but sadly it’s still happening now. Personally, I think the Green Mile is one of the books that will stay with me. I highly recommend this book. If you’re put off because Stephen King is often associated with horror and you don’t read horror, don’t worry. The only thing that’s scary in this book is realizing the worst that a human can do.
“I mean we’re fixing to kill a gift if God. One that never did any harm to us, or to anyone else. What am I going to say if I end up standing in front of God the Father Almighty and He asks me to explain why I did it? That it was my job? My job?”
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