The Green Mile

3 Pages 874 Words

Everyone loves stories with happy endings, miracles and true love. What happens if you mix these things up and add some of the things people do not like about movies such as, sad endings or death? In the Green Mile there are three ideas above that are included in the stories. The Green Mile included miracles, death and sad endings. Capital Punishment, by Sherman Alexie, included two of the ideas, death and miracles. To understand more about these ideas I must give you some background of the stories.
The set for the Green Mile is the Cold Mountain Penitentiary in Louisiana in 1935. It is called the Green Mile because of the green floor guides the way from the inmates cell to the death chamber. Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) is the supervisor of this particular block of the prison and he conducts himself with compassion and respect towards the prisoners awaiting their death. One prisoner that would change Paul Edgecome forever was John Coffey, a huge seven foot black man who has been wrongly convicted of killing two young girls. We find out that John has some sort of supernatural powers and because of this performs many miracles such as eliminating Paul’s urinary infection, curing the captain’s wife, and giving life back to a dead mouse. Paul and the other prison officers realize that John is innocent and even consider trying to help John escape. However, this is not what John wants. He sees the execution as a way out for him, “an end to the burden of his existence and his gift of healing.” Now Paul and the other guards are faced with having to execute a man that they know is innocent. Not only are they executing an innocent man but they also see it as killing one of God’s miracles. Paul Edgecomb didn't believe in miracles until the day he met one.
Capital Punishment by Sherman Alexie, is a poem about the execution of a man on death row as told by the prison cook. The cook takes his job very seriously because he ...