The Green Mile

Coffey is the suspected killer of the Detterick twins, after Deputy Sheriff McGee discovers Coffey holding the two dead girls in his arm. A large black man who seems to have “dropped out of the sky” (199), Coffey’s race, size, and unknown origins lead to his apprehension. While the brutality of the crimes suggests a hostile and remorseless killer, Coffey betrays all the typical characteristics of a murderer with his gentle and empathetic demeanor. Upon his arrival to The Green Mile, Paul is startled to find that Coffey is afraid of the dark and often finds him weeping in his cell. While it first appears that Coffey is crying out of remorse for killing the girls, it becomes clear later that he laments not being able to save the twins with his gift.

As a Christ-like figure in the novel, Coffey exhibits a healing power with divine attributes. He heals Paul, Mr. Jingles, and Melinda Moores over the course of the novel. His power extracts bad forces from one’s body. Coffey also uses his gift to punish Percy and Wharton by using the negative energy from Melinda’s disease against the men.

While his power is capable of enacting good, it also enables him to mete out justice with divine force and judgment. His power allows him to exchange good energy for bad, which can lengthen the lives of those he touches, a fact Paul discovers through the extended duration of his own life via Coffey. Coffey’s power and eventual death mirror the life and crucifixion of Christ as his execution is a sacrifice for all of mankind’s sins. Before his death, Coffey remarks he is prepared to die as he has witnessed too much of the pain of the world. 

A young inmate without any sense of remorse, Wharton wreaks havoc inside Cold Mountain throughout his time there. In a report by Assistant Warden Curtis Anderson, he writes, “The man just doesn’t care” (48), underlining the statement to emphasize Wharton’s total absence of conscience.

Idolizing the outlaw sensibilities of Billy The Kid, Wharton’s crimes began with petty theft and culminate with the rape and murder of the Detterick twins. When Paul investigates into Wharton’s youth, he learns that Wharton’s history of sexual violence started with the molestation of a young girl in his hometown. When he was beaten and threatened for it, he embarked a crime spree that led him to the Detterick twins. Using his birth name, Will Bonney, Wharton charmed himself into a job helping Klaus Detterick paint his barn. His ability to blend in contrasts the volatile and violent traits of his personality, as witnessed by the guards on The Green Mile. It is suggested that his ability to go undetected is part of what makes him so terrifying.

Wharton’s ability to put on a front in order to commit crimes signals a fearsome level of intelligence. When the guards transport Wharton to Cold Mountain, Wharton’s performance as a sedated inmate convinces them that he is not a threat. When Wharton comes to life to choke Dean, it surprises everyone. It occurs to Paul later that no one checked with the guards at Wharton’s prior location to see if Wharton had been sedated. This lax approach to Wharton is racially influenced as his whiteness is disarming to the state whereas the calmer Coffey is brought into Cold Mountain in heavy chains out of fear of his color and size. Wharton’s whiteness also contributes to the reasons why the state never examined his criminal history or attempted to match up his timeline to that of the Detterick girls’ deaths.  

An inmate in Cold Mountain, Delacroix is a slight Cajun man whose gentle disposition endears him to all the guards but Percy. Upon his entry into Cold Mountain, Percy suspects Delacroix of groping his crotch. In anger, Percy beats the inmate so severely that Paul has to shove the smaller man into his cell to halt the guard’s aggression. Delacroix never fights back, despite Percy’s repeated transgressions. Paul remarks on how this behavior seems to contrast the violence of his crimes. Delacroix had raped a young girl, and in attempting to dispose of the evidence, accidentally set a nearby building on fire, killing several other people. Despite the atrocity of his crimes, the guards show immense sympathy for the seemingly harmless man who can barely stand up to a bully like Percy.

Delacroix’s best friend is the roaming mouse of The Green Mile, Mr. Jingles. As Mr. Jingles is particular about the company he chooses, his preference for Delacroix shows that he identifies a certain goodness in the condemned man. When Delacroix passes away, Mr. Jingles stores his peppermints and wooden spool in a hiding place. The compassion exhibited by the mouse moves Paul and Brutal when they discover these items.

Delacroix’s goodness is exemplified at the hour of Delacroix’s death, when he says a Catholic prayer in Cajun French, asking for the Virgin Mary to forgive not just him but everyone. In his moment of atonement, he uses his time of prayer unselfishly.   

Percy is a guard on The Green Mile at Cold Mountain State Penitentiary. A petulant man, he frequently uses his political connections to get his way at the prison. The other guards detest him for this behavior, as well as for the fact that he is terrible at his job. He exhibits reckless and impulsive behavior without any sense of accountability for his actions. More than once, an inmate has attacked him for walking too closely to their cells. He has also been warned several times to not run his club along the cell bars, advice he neglects to do at every turn. Percy’s hatred of Delacroix escalates to the point of revenge when the inmate laughs at him. To get back at Delacroix, Percy sabotages his execution. Delacroix’s painful and prolonged death sets into motion a terrible series of consequences that lead to several more deaths and ensuing devastation.

While Percy is happy to wield his club at every opportunity, it is to compensate for his cowardice. He shows confidence in exerting brute force towards Delacroix while the inmate is in shackles, but freezes in fear when Wharton grabs him from inside his cell. His cowardice is the main motivation behind his sabotage of Delacroix’s execution—as he fears Wharton, who antagonized him in the first place, he chooses to enact his vengeance on the man he knows will not fight back. In the end, his cruel rigging of Delacroix’s death is righted by Coffey. Rather than continue his abuse at another institution, Briar Ridge, he lives the rest of his life as an inmate of it.

Brutal is Paul’s second-in-command and most trusted member of Paul’s staff. While his nickname is “Brutal,” the name seems to only suit his size and brute strength, and not his character. He uses his strength only in settings that require it, such as when Percy behaves poorly or to rescue Dean from Wharton’s grasp. In other situations, he demonstrates extreme kindness and seems to show the most empathy of all the guards on The Green Mile. He typically goes out of his way to provide care for other inmates. When Delacroix acquires Mr. Jingles as a pet, Brutal sheepishly offers the inmate a box of crayons to color the wooden spool toy for the mouse. He also expresses public remorse for Coffey’s death when Paul cannot openly do so. After Coffey’s death, Brutal tells Paul that he plans to leave his job, as the emotional weight of the man’s death is too much for him. Paul reveals that Brutal dies from a heart attack in his fifties, while at home.

Formerly known as Steamboat Willie by the other guards, the mouse is renamed by inmate Eduard Delacroix after he claims him as his pet. Mr. Jingles displays a peculiar intelligence that seems knowledgeable of human commands and emotions. When first discovered by the guards, he curries their favor with his unusual bravery. He exhibits a strong preference for certain people in The Green Mile over others, particularly favoring those who are regular faces in Cold Mountain and whose hearts are good. He also demonstrates a deep sense of loyalty for those on The Green Mile. Mr. Jingles miraculously makes his way to Paul, all the way in Alabama, towards the end of his life. In addition, upon Delacroix’s death, Paul and Brutal discover that Mr. Jingles had saved his friend’s peppermints and wooden spool in remembrance of him. In the sight of human cruelty, Mr. Jingles represents a figure of steadfast love and devotion. 

Janice is Paul’s loving and supportive wife until her passing through a tragic accident in 1956. In 1932, Janice bears witness to Paul’s struggles with Coffey’s gift and the burden of Paul’s work in Cold Mountain. While she initially has no knowledge of Coffey’s healing power and Paul’s investigation into his innocence, she demonstrates a deep trust of her husband by offering a listening ear and encouraging him to pursue what he thinks is best. Eventually, Paul tells Janice the truth about Coffey and his investigation. She encourages Paul, Brutal, Harry, and Dean to do the right thing and bring the truth of Coffey’s innocence to the public. When they insist that those efforts would be futile, she reacts in anger, though she later apologizes. Throughout the novel, she remains a constant moral voice. 

Hal is the warden at Cold Mountain and Paul’s direct supervisor. Hal proves to be a valuable ally in Paul’s dealings with Percy. He seems to understand Percy’s difficult behavior and advocates on Paul’s behalf whenever he receives a complaint. When he receives news that his wife, Melinda, has a brain tumor, he is distraught and grievous. A devoted husband, he stays by her side even as her condition worsens. When Paul enters his house with Coffey, he sees that Hal has begun sleeping beside Melinda’s bed, showing his unwillingness to leave her even as her disease progresses. To protect Moores from experiencing guilt about Coffey after he heals Melinda, Paul conceals the truth about Coffey’s vengeance towards Percy and Wharton.  

Melinda is the wife of Warden Hal Moores. Prior to her brain tumor diagnosis, Melinda is described as being a kind and gentle woman. As her condition worsens, she becomes less of herself and starts talking crassly, as if the tumor has eroded her cognitive filter. When Coffey cures her, she expresses her gratitude and seems to be aware of his supernatural abilities through her dream of him. She accepts Coffey readily and gives him the gift of a St. Christopher medallion to thank him. She goes on to live for several years more.

An abusive orderly at Georgia Pines retirement home, Brad is keen on making Paul’s life miserable. Paul often compares Brad to Percy in the way that he takes sadistic joy out of wielding his power over those who are physically less able to fight back. In the last altercation between the two, Paul confuses Brad for Percy as the abuse reminds him too much of the former guard’s cruelty. Brad seems intent on finding out Paul’s secrets, eventually finding the shed where Mr. Jingle lives, but does not know the story behind the mouse.  

Elaine is Paul’s “special companion” at Georgia Pines. She seems to bear similar traits to Paul’s dead wife, Janice, with Paul frequently remarking on the ways they are alike. She has the same strength of moral character as Janice, defending Paul’s decisions and giving him room to tell his story. She stands up to Brad’s abuse, using her family connections to scare him away. She also concocts a scheme so that Paul can escape into the woods to feed Mr. Jingles. Without pressing him for the immediate truth, she trusts that she will learn everything eventually. Her patience and trust help Paul to finish writing his story.