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Jill Knaub
Professor Janet Ward
English 110
November 3, 2011 Summary of the Novel, “The Green Mile”
A summary of any novel by Stephen King has to include a small biography of the horror novelist, himself. Publishing this novel in 1996 as a serial novel, with the first edition actually coming out as one of six small paperbacks that were eventually made into one novel. Stephen King is well known for his horror novels, therefore, this summary of the novel “The Green Mile” shows this book set in the 1930's and is a deviation from some of his other works.
The story is told in the first-person narrative by Paul Edgecombe, switching between Paul as an old man in the nursing home in 1996 and his time as block supervisor
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Percy is offered a job at Briar Ridge psychiatric hospital and Paul and the other guards think they are finally rid of him, however, Percy refuses to leave until he supervises an execution. Paul hesitantly allows Percy to run Dels execution. Percy the snake he is, deliberately avoids soaking a sponge in water, which are supposed to be tucked inside the electrodes; this ensures a quick death in the electric chair.
Paul, over time, realizes that John possesses unexplained healing abilities, which he uses to cure Paul's Urinary infection as well as reviving Mr. Jingles after Percy stomps on him. John Cofey is very sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others around him. One night the guards drugged Wharton (“Wild Bill”), and then put a straitjacket on Percy and locked him in the padded cell so they could smuggle John Cofey out of the prison to take him to the home of the Warden Hal Moores. Hal's wife Melinda has a deadly brain tumor, which John Cofey cures. When they returned to the mile, John passes the “disease” from Melinda into Percy, causing him to go mad and shoot “Wild Bill” to death before going into a catatonic state from which he never recovers.
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Paul’s suspicions about John Cofeys innocence is proven when he discovers that it was actually “Wild Bill” who raped and murdered the two girls and that John was trying to revive them when he was discovered holding the two in his arms. John tells
From approximately 8:15 to 8:30 a murder occurred at the Ellis household and Paul Dudden is the victim. Paul was ruthlessly murdered with a knife. He abruptly left dinner and walked right out the front door. After reviewing all the evidence it is clear that Miss Pettigrew committed the act.
Terry’s guilt begins to be harder to bear as he gets closer to Edie. He is starting to look at Johnny Friendly as a criminal, a man that shouldn't get away with murder, instead of a powerful man in which he should fear. Terry’s values are shifting as he starts to ponder testifying. He sees the pain in Edie as she wants answers of who killed her brother.
John Grady pays for the things he feels passionate for and loves with his blood and those of others. The nights John Grady and Alejandra sleep together in the dead of the night she draws blood “with her teeth where he held the heel of his hand against her mouth that she not cry out” (142). The blood he bleeds is the love he holds for her. If they were to be careless and get caught, Alfonsa would surely kick him out of la Purisama and Don Hector would feel betrayed by the three of them with no warning. When Blevins’ reckless actions gives the captain no choice but to punish him. John Grady and Rawlins do not see Blevins die but they hear where the “pistol shot came from beyond the ebony trees” (178). Blevins’s death allows John Grady to continue his journey instead of having a similar fate. While at the prison John Grady purchases a knife for safety. A fight nearly kills John Grady as a “red boutonniere blossoming on the left pocket of his blue workshirt there spurted a thin fan of bright arterial blood” (201). Here he unwillingly pays for the experience of life with his own blood. The price for his life is that of
John still feels as though he can relate with his brother on a new level of trust and respect. “But where was I? Who was I? How did I miss so much (Wideman 687)?” John admits to himself here that the situation with Robby had gotten so out of hand for him and his family most of the time they chose to look away. He has blocked so many wrongful actions from his mind that Robby’s “confession” made him realize all that he had been suppressing for years. John feels like a “hypocrite” because when the TV was stolen his father in law bought him and his wife a new one. With their homeowners insurance though they were refunded 100 dollars. Instead of giving it to his father in law he chose to keep it. When the truth came out his father in law was hurt and felt that John had manipulated the situation. Though this is a small mistake compared to Robby and his crimes,
In Spike Lee 's Do the Right Thing, the story takes places in 1989, another year in the long struggle for equality for African-Americans. The film portrays the racial tensions between locals of the neighborhood and an Italian-American family in the majority Black and Hispanic neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) in Brooklyn, New York. Spike Lee shows us what a day in the life of the Brooklyn neighborhood consists of and throughout the movie he portrays several different aspects of a modern urban neighborhood, using the many unique personalities of the characters in the movie.
Have you ever wanted a bad memory erased? Is love erasable? These questions are attacked head on in the wonderfully complex drama Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. After working together on the film Human Nature, director Michael Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman discussed the possibility whether or not they would have their memory erased of a bad relationship should the opportunity present itself (dvdtalk). Out of that discussion a movie idea was formulated, pitched to a studio, and a film was created showing the potential impact of doing so. Through Kaufman’s brilliant and strange storytelling, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes its audience on a journey challenging us to ask: what would we do
When Sally and John have their brief affair, which both spouses are aware of, the first problem of unfaithfulness becomes on display. As the day goes on, the tensions generated by this situation grow more acute, culminating in a physical confrontation between Sam and John.
Freedom Road is book written by the renowned novelist Howard Fast. Fast has written many novels including Citizen Tom Paine, Spartacus and April Morning. Fast’s career was a bit controversial because of his affiliation with the Communist Party USA and his time spent incarcerated because of this affiliation. This did not deter Fast from utilizing his creative abilities in writing novels. He wrote his most famous novel Spartacus while incarcerated. Howard Fast died on March12, 2003.
It is remarkable how differentiated works of literature can be so similar and yet so different, just by the way the authors choose to use select certain literary devices. Two different novels, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, display these characteristics because of the ways the authors institute such mechanisms. Brave New World describes a futuristic era where humans are genetically manufactured for a certain job predestined to them before they are artificially created, and where common human emotions, desires, wants, and needs have all been modified to support a deemed utopian society where everyone lives and works together in harmony. The Road describes a post-apocalyptic
Set on Death Row in a Southern prison in 1935, The Green Mile is the remarkable story of the cell block's head guard, who develops an emotional, and unusual relationship with one inmate who possesses a magical gift that is both mysterious and miraculous. This inmate is John Coffey, who beyond his simple naive nature possess a supernatural gift. This gift is what introduces the correlation between Coffey and Jesus Christ.
One of the main themes in “The Green Mile” is death. It encapsulates the whole novel, leaving the reader to think deeply about their fate. It’s an obvious theme, considering the story takes place on death row. However, further analysis reveals a deeper meaning than men dying in the electric chair for their crimes. “And I think about all of us. Walking our own green mile; each in our own time.”(Pg 434) Paul said. The reader will discover that the Green Mile itself is a metaphor for death. Paul compared life at the Green Mile to life for a free citizen, because both lifestyles will end in the same way. Death is inevitable. For the prisoners, they have a set number of days until their execution, so their “Green Mile” is relatively short. A
The Notebook is one of my favorite love movies of all time. The reason I love this movie so much is because that main characters Noah and Allie go through so many trials and finally end up together in the end. This movie I feel shows me how strong their love for each other really was and I now feel as if it is meant to be it will always find a way. Looking at the movie as a reference to get a better understanding of how lifespan development works, I realized that most of the trials that Noah and Allie went though were part of stages of development. The theory of stages of development was created by Erik Erikson, he believes that we go though certain stages in our life and if we do not get passed them properly we will end up with
In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand
Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler faced with a choice of which one of two roads to travel. He knows not where either road might lead. In order to continue on his journey, he can pick only one road. He scrutinizes both roads for the possibilities of where they may take him in his travels. Frost's traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken.
The Green Mile has a huge connection to the seven Catholic social teachings. The first one, human life and dignity, is very evident in the Green Mile. The main connection with this one is how Tom Hank’s character cares about John Coffey. Many people would not care or even given a second look to someone who is in prison and on death row but Paul, the guard, gets close to him. He ends up really caring about John Coffey and believes he is innocent. It shows human life and dignity because when he has to execute him, he believes he is going to hell and can’t live with what he has done. The film overall brings up the debate of capital punishment. To truly have respect for human life you cannot be in favor of the death penalty. This movie