The Green Mile tells the story of Paul Edgecombe, a prison guard at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. In the present day, Paul is an old man living in the Georgia Pines nursing home. At the end of his life, he feels compelled to tell the story of an inmate named John Coffey. Coffey was the only inmate to ever make Paul question the nature of his job. The majority of the novel takes place in 1932, within the context of the South during the Great Depression.
Paul works as the superintendent of E Block, the section of the prison designated for prisoners on death row. At the time, executions were administered by the electric chair. Paul and the other guards on E Block take their job very seriously, understanding that condemned prisoners are under great psychological strain as they await death. The one guard who fails to understand this is Percy Wetmore. Percy only got the job because his uncle is the governor. Percy is sadistic, incompetent, and universally hated by guards and inmates.
Coffey is a towering Black man who was convicted of raping and murdering two white girls, the Detterick twins. He was found crying and holding their dead bodies, and was quickly convicted and sentenced to death. From the moment Coffey comes to the prison, Paul feels there is something mysterious about him. Despite his size, Coffey is childlike and constantly weeping in his cell. Delacroix is another prisoner on E Block. He’s a mild-mannered Frenchman with a pet mouse named Mr. Jingles. Percy has an inexplicable hatred for Delacroix and bullies him constantly. The last prisoner to come to E Block at this time is William Wharton. Wharton is young, out of control, and proud of it. He creates untold chaos from the moment he enters E Block, most notably trying to kill one of the guards.
Paul realizes Coffey has supernatural abilities when Coffey heals him of a painful urinary infection. Paul believes that Coffey’s abilities are a gift from God. Later on, Coffey heals Mr. Jingles, who almost dies after Percy stomps on him. In revenge for Delacroix laughing at him, Percy tampers with Delacroix’s execution. His actions cause Delacroix to burn alive while in the electric chair. This death is so horrendous that Paul feels compelled to atone for letting Percy be in charge of the execution. Knowing that the prison warden's wife is dying of a brain tumor, he devises a plan to break Coffey out of prison so he can heal her. He convinces guards Harry and Brutal to help him and Coffey miraculously heals Melinda, the warden’s wife. Coffey absorbs Melinda’s sickness and back at the prison passes it on to Percy. Percy goes insane and shoots Wharton in cold blood.
Paul investigates Coffey’s case further and discovers that Wharton, not Coffey, killed the Detterick girls. In fact, Coffey was trying to heal them when they found him with their bodies. The knowledge that an innocent man will be executed weighs heavily on all the guards. However, they feel trapped by a criminal justice system that is not willing to offer a fair trial to a Black man. Tired of living in such a cruel world, and feeling so much of people’s pain, Coffey accepts his fate. The guards reluctantly execute Coffey. However, Brutal and Paul both leave Cold Mountain after that as they cannot stomach the idea of taking part in another execution.
Paul ends his life at Georgia Pines nursing home. He is forever changed after Coffey heals him. Immune to sickness and injury, Paul is 104 years old and still waiting to die.
