Mr. Jingles (also “Steamboat Willy”) Character Analysis

This mouse, which appears on E block one evening, shows signs of quasi-human, supernatural intelligence. It peers into the cells along the Green Mile as though it were looking for someone, and Paul later concludes that it had been waiting for Eduard Delacroix all along. Delacroix looks after and loves Mr. Jingles, and after Del’s execution, Mr. Jingles disappears, never to be seen again in the prison—but Paul later discovers that the mouse had stashed pieces of peppermint candy and splinters from the colored spool, which remind him of Delacroix. After John Coffey touches Mr. Jingles, he is given the supernatural gift of resistance to the effects of age. Years after the main events of the story, Mr. Jingles lives in a shed near Paul’s nursing home, where Paul visits him and feeds him pieces of toast. He dies there of a heart attack, perhaps brought about by the appearance of Brad Dolan (whom Paul sees as a reincarnation of Percy).