Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Green Mile, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death and the Death Penalty
Morality and Justice
Love, Compassion, and Healing
Racism
Summary
Analysis
Two days later, the guards rehearse Coffey’s execution while he is in the shower. Paul decides to stand in for the condemned instead of Toot-Toot, who always makes inappropriate, obscene jokes. In the middle of the procedure, Paul, unable to cope, suddenly asks to be let out of the chair. On the way back, Brutal tells him that he is afraid to be sent to hell for killing a gift of God.
The guards feel that this execution is unlike any other they have experienced before, and they feel that they should treat it with the seriousness and dignity it deserves. Brutal’s fear of divine retribution surpasses his sense of duty to human law, suggesting that true justice lies beyond the grasp of human beings.
Themes
