The Green Mile Part 4, Chapters 1-4 Summary & Analysis

Part 4, Chapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix

Chapter 1 Summary

Paul keeps a diary and shares that time at Georgia Pines tends to erode memory, something he actively fights against. He wakes up early to take a walk through the woods with his breakfast of buttered toast, borrowing a staff poncho to protect himself from the rain. He performs an unnamed task in one of the old sheds along the path and makes his way back, but not before running into Brad. Brad demands to know what Paul is doing in the woods and why he is so secretive. He grabs Paul’s wrist when he determines no one is watching. His grasp is so painful that Paul accidentally squeezes his buttered toast to shreds. Paul reluctantly apologizes and concedes to Brad’s bullying, promising to not tell anyone about the abuse. When Paul runs into Elaine later, she expresses concern about Brad’s treatment of Paul but says that she agrees with Brad in the sense that Paul does seem to have a secret. Paul asks if Elaine will read what he has written about his time at Cold Mountain when he is done, to which she agrees.

Chapter 2 Summary

After Percy kills Mr. Jingles, Delacroix is devastated. The other guards are incensed at Percy’s level of cruelty. Suddenly, Coffey cries out from his cell, asking for Paul to give Mr. Jingles to him while there is still time. Paul realizes Coffey will try to resuscitate Mr. Jingles in the same way he cured him. To everyone’s shock, Paul hands Mr. Jingle’s body to Coffey. Coffey holds the mouse in his hands and appears to inhale the air around it. Mr. Jingles’ tail twitches as he comes back to life. The mouse is returned to Delacroix, who is ecstatic and in disbelief over Mr. Jingles’ recovery. Meanwhile, Coffey coughs up a swarm of black insects that gradually turn white before disappearing. The guards are terrified at the sight, but Paul assures them that he has seen it before and that it is okay. Coffey is relieved at Mr. Jingles’ recovery, which Paul affirms by telling the inmate that he “helped it” (267). Assured, Coffey returns to his cot and lays there, facing the wall as he did the last time he used his healing powers.

Chapter 3 Summary

After Mr. Jingles comes back to life, Paul and Brutal find Percy polishing Old Sparky for Delacroix’s execution, which is the next day. They inform Percy that Mr. Jingles is alive, a fact that he doubts until he sees it for himself. Aghast, he demands to know what has happened. Paul tells him that he is no better at killing mice than he is at his job. He and Brutal grab Percy and sit him down in Old Sparky so that he can hear the severity of Paul’s next words. Paul threatens Percy, telling him to behave and put on a good show at Delacroix’s execution the next day before putting in a transfer to Briar Ridge. He makes him promise to leave Cold Mountain after Delacroix’s execution. Percy considers the deal and agrees.

Chapter 4 Summary

On the day of Delacroix’s execution, there is a terrible thunderstorm. Delacroix gives Mr. Jingles to Coffey to keep him safe before Paul fulfills his promise to deliver the mouse to Mouseville. Delacroix receives his last rites from Brother Schuster and prays for forgiveness for his actions. At Old Sparky, the guards struggle to strap Delacroix in. Percy is tasked with the key role of asking Delacroix for his last words and to announce the start of the execution to the audience. Delacroix is frightened to see Percy in charge. Percy callously reveals that there is no such thing as Mouseville. Paul is so distracted by Percy’s betrayal of their agreement for his good behavior that he does not realize until too late that Percy is doing something suspicious to Delacroix’s helmet. When Percy announces the start of the execution to the audience, Paul realizes that Percy has deliberately left the sponge of the helmet dry, in order to make the execution more painful. The execution begins; Delacroix begins to burn and catch fire, creating a gruesome sight that disturbs the witnesses deeply. Paul realizes that despite the horror of the occasion, to stop the execution would only prolong Delacroix’s suffering. He orders for the execution to continue until it is finished. Brutal charges Percy with using the extinguisher to put out the smoke coming from Delacroix since he was responsible for the havoc. The doctor has fainted from the sight of Delacroix’s smoldering body. Paul tasks himself with using the stethoscope to determine if Delacroix is dead. Paul determines that Delacroix is indeed deceased. He remarks to himself that the cruel circumstances of his death are a bad omen of things to come.

Chapters 1-4 Analysis

Coffey exercises his healing powers again in Chapter 2, only this time, he reveals his powers not only to Paul and Delacroix, but to the rest of the guards (except for Percy). He heals Mr. Jingles in the same way that he healed Paul, inhaling the bad air of Mr. Jingles’ injuries and expelling it through his mouth. Paul does not question Coffey when the man urges Paul to hand him the mouse. The need to heal Mr. Jingles before it’s too late is a clue to Coffey’s ability—he is able to heal someone so long as their life force is not entirely extinguished. It is implied that this limitation to his ability is perhaps why he could not save the Detterick twins. This instance also reiterates Coffey’s words, “I helped it” in regard to saving Mr. Jingles. The emphasis on helping harkens back to Coffey’s original words upon capture, again reaffirming his possible innocence.

In Chapters 3-4, Percy’s insistence on punishing Delacroix for laughing at him escalates into a plot to sabotage his execution. Mr. Jingles’ survival stokes Percy’s desire for revenge. When the guards sit Percy down after Percy kills the mouse and mandate that he hand in a transfer request to leave Cold Mountain, it seems to only solidify his cruel plans. On the day of Delacroix’s execution, Percy precedes his sabotage of Old Sparky’s helmet with the unnecessarily cruel act of informing Delacroix that there is no Mouseville. Delacroix’s belief in Mouseville as a safe haven for Mr. Jingles after his passing has sustained him in the days leading up to his execution. Percy’s shattering of this belief reveals his total lack of regard for inmates’ well-being.

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The worsening weather described in earlier chapters escalates to a full storm during Delacroix’s execution. The claps of thunder grow louder as it becomes clear that Percy’s sabotaging of the electric chair cannot be reversed. To Paul, the thunder is a divine omen of Delacroix’s “bad death” and the atonement they must all do for being complicit in it.