In the third part of The Green Mile, we finally get to see something extra-ordinary. John Coffey reveals himself to have healing powers by curing head guard Paul Edgecombe’s burning urinary tract infection.
Part two (The Mouse on the Mile) felt a lot like filler. But part 3 felt like everything was setting up for later. King sets up possibilities of Coffey’s capabilities. He sets up Melinda Moores with brain cancer. He sets up Eduard Delacroix’s conflict with Percy Wetmore. He sets up possibilities of all sorts of bad things happening with William Wharton.
Also, I do want to comment about the magical Negro
aspect of John Coffey, since this is the first appearance of John Coffey’s magic in the story. I can see why the caricature would be offensive or off-putting to blacks. In quite a bit of cases of offensive things that don’t directly affect me I get a vicarious sense of the disrespect or offense. But for some reason this one is foreign to me. It’s not that it’s right. It’s more that this particular cartoon doesn’t reach out and grab me the way other stereotypes do.
Title: Coffey’s Hands
Author: Stephen King
Series: The Green Mile; 3
Imprint / publisher: Signet / Penguin
Format: Mass market paperback
Length: 90 p.
Publication date:
ISBN-10: 0-451-19054-8
