Coffey on the Mile

Coffey on the Mile is the title of the sixth and final part of Stephen King's serial novel The Green Mile, published in 1996. The phrase refers both to the physical journey John Coffey makes from his cell to the electric chair—the "Green Mile" of the title—and to the narrative climax of the story, in which Paul Edgecombe and the other guards must carry out the death sentence on a man they have come to believe is innocent. The section covers the execution of John Coffey, the aftermath of Percy Wetmore's shooting of William Wharton, and the long-term consequences for the surviving characters, including Edgecombe's own unnaturally extended life.

The Execution of John Coffey

The execution takes place on November 20, 1932, in the storage room at the end of E Block, where Old Sparky, the electric chair, sits on a plank platform. The room is cold, with a metal roof, and the witnesses include Klaus and Marjorie Detterick, the parents of the murdered twins, who have come to see Coffey die. Brutus Howell is out front for this execution, responsible for placing the cap and giving the order to roll on two. Paul Edgecombe, Dean Stanton, and Harry Terwilliger escort Coffey from his cell. Coffey, who has been calm and resigned, asks that the black silk mask not be placed over his face, saying he is afraid of the dark. Edgecombe grants this request, overruling a protest from Sheriff Homer Cribus. Coffey's last words are "I'm sorry for what I am." The execution is quick and relatively clean, unlike the botched electrocution of Eduard Delacroix. After Coffey is pronounced dead, Edgecombe goes home and breaks down, weeping on his back steps, thinking of how Coffey had been afraid of the dark.

The Aftermath of Wharton's Death

In the immediate aftermath of Percy Wetmore's shooting of William Wharton, the guards fabricate a story to protect themselves. They claim that Percy simply went crazy and shot Wharton without provocation, omitting the fact that they had drugged Wharton, straitjacketed Percy, and taken Coffey out of the prison to heal Melinda Moores. The cover-up holds because Percy is now catatonic, unable to speak or defend himself. He is transferred to Briar Ridge, a state mental hospital, where he remains silent and blank until his death in 1965. The Board of Enquiry accepts the guards' account, and the incident is closed. Edgecombe later reflects that the irony is that they never had to explain much of anything; Percy had gone crazy and shot Wharton, and that was the truth as far as it went.

Edgecombe's Investigation and Discovery

After the execution, Edgecombe investigates the Detterick murders on his own time. He travels to Purdom County, where he examines William Wharton's court records and learns from Sheriff Catlett that Wharton had been caught molesting a nine-year-old girl sixteen months before the Detterick murders. He then travels to Trapingus County and speaks with Deputy Rob McGee, who reluctantly agrees to question Klaus Detterick. McGee discovers that a man calling himself Will Bonney—Billy the Kid's real name—had worked for Detterick painting his barn in May 1932, a month before the murders. The man had eaten dinner with the family and would have learned that the girls sometimes slept on the porch. McGee is convinced that Wharton was the real killer, but he knows that Sheriff Homer Cribus will never reopen the case. Edgecombe returns home knowing that John Coffey was innocent, but unable to prove it or stop the execution.

The Long-Term Consequences

The section concludes with Edgecombe's reflections on the years following Coffey's death. He reveals that Coffey's touch, which healed his urinary infection, also inoculated him against disease and aging. Edgecombe has lived an unnaturally long life, outliving his wife Janice, who died in a bus crash in Alabama in 1956, and all of his friends. He is now 104 years old, living in the Georgia Pines nursing home, where he has written this memoir. The final image is of Edgecombe and his friend Elaine Connelly burying Mr. Jingles, the mouse that Coffey healed, who has also lived an unnaturally long life and has just died. Edgecombe reflects on the Green Mile, the long walk toward death, and the pain of outliving everyone he loved.