Percy Wetmore stomps Mr. Jingles

Percy Wetmore, the cruel and politically connected guard on E Block, had harbored a grudge against the mouse known first as Steamboat Willy and later as Mr. Jingles ever since the animal first appeared on the Green Mile. The mouse, a creature of unusual intelligence and fearlessness, had become the beloved pet of the condemned prisoner Eduard Delacroix, and Percy's hatred for both the animal and its owner had been building for weeks. On the night before Delacroix's scheduled execution, the tension on the block was high, and the mouse's presence seemed to taunt Percy, who had previously failed in his attempts to kill it.

The Act of Cruelty

As Delacroix played with Mr. Jingles, throwing the brightly colored spool for the mouse to fetch, the spool bounced out of the cell and into the corridor. Mr. Jingles, intent on retrieving his toy, raced after it. Percy saw his opportunity. Ignoring Brutus Howell's shouted warning, "No, you fool!" Percy brought the sole of his hard black workshoe down on the mouse. There was an audible snap as Mr. Jingles's back broke, and blood gushed from his mouth. His tiny dark eyes bulged in their sockets, and in them, Paul Edgecombe later recalled, was an expression of surprised agony that was all too human. Delacroix screamed with horror and grief, throwing himself at the door of his cell and thrusting his arms through the bars, crying the mouse's name over and over. Percy turned toward them, smiling, and said, "There. I knew I'd get him, sooner or later. Just a matter of time, really." He then walked back up the Green Mile, leaving Mr. Jingles lying on the linoleum in a spreading pool of his own blood.

Immediate Aftermath and John Coffey's Intervention

The other guards were stunned. Dean Stanton shouted at Percy, demanding to know what he had done, while William Wharton laughed from his cell, taunting Delacroix. Delacroix's screams of grief and horror were terrible to hear, as Percy had smashed a hole in the Frenchman's defenses, and all his terror was pouring out. It was then that John Coffey, the giant condemned man who had been silent in his cell, spoke. He held his arms through the bars and said, "Give im to me, Mr. Edgecombe! While there's still time!" Paul Edgecombe, remembering how Coffey had healed his own urinary infection, picked up the broken mouse and placed it in Coffey's huge hand. Coffey covered the mouse with his other hand, creating a cup, and inhaled deeply. A moment later, Mr. Jingles's tail, which had been a dying pendulum, began to snap briskly from side to side. Coffey then exhaled a cloud of black insects that turned white and disappeared. The mouse was completely healed, though it limped slightly on its left rear leg, a detail that made the miracle real for Edgecombe.

Consequences and Significance

Percy's act of cruelty had profound consequences. It deepened the hatred between him and Delacroix, and it demonstrated the depth of John Coffey's healing power, which would later be used to save the warden's wife, Melinda Moores. The incident also solidified the guards' resolve to be rid of Percy, leading to the plan to put him in the straitjacket and restraint room on the night of Delacroix's execution. More immediately, Percy's stomping of Mr. Jingles set the stage for the botched execution of Delacroix, as Percy, still seething from being laughed at, deliberately used a dry sponge in the electric chair, causing a horrific, agonizing death. The mouse's survival, however, became a symbol of hope and a testament to John Coffey's mysterious, divine-like power, a power that would ultimately be extinguished on the Green Mile.