“The Green Mile”, a timeless all year reading

“The Green Mile” is a symbolical story, the intersection of hope and redemption. It is a book which will have you hooked straightly beginning with its synopsis. A timeless creation and a modern vision upon what hides behind people’s faith. “The Green Mile”, an exceptional reading no matter the season or circumstances. Read it once… read it twice… Each time, its effect will be the same: pure astonishment.

“The Green Mile” is an exceptional story, appreciated by the large and varied community of readers and movie watchers all around the world. No matter which book genre is your favorite, this story will not disappoint or hesitate to get you emotional. “The Green Mile”, as any other numerous Stephen King stories, was adapted into a movie. The book and also its film adaptation revolutionized the world of thrillers.

What makes “The Green Mile” a great reading choice

1. The story setting and circumstances play a vital role in the protagonists’ journey
2. It approaches social and ethical dilemmas, which make this book excruciatingly beautiful and emotional
3. “The Green Mile” abounds in symbols, and continues to surprise the readers ’till the very end
4. It is an emotional and unforgettable story, which you’ll love no matter what your reading tastes are
5. “The Green Mile” gives an everlasting life lesson: kindness

“The Green Mile” & The Great Depression

The action from “The Green Mile” takes place in plain middle of The Great Depression, catastrophic event which marked the economic, social and political life on a worldwide scale. As the rate of unemployment had drastically increased, pure desperation started to spread between people. The Great Depression meant for the US the downfall of the society.

The desperate times brought desperate actions as well. People, who were living on the sharp edge of poverty, preferred the life conditions the state prisons guaranteed them: a roof above their head and a hot meal. Therefore, the crime rate increased worryingly, provoking massive changes in the US prison/incarceration system. In order to discourage the people’s illegal actions and try to decrease the criminal rate, the punishments became even more severe.

Consequently, the capital punishment was used more often, even in the case of the minor illegalities. This measure was meant to frighten the citizens and wake in them some sort of awareness regarding the consequences of their actions. In the period of The Great Depression, the number of executions was higher than anytime before.

Therefore, “The Green Mile” is centered upon this measure of punishment, showing its cruelty and inhumanity. The emotional story of “The Green Mile” approaches not only the capital punishment, but also its effects upon the human condition: the desperation, the cruelty and its irreversible course in an incarceration system, in which the racism still had a word to say and many errors still took place during trials.

Ethical Issues

The worldwide downfall of the society, accentuated even more the racial issues the Americans confronted with. The racism became even stronger, the white people starting to fight the African Americans for the few jobs left. So, a great part of the black men were fired in order to be replaced in their positions by some white people. The cruelty of the racism reached a higher level and the human tolerance the lowest.

Therefore, the story setting highlights the public opinion upon the prisoners like John Coffey, their situation, often, being aggravated even more, without any possibility to prove their innocence. I think the historic circumstances give this story a meaningful message, the equality and tolerance which should exist between people no matter the time or place. “The Green Mile” presents so impressively these aspects of the 30’s American society and, from my point of view, serves an unforgettable life lesson to all its readers: to be human. Nowadays, I feel like the books which leave a significant “mark” upon our perspective and lives are less and less, so more and more rare and vital in the universal literature.

“𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫.”

“The Green Mile”, Stephen King

A symbolic story

“The Green Mile” abounds in unexpected symbols, which the story was built up on. A religious unobserved voice makes itself loud and clear, driving the course of events. I liked most that no moment was thoughtless, but calculatedly narrated and designed. Stephen King was, obviously, the puppeteer and the story was his favorite toy, which he designed in an impressive, unique ad breathtaking manner. I declare myself impressed and impatient for my next Stephen King reading. Read about the symbols present along the story in my book review for “The Green Mile”.

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