The Green Mile

939 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The green mile theme analysis

The Green Mile by Frank Darabont is a unique story about a man named John Coffey. Coffey is on death row at a State Prison for a crime that many believe he did not commit. Coffey while on death row creates a friendship with one of the guards named Paul Edgecomb. Paul Edgecomb while working discovers that God has blessed John Coffey with the ability to heal and give life. Paul makes this observation after an incident where Coffey grabbed Paul by the groin and held on for a few seconds until the lights flashed. Paul asks Coffey what had happened, and he simply replies with “I helped.” Paul at the time had a urinary infection that was causing him constant pain. The Green Mile is riddled with miracles throughout the story the theological themes of sin, redemption, and atonement comes to light. (Darabont, 1999) In this paper I will show that John Coffey has the ability to perform miracles and his sins are redeemed through his death. Coffey is believed to have severely sinned by murdering two little girls. First to understand what sin is we must know that, sin is conceived as an offense against God. (McGrath, 2013, p. 106) Anselm argued that God created humanity in a state of original righteousness, with the objective of brining humanity to a state of eternal blessedness. The state of eternal blessedness is contingent on the human obedience to God however this is unattainable with sin. This means that there must be something done for the offense of sin. (McGrath, 2013, p. 106) The issue Anselm sees is that there is no way humanity can provide the necessary satisfaction. “Therefore a “God-man” would possess both the ability (as God) and the obligation (as a human being) to pay the required satisfaction. Therefore the Incarnation take... ... middle of paper ... ...sacrifice for atonement of these sins, that we are members of the Body, and therefore share in the responsibility.” (Woodard, Para 8) This is key text is shown throughout the film with Paul having to suffer in the end and Coffey taking responsibility for someone else’s actions. Works Cited Coogan, M.D., Brettler, M.Z, Newsom, C.A., & Perkins, P. (2010). The new Oxford annotated Bible: New Revised Standard version with Apocrypha : an ecumenical study Bible. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. Darabont, Frank (Director). (1999). The Green Mile [DVD]. United States: Warner Bros. McGrath, A.E. (2013). Historical theology: An introduction to the history of Christian thought. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Woodard, J. (n.d.). The Green Mile. Retrived November 25, 2013, from The Text This Week website: http://www.textweek.com/movies/green_mile.htm

Show More
Related

  • Use of Rhetoric in Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    On July 8th 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Enfield, Connecticut. Edwards states to his listeners that God does not lack in power, and that people have yet not fallen to destruction because his mercy. God is so forgiving that he gives his people an opportunity to repent and change their ways before it was too late. Edwards urges that the possibility of damnation is immanent. Also that it urgently requires the considerations of the sinner before time runs out. He does not only preach about the ways that make God so omnipotent, but the ways that he is more superior to us. In his sermon, Edwards uses strong, powerful, and influential words to clearly point out his message that we must amend our ways or else destruction invincible. Edwards appeals to the spectators though the various usages of rhetorical devices. This includes diction, imagery, language/tone and syntax. Through the use of these rhetoric devices, Edwards‘s purpose is to remind the speculators that life is given by God and so they must live according to him. This include...

    Read More

  • Fried Green Tomatoes

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    "HER ORIGINAL NAME was Patricia Neal"(Reynolds1), but the author of Fried Green Tomatoes is better known under the alias: Fannie Flagg. In the novel Fried Green Tomatoes she uniquely compares the modern day world to the world in the early and the middle 1900’s. As the novel shifts from the 1930’s to the 1980’s the significance of life is seen through two of the main characters, Mrs. Cleo Threadgoode and Evelyn Couch, as life ends and begins. Fannie Flagg shows that living life to its fullest indeed has its consequences, but is the only way to live a happy life without regrets.

    Read More

  • Dirty Harry

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie Dirty Harry is about a cop who was known as Dirty Harry. Harry is a cop film with Clint Eastwood, who depicts Harry Callahan, as a strict cop. He uses any means to bring down a criminal, even if it means breaking the rules. He seeks justice and never forgets the case until he gets it done, even if the government asks him to leave the case. Regarding the movie, Edwin J. Delattre states that “It is easy for the justice system to protect potential suspects ahead of enforcing the rights of victims while ignoring citizens who were in danger or who had been murdered” (2002).

    Read More

  • Twelve Angry Men

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    Twelve Angry Men is a very interesting play about an unfortunate young man, who was convicted of killing his dad. The worst part was, the young man was only nineteen, and his life was just starting. The jurors listened to all the evidence, then came the hard part, making the decision: guilty, or innocent. Eleven jurors said guilty and only one said innocent. There was a lot of peer pressure involved. I decided to write about different peer pressures three of the jurors used.

    Read More

  • Citizen Kane

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, is a great example of how a man can be corrupted by wealth. Through the characters in the film we can observe how Charles Foster Kane, an idealistic man with principles, can be changed and misguided by wealth and what accompanies wealth. The film takes places during the late 19th century and early 20th century, a time in American history when the world is changing and wealth is a great power to change it with. Through the story telling of Kane’s life we are able to see how wealth changes, not only Kane’s ideals, but his actions and how he perceives the world.

    Read More

  • 12 Angry Men

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Juror #1 originally thought that the boy was guilty. He was convinced that the evidence was concrete enough to convict the boy. He continued to think this until the jury voted the first time and saw that one of the jurors thought that the boy was innocent. Then throughout the movie, all of the jurors were slowly convinced that the boy was no guilty.

    Read More

  • The Green Mile

    480 Words  | 1 Pages

    the dark, and he didnt want to die in the dark. So the guard took

    Read More

  • Saving Private Ryan

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book I read and am doing a presentation on is called Saving Private Ryan by Max Allen Collins. Saving Private Ryan is about the heroism of soldiers of soldiers and their duty during wartime, World War Two. This story is to remind you, the reader, that war is nothing but hell, orders on the front line can be brutal, and absurd. The story is set in Europe of 1944, as the Nazis are still advancing and taking over cities and countries. On June 6th, 1944, Captain Miller, and hundreds of other men leave Europe to accomplish one mission, Operation Overlord, also known as D-Day. When they get there, there will be a new task awaiting them.

    Read More

  • The Green Mile

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Green Mile is one of Stephen King’s best works, which all take place in prisons. The film's title refers to the pristine green floors of Cold Mountain Penitentiary, a Deep South, Depression-era prison. The film stars Tom Hanks as prison warder Paul Edgcomb, in charge of the death row (nicknamed “the green mile”) at a southern penitentiary i...

    Read More

  • The Green Mile by Stephen King

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Summary: John Coffey is brought to Cold Mountain accused of rape and murder. It becomes known that he has a healing touch. Paul Edgecombe, the superintendent, has sympathy for Coffey and later finds out that Coffey is indeed innocent, but can find no way to stop the execution. Coffey proclaimed that he 'wanted to go'; and thus allowed Paul to accept Coffey's fate as he must, and go on with his life.

    Read More

  • Citizen Kane

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    this one letter in a circle can now sum up his life, that people just

    Read More

  • Good Will Hunting

    1966 Words  | 4 Pages

    Good Will Hunting is a film which conveys many interlocking themes and messages to its viewers. One of these nicely woven themes is placing trust in the people we care about as well as people we have only recently become acquainted with. Another message, arguably more significant than the last is finding and pursuing the potential one has and bringing meaning into our lives in any form we choose. I believe the potential and success this film demonstrates is that success, growth, and meaning in a person’s life does not always have to come in the form of advancing in a career or social status but rather in the form of overcoming hardships and developing close reciprocating relationships.

    Read More

  • The Shining

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Shining is about a white middle class dysfunctional family that suffers from natural and supernatural stresses in an isolated Rocky mountain hotel. .The father, a former teacher turned writer, is portrayed as a habitual drinker, wife- and child-abuser, with a kind of evil streak The mother is shown as a battered woman. The film suggests that due to the abuse at the hands of his father and the passivity of his mother, the child of this family developed psychological problems. He had imaginary friends and began to see frightening images.

    Read More

  • The Notebook

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.

    Read More

  • Margin Call, the Movie

    1790 Words  | 4 Pages

    Margin Call depicts a realistic take on what happens inside a Wall Street firm. It is about a company that is downsizing their workers because of a firm’s crisis. One of the victims, Eric Dale, was working on a major analysis when he was laid off. He hands his coworker Peter Sullivan his USB, which contains the major analysis. Peter stays late and cracks the issues and calls his coworkers and bosses in about the financial disaster he had discovered. He had discovered that the company is about the crash. He tries to get ahold of Eric, no luck. He then calls his coworkers Seth Bregman and Will Emerson, who are at a bar and tells them that they need to come back to the office for an emergency situation. After showing the situation to Will, John Tuld, the Chief Executive Officer, quickly hears about it. They all have a conference meeting and decide that the company will sell all of the mortgages, which have little to no value. Once the sale is completed, the company tries to save their reputation by saying that this issue was nonpreventable.

    Read More

More about The Green Mile

Open Document