A review by ptimsin
The Green Mile by Stephen King

5.0

King uses John to masterfully show the dichotomy of evil and good that pores through society. When the boys discuss the possibility of saving John once they learned he was not a killer, I felt King used Jan to tell us that he understands our frustration as a reader but there is very little that could be done. In the end, I accepted that there was no way out for John and the phone would never ring for him. John represented everything good but he never stood a chance against a society that only gave chances according to the colour of your skin. John’s miracle work and altruism was the obvious fictional aspect of the novel, but sadly the absolutely cruelty of the society that punished him could be encountered at any point in our reality. Looking back, I had hoped everything that wasn’t John felt as fictional as him, but that simply wasn’t the case.