Inasmuch as people claim to be righteous, their deeds do not always concur with the claim. They always exhibit a destructive element, whose power overcomes that of the element of love. This holds true for every person, ranging from honorable to the most innocent. Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile is a must-watch chef-d’oeuvre revealing the mischief that people continue to wreak to their fellow others. The results of the interaction of the prisoners and the guards are the epitome of what happens on the ground. Worth learning is the lesson that, every person, whether just or unjust, seeks to destroy another to some extend. For instance, virtually all prisoner guards would rather have the prisoners suffer than help them through their trials as their job entails.
Wetmore represents the guards who would rather kill than assist the prisoners while Edgecomb takes after those who rise to the fullness of their duties, but they too, have their own issues. This category, regardless of the crime committed by the prisoners, ensures that they get the right treatment, come their day of persecution, a job perfectly done. However, the likes of Wetmore do the reverse. For instance, while Edgecomb refers to his job place as an ‘intensive care ward’, Wetmore declares it a rat drowning place where drowning of rats symbolizes his destructive attitude towards the prisoners. There is also another category of people, who suffer unjustly like Coffey though they too are harmful. They are likened to Jesus whom people killed when innocently; however, they cannot forgive completely as Jesus did. In fact, Ram observes, “…a key portion of the plot involves him (Coffey) getting his revenge” (p.4). The parents of the two girls, killed by Coffey as news claims, plan to get rid of Coffey’s life as he did to their kids. The likes of Edgecomb too are not an exception, despite their noble roles in society. They too reveal some evil actions they have done against people. Therefore, building on these illustrations, the viewer realizes that all people, regardless of their status, whether just or unjust possess a unique destructive trait. In fact, Woodard calls it “…the evil that can and does possess anyone” (p.23). In conclusion, people have ethical responsibilities as human beings.
Conclusion
There stand some responsibilities, naturally bestowed upon human beings, which define what is and what is not worth doing without regard to what the physical laws say. For instance, it is peoples’ responsibility to save, rather than to harm their fellow other people. However, there are jobs specifically for people trained to kill others, like Edgecomb’s. The author, through this character, wants the likes of Edgecomb to see the possibility of standing by their ethical rather than their jobs dictations. Edgecomb chooses to help, but not to harm the prisoners. If I had eternal life, I would stand by the truth, as revealed by God and not men. By so doing I will have peace, not only of the body but also of mind concurring with Woodard’s words “If you have nothing to hide, you have peace inside” (p.26). Although miracles are good in the sense that they can bring healing, peace, lengthen life as well as give financial freedom, quoting a few, we should not believe in them. The deception behind virtually all miracle doers is inexplicable. When Jesus addressed the issue of deception in the end-time, he pointed the existence of false miracles and warned people not to believe in them and since he is our standard, we ought not to believe in miracles following the deception therein. The criterion used by Darabont to present these issues passes his for an informative piece of work.
Reference List
Ram Eliezer, Stephen King’s the Green Mile (Mineola, NY: Dover, 2001), 4.
Woodard Baxton, The Sins of Men (Britain: Word Press, 2005), 23-26.