The Green Mile

The Green Mile

by

Stephen King

Convicted for raping and murdering a young girl, and then involuntarily setting fire to the adjacent building (leading to the deaths of six more people), Delacroix shows no sign of cruelty by the time he reaches E block. Instead, he appears to be a fearful old man, terrified of the cruel Percy Wetmore. His forlorn attitude changes dramatically with the arrival of the mysterious, hyper-intelligent mouse, Mr. Jingles, who brings Del endless joy—a feeling of happiness that Paul believes is probably the greatest the man has ever experienced. Del dies a horrific and agonizing death on the electric chair after Percy, who hates Del, sabotages his execution by not wetting the sponge.

Eduard “Del” Delacroix Quotes in The Green Mile

The The Green Mile quotes below are all either spoken by Eduard “Del” Delacroix or refer to Eduard “Del” Delacroix. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death and the Death Penalty Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 2 Quotes

In a way, that was the worst; Old Sparky never burned what was inside them, and the drugs they inject them with today don't put it to sleep. It vacates, jumps to someone else, and leaves us to kill husks that aren't really alive anyway.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Chapter 7 Quotes

This is the real circus, I thought, closing my eyes for a second. This is the real circus right here, and we’re all just a bunch of trained mice. Then I put the thought out of my mind, and we started to rehearse.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix, Mr. Jingles (also “Steamboat Willy”) , Toot-Toot
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 3 Quotes

Meanness is like an addicting drug—no one on earth is more qualified to say that than me—and I thought that, after a certain amount of experimentation, Percy had gotten hooked on it. He liked what he had done to Delacroix’s mouse. What he liked even more was Delacroix’s dismayed screams.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Percy Wetmore, Eduard “Del” Delacroix
Page Number: 253-254
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 4 Quotes

I could hear Del breathing in great dry pulls of air, lungs that would be charred bags less than four minutes from now laboring to keep up with his fear-driven heart. The fact that he had killed half a dozen people seemed at that moment the least important thing about him. I’m not trying to say anything about right and wrong here, but only to tell how it was.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 5 Quotes

As for your witnesses, most of them will be telling their friends tomorrow night that it was poetic justice—Del there burned a bunch of people alive, so we turned around and burned him alive. Except they won't say it was us. They'll say it was the will of God, working through us. Maybe there's even some truth to that. And you want to know the best part? The absolute cat’s pajamas? Most of their friends will wish they'd been here to see it.

Related Characters: Brutus “Brutal” Howell (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix, Curtis Anderson
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 286
Explanation and Analysis:
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Eduard “Del” Delacroix Quotes in The Green Mile

The The Green Mile quotes below are all either spoken by Eduard “Del” Delacroix or refer to Eduard “Del” Delacroix. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death and the Death Penalty Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 2 Quotes

In a way, that was the worst; Old Sparky never burned what was inside them, and the drugs they inject them with today don't put it to sleep. It vacates, jumps to someone else, and leaves us to kill husks that aren't really alive anyway.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Chapter 7 Quotes

This is the real circus, I thought, closing my eyes for a second. This is the real circus right here, and we’re all just a bunch of trained mice. Then I put the thought out of my mind, and we started to rehearse.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix, Mr. Jingles (also “Steamboat Willy”) , Toot-Toot
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 3 Quotes

Meanness is like an addicting drug—no one on earth is more qualified to say that than me—and I thought that, after a certain amount of experimentation, Percy had gotten hooked on it. He liked what he had done to Delacroix’s mouse. What he liked even more was Delacroix’s dismayed screams.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Percy Wetmore, Eduard “Del” Delacroix
Page Number: 253-254
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 4 Quotes

I could hear Del breathing in great dry pulls of air, lungs that would be charred bags less than four minutes from now laboring to keep up with his fear-driven heart. The fact that he had killed half a dozen people seemed at that moment the least important thing about him. I’m not trying to say anything about right and wrong here, but only to tell how it was.

Related Characters: Paul Edgecombe (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 5 Quotes

As for your witnesses, most of them will be telling their friends tomorrow night that it was poetic justice—Del there burned a bunch of people alive, so we turned around and burned him alive. Except they won't say it was us. They'll say it was the will of God, working through us. Maybe there's even some truth to that. And you want to know the best part? The absolute cat’s pajamas? Most of their friends will wish they'd been here to see it.

Related Characters: Brutus “Brutal” Howell (speaker), Eduard “Del” Delacroix, Curtis Anderson
Related Symbols: The Green Mile
Page Number: 286
Explanation and Analysis: