Previous
John Coffey
A particularly cruel guard who makes the atmosphere on E block violent and unpredictable, Percy is despised by inmates and guards alike. As the nephew of the governor’s wife, his characteristic cowardice is offset by the fact that he has friends in high places, causing him to act arrogantly with the assurance that he can have anyone fired for mistreating him. While he takes pleasure in beating and humiliating weaker individuals, he deeply fears humiliation himself. Percy’s hatred of Delacroix is in part motivated by homophobia, as he uses the false excuse that Delacroix has touched him inappropriately to violently beat the chained prisoner. Percy’s cruelty reaches new heights when he deliberately sabotages Delacroix’s execution, causing the inmate to suffer a protracted, agonizing death on the electric chair. He ultimately goes insane after John Coffey transfers onto him the illness he had absorbed from Melinda Moores, which in turn causes Percy to kill Wharton in his cell. As punishment for this crime, Percy spends the rest of his life in an asylum for the mentally unwell.
Percy Wetmore Quotes in The Green Mile
The The Green Mile quotes below are all either spoken by Percy Wetmore or refer to Percy Wetmore. 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:
).
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:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: Chapter 1
Quotes
As I went on down toward the kitchen, it occurred to me that the team of Elaine Connelly and Paul Edgecombe would probably be a match for a dozen Brad Dolans, with half a dozen Percy Wetmores thrown in for good
measure.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 6: Chapter 2
Quotes
I’ll be okay, they ain’t killers, Percy would think . . . and then, maybe, he’d think of Old Sparky and it would cross his mind that yes, in a way we were killers. I'd done seventy-seven myself, more than any of the men I'd ever put the chest-strap on, more than Sergeant York himself got credit for in World War I.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Green Mile LitChart as a printable PDF.
Percy Wetmore Quotes in The Green Mile
The The Green Mile quotes below are all either spoken by Percy Wetmore or refer to Percy Wetmore. 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:
).
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:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: Chapter 1
Quotes
As I went on down toward the kitchen, it occurred to me that the team of Elaine Connelly and Paul Edgecombe would probably be a match for a dozen Brad Dolans, with half a dozen Percy Wetmores thrown in for good
measure.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 6: Chapter 2
Quotes
I’ll be okay, they ain’t killers, Percy would think . . . and then, maybe, he’d think of Old Sparky and it would cross his mind that yes, in a way we were killers. I'd done seventy-seven myself, more than any of the men I'd ever put the chest-strap on, more than Sergeant York himself got credit for in World War I.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
