The Green Mile: Part 4: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The next day is marked by a huge thunderstorm. Preparations for the upcoming execution initially seem to go smoothly, as Delacroix waits in his cell and the witnesses arrive. However much the witnesses might have joked about the electric chair, Paul notes that as time passes they become serious and nervous. When Paul comes to pick Delacroix up, Delacroix, in tears, hands him Mr. Jingles and makes him promise that nothing bad will happen to him.

After Delacroix gives his mouse one last kiss, which puts the guards on the verge of tears, Dean, Brutal, and Paul escort him to Paul’s office where he says a Catholic prayer in Cajun French. A stroke of lightning scares the guards but Del, lost in prayer, fails to notice. When the men walk through the small door and are forced to duck, Del stops short at the sight of Percy presiding over the execution. Paul, however, looks at the chair and feels that everything is in order—or hopes so, at least.

Del walks up to the chair, the men tie him to it, and Paul feels a moment of compassion for this man, explaining that his status as a rapist and a murderer seem to matter little in that moment. Del is trembling and sweating uncontrollably with fear.

After the roll on one, Percy steps forward, gives his official speech, and asks Delacroix if he has anything to say. Delacroix apologizes for his crimes and, in a whisper, asks Paul to take care of his mouse. As Paul is reassuring him, Percy reveals to Delacroix that Mouseville is an invented place, and Del reacts with shock—but his reaction also suggests that part of him already knew. Furious, Paul glares at Percy but realizes that he is powerless to do anything about it, for they are in the middle of a public execution.

Percy places the mask on Del’s face. Then, instead of wetting the sponge in brine, which allows electricity to flow through the man’s head, he places it dry on Delacroix’s head. Neither Brutal nor Paul—who is still upset about Mouseville—notices that anything is wrong. Nevertheless, Dean and Brutal are showing visible signs of distress and Paul realizes that while they all realize that something must be wrong, they simply cannot yet identify what it is.

Suddenly, when Percy is done fitting the cap on Delacroix’s head, Paul notices that he sees no water running down the condemned man’s cheeks. He tries to communicate what he has seen with Brutal, but his colleague doesn’t understand. Paul violently grabs Percy’s arm and Percy’s face reveals the truth that he knew exactly what he was doing when he failed to wet the sponge. Percy calls roll on two and Delacroix’s body surges forward.

After a few seconds, it becomes clear that something is wrong when a crinkling sound is heard and a horrible smell emerges, which Paul later understands to be a mix of burning hair and sponge. Paul looks at Dean, who is panicking, and a popping sound is heard underneath Del’s mask. Paul runs to stop the electricity, but Brutal, extremely pale yet perfectly in control of his thoughts, grabs his arm, telling him not to stop the juice, for it is too late for this and they should go on with the execution.

Del begins to scream as his body slams back and forth in the chair, his bones cracking from spasmodic movements and the crotch of his pants turning dark. Soon, his cries can be heard over the din of the rain and the audience begins to wonder if something is wrong. Percy’s horrified face shows that he had not expected something so horrible as this. Suddenly, Del’s mask bursts into flames and Van Hay, completely shaken, asks if he should stop the current. Paul yells back that he shouldn’t. He tells Brutal, who is going to throw water on Del to stop the flames, to go get the fire extinguisher. As Del’s mask peels off, his horribly blackened face is visible for all to see. The maddening sound of electricity fills Paul’s ears.

While the audience gives in to panic and Paul explains to Curtis Anderson that they have gone too far to stop the process now, the remainder of the execution lasts two full minutes, excruciatingly long for everyone. Paul believes that Del is conscious through most of it, even as smoke came out of his face, the buttons on his shirt melted, and his body burned alive. The audience huddles by the door, which is locked, and when Paul looks for the doctor he sees that he has fainted.

When Del’s body slumps back and it becomes clear he is dead, Paul orders Van Hay to cut the electricity and Brutal to put out the fire. Brutal shoves the fire extinguisher into Percy’s arms, telling him it is his job and Percy looks back at him, furious and sick. Meanwhile, Curtis Anderson is trying to reassure the audience, telling them what happened was the result of a power surge from the lightning. Paul tells Dean to grab the doctor’s stethoscope and places it on Del’s burned body, where his skin slides off. Among the audience’s cries and protests, he confirms that Del is dead and tells the guards to get his body out of there.