Each individual has a unique personality that separates him or her from the rest of the world. However, society often tends to make superficial judgments about others based on their exterior appearance, cultural background, and their physical attributes or disabilities. Unfortunately, these stereotypes tend to stifle the growth and progress of a person, because the individual feels that him or her is not being judged on his or her entire being but rather solely on what meets the eye. In the novel The Green Mile, preconceived notions impede the course of the main character's life, which is placed upon him by society's generalizations of his time. .
In The Green Mile, Stephen King depicts the racial prejudice as the theme encountered by the main character, John Coffey. He is an enormous black man who faces execution after being convicted of raping and murdering twin sisters. He was found holding two girls in his arms by the police, who automatically assumed that he is guilty because of his size and skin color. In reality, John is a gentle, soft-spoken man who possesses surreal abilities of healing people by the touch of his .
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hands. On separate occasions, he is able to cure the illness of others around him, such as Paul's urinary infection, Mrs. Detterick's brain tumor as well as save the life of his pet mouse Mr. Jingles. Paul, one of the prison guards, explained John Coffey's abilities by saying, "Mr. Jingles should have died, but he didn't. Coffey did something to him with his bare hands. Healed him somehow. I know how that sounds, but I saw it with my own eyes."(282). On that day, he had reached the twin girls much too late to be able to heal them, and upon the arrival of the police they were dead in his arms, which left the wrong impression. John explained the situation by saying, "I couldn't help it. I tried to take it back, but it was too late."(305). The police hearing the man saying such a thing like that with two little dead girls in his arms, them white and blonde, him black and as big as a house, automatically assumed that he was the killer indeed and did not bother to investigate the crime.
