Paul Edgecomb was a correctional officer in charge of the death row immates at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary in The Green Mile. He is portrayed by Tom Hanks, while Dabbs Greer portrays the old Paul Edgecomb.
He was 40 years old, when the events surrounding The Green Mile happened. He begins to tell the story about John Coffey. to his friend, when he was 104 years old, in an asylum and, despite of his age, he still looked very alive. Even the mouse Mr. Jingles, that he had taken care of since then, had outlived his time and continued to live with Paul.
He tells her how John Coffey had entered the Death Row Chamber they called The Green Mile, how he had cured his kidney illness, how he cured others, including Mr. Jingles, what problems a guard called Percy caused and how he had turned out to be innocent of the double murder of two girls, for which he had been convicted of. He also told her, how he was executed and how he was never the same again after that.
He also told her, that, in time, he realised, that those cured by John Coffey additionally have an expanded lifespan, which forced him to see his wife and children die before him. He is also later forced to see his friend die and be at her funeral, too, which forces him to think, how many years he will still have to live, until he dies, too.
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