MovieChat Forums > The Green Mile (1999) Discussion > Why did John Coffey not help girls?

Why did John Coffey not help girls?


Just thinking why John could not help those 2 girls...people say he only has healing powers. However he brought the mouse back to life...why not the girls??

reply


There simply wasn't enough time.

If you recall when Percy killed Del's mouse, John told them to bring him the mouse before it was too late to help him. John could heal certainly, but he couldn't resurrect something that had been dead for some period of time, perhaps when decomposition set in.

Just like CPR, there's a window of opportunity that eventually closes forever.

We've all heard about people being revived by CPR, sometimes quite a while after the heart stops, such as cold water drowning victims, but there's a point where brain death occurs and decomposition sets in.

Wild Bill kidnapped the girls at night and presumably raped and killed them several hours at least before John found them. Too late for John help.

But he did indeed try to save them anyway. John told Paul that when he found the girls, he tried "to take it back, but it was "too late"

reply

Wrong answer. The mouse is clearly dead yet gets resurrected.

"It was too late" is John's guess as to why he couldn't "take it back." He may be wrong.

I don't think those girls want to be resurrected after what happened to them.

reply


Lol, if you're going to troll, at least try to be funny or ironic

reply

Wrong, again.

reply

It is established several times in the film and the book that John cannot resurrect the dead. The girls were dead by the time John found them. Mr. Jingles was mortally wounded but was not yet dead. That is what John meant when he said to give him Mr. Jingles before it was too late.

reply

What established in the book is irrelevant.

In the movie, when they found John, it was obvious to us from the way he held the corpse of two dead girls that he had tried to "take it back". They were not little mice, so couldn't he tell whether they were already dead or not? In my opinion, no matter "mortally wounded" or dead, he will simply try to resurrect, if he succeeds, then calls it in time, if he fails, then calls it being too late. As I mentioned above, his words should not be taken for granted.

reply

>>>What established in the book is irrelevant.<<<

Since they are the same, what difference does it make? He tried to cure them. That is what a moral, virtuous person would do. People, even today, try to save people who are already dead at emergency sights. He tried and he couldn't since they were already dead.

Mr Jingles was not clearly dead. He was clearly mortally wounded. John could save him.

reply


You're wasting your time. I mean, look at his answer as to why John couldn't resurrect the girls:

I don't think those girls want to be resurrected after what happened to them.


Logic and facts hold no sway with dunces.

reply

It is illogical and crazy to assume that ghosts have their own will in Stephen King’s story, really?

reply


You saw ghosts in that movie?? LOL.

reply

Can I assume those two little girls have souls even if I didn't see them?

reply

"Just like CPR, there's a window of opportunity that eventually closes forever."

That's the answer right there. The girls were dead too long too far to save. Dels mouse was only dead a minute or so if he was really dead at all.

reply

Being black he had to be the victim of white racism.

reply


He couldn't "take it back" in his own words.

Meaning, they were too far gone for him to heal.

Mr. Jingles was crushed, but it's not clear he was dead. And even if he did die, Coffey was adamant that Paul give him Mr. Jingles before it was "too late."

So apparently there's a time limit on how long someone can be dead yet still within Coffey's ability to heal.

reply

Exactly right.

reply

It was too late in the girls' case.

reply