Editing The Green Mile (novel) (section)

===Main characters===
;Paul Edgecombe
:The [[protagonist]] and [[narrator]] of the book and the death row supervisor at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. He is 40 years old when the bulk of the story takes place, in 1932. He is a caring man and takes excellent care of the men on his block, avoiding conflict and keeping the peace whenever possible. He is the first character to discover John Coffey's amazing abilities, when the prisoner cures his urinary tract infection. It is also his idea to take Coffey to try to cure Melinda, Warden Hal Moores' wife, of her brain tumor. He transferred to Boy's Correctional with Brutus Howell shortly after Coffey's execution, and he is still alive at age 104 as of 1996, when he decides to pen down John Coffey's story, possibly to publicly reveal the latter's innocence.
;Brutus "Brutal" Howell
:He is second in command on the Green Mile and Paul's best friend. He is a tall, imposing man but not violent at all unless necessary. His nickname of "Brutal" is intended as [[irony]], as he is normally calm and soft-spoken. A former football tackle who had gone on to play at [[Louisiana State University]] (LSU) in his youth, he eventually suffers a fatal heart attack at home, presumably in his late fifties, about twenty-five years after Coffey's execution.
;John Coffey
:He is an [[African Americans|African American]] with a massive build (6&nbsp;ft 8 in tall), having been convicted of the rape and murder of two young girls and sentenced to death. He is very quiet and prefers to keep to himself, weeps almost constantly, and is afraid of the dark. Even at the end, during his execution, he asks Paul Edgecombe not to put on the traditional black silk mask used to block the view of the prisoner's face because he fears the dark. Coffey is described as "knowing his own name and not much else" and lacks the capability to do so much as tie a simple knot. At his trial, though, the prosecution contends that he lured the girls away from their home, disposed of the watchdog, and carefully planned the crime using abilities that Paul believes to be far beyond his reach. He is the calmest and mildest prisoner the guards have ever seen, despite his hulking form. He turns out to be innocent of the rape and murder of the two girls, but allows himself to be executed regardless because he is tired of all the cruelty in the world.
;Percy Wetmore
:The secondary antagonist of the story. He is a young and sadistic guard. He is disliked by Paul and the other guards because of his ways, but they cannot do anything about it because he is the nephew of the state governor's wife. He is very [[Homophobia|homophobic]] and attacks Eduard Delacroix for allegedly touching him, although it was an accident caused by Del stumbling out of the prison truck. He is later attacked by "Wild Bill" Wharton, consequently wets himself, and is teased by Delacroix for it. In retaliation, Percy deliberately sabotages Delacroix's execution. At the end of the story he is sent to the Briar Ridge mental institution, originally considered for a job but now as a patient, after Coffey transferred Melinda's disease to him that caused him to kill William Wharton and lose his sanity. Percy, who never recovered his sanity, eventually lives through a hospital fire and dies at another mental hospital in 1965.
;William "Wild Bill" Wharton
:The main antagonist of the story. He is on [[death row]] for various crimes, including an armed robbery in which he killed a pregnant woman and two other innocent bystanders. He does not like the nickname "[[Wild Bill Hickok|Wild Bill]]" but prefers to be called "[[Billy the Kid]]", a name that he has tattooed on his forearm. When he first arrives he manages to convince the guards that he is in a drugged stupor, only to attack and attempt to strangle to death Dean Stanton when they reach E Block. He continues to wreak havoc on the Mile and plays tricks such as urinating on the guards and spitting a chewed-up [[Moon Pie]] into Brutal's face. He is punished by being placed in solitary confinement countless times, but never learnt his lesson. As John Coffey is being smuggled to Hal Moores's house, Wild Bill grabs his arm and Coffey sees that he actually committed the crimes for which Coffey was convicted. Therefore, Coffey gives Percy the "sickness" he took from the warden's wife, thus killing Wild Bill.
;Eduard "Del" Delacroix
:He is a [[Cajuns|Cajun]] prisoner with a fairly slow grasp of the [[English language]], and has no family. He raped and murdered a young girl before starting a fire, which caused the deaths of six more people (including two children), resulting in his being sent to death row after a lengthy trial. While on the Mile, Del befriends a mouse named Mr Jingles, who becomes his best friend in his last days on death row. Percy, his enemy, sabotages his execution, causing Del to die a slow and gruesome death in the electric chair.
;Mr Jingles / Steamboat Willie
:Called [[Steamboat Willie]] by Brutal, he's an unusually intelligent mouse who enjoys eating peppermint sweets. He becomes a friend to Eduard Delacroix, who renames him Mr Jingles, in the few days before the man is executed. He is healed by John Coffey after being stomped on by Percy Wetmore. This gives him increased longevity and he finally dies 64 years later.