The Green Mile is known for its devastating ending that almost makes the movie too sad to finish. There are no last-minute rescues or fun plot twists here as the innocent John Coffey has resigned to his impeding death and is executed in an electric chair. Around him, the guards try to hold back tears, not all of them succeeding. It's basically the polar opposite of a feel-good Disney movie ending ... so, of course, the book finds a way to make it even more depressing.
After the heartbreaking execution and some gloomy present-day dialogue at the retirement home, the movie ends with the elderly Paul outliving Elaine (Eve Brent) and musing on his apparent curse to live longer than anyone he cares about. The book follows similar general beats, except for one last gut punch. After Elaine dies, the reader finds out that Paul's wife, Jan (played by Bonnie Hunt in the movie), died in his arms after a dramatic bus accident in 1956 and that he experienced a vision of a ghostly John watching the scene. This powerful, tragic event adds an extra layer of terror and loneliness to the life of this old man, as well as a new aspect to John's otherworldly nature.
