The Messiah In The Mortal World

Stephen King is one of the world's most prolific and bestselling writers.He has created an immense number of literary works over the past quarter century,making a miracle in American publishing history.The Green Mile is an engaging page-turner about the unusual inmate John Coffey against the background of a penitentiary during the American Depression.However,in all the research on this novel,little is done from the perspective of biblical archetypes.Therefore,this thesis,based upon Northrop Frye's theory of biblical archetypal criticism,aims to explore the archetypal parallels between the hero John Coffey and God in the Bible.Like the triple role of God,Coffey is not only an almighty and suffering Messiah,miraculously helping people while bearing afflictions in the mortal world,but also an avenging Messiah,meting out punishment to the wicked by the criterion of good and evil.Through the depiction of Coffey's traits similar to those of God,King endeavors to arouse readers' resonance that Messiah still lives in the mortal world and embodies all the goodness of God.In this era of rapid economic progress when people have been increasingly concerned about economic interests instead of the value of humanity,The Green Mile will undoubtedly raise modern people's consciousness of the goodness in human nature.