Why do they wet the sponge during electrocution?

Water, particularly salt water, is a good conductor of electricity. Having the brine-soaked sponge causes the electricity to move in a more efficient line, thus killing the prisoner faster (comparable to a fast blow to the head with a large hammer).
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What happens if you use a dry sponge in the electric chair?

The fire and smoke during the Medina execution was the result of the dry sponge laced onto the brass electrode in the head piece catching fire and burning almost completely due to a lack of saline solution in that sponge. The lack of saline solution in the dry sponge caused the dry sponge to act as a resistor.
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Why did Percy not wet the sponge?

Percy deliberately avoids soaking a sponge in brine that is supposed to be tucked inside the electrode cap to ensure a quick death in the electric chair. When the switch is thrown, the current causes Del to catch fire in the chair and suffer a prolonged, agonizing demise.
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Why do they wet the sponge in The Green Mile?

After the electrodes were strapped to his head, Percy was tasked with wetting the sponge to conduct electricity to his head, which would making for a quicker and far less painful death.
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What happens to the body during the electric chair?

Being electrocuted can cause the body to swell so much that the eyeballs pop out of the head. The sudden extreme temperature in the body can also cause the eyeballs to melt. That's why prisoners often have their eyes taped shut before they are executed.
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Eduard Delacroix's Execution | The Green Mile | Screen Bites



What happens if you don't wet the sponge during execution?

Without the sponge, the electricity would simply disperse over the body, meeting with a lot of resistance, causing the body to cook, and death would be much more agonizing, as seen during Del (Michael Jeter)'s execution (comparable to getting hit all over the body with a lot of small hammers).
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Can you feel the electric chair?

Internal parts of the body may be hot enough to cause blisters to anyone who touches it. Convulsions – An individual on electric chair experiences uncontrollable convulsions. These are so strong that it can cause fractures and dislocations. That's why prisoners are strapped tight on the electric chair before execution.
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Is Green Mile a true story?

The Green Mile Is Based On A Truth-Inspired Stephen King Book. While not a true story, The Green Mile is based on a book. The heart and plot of the book remain intact for the movie adaptation.
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Why didn't they stop Del's execution?

What is the purpose of the wet sponge placed under the electrocution cap? Why didn't Paul simply stop the execution when he discovered the sponge was dry during Del's execution? There seemed to be enough time to stop it... The easiest answer that we see in the film is that there wasn't time.
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Why did Percy shoots Wild Bill?

When Coffey is returned to prison, he regurgitates the disease into Percy who, either through John controlling him or willingly out of disgust for Wharton's actions, then shoots Wild Bill to death before going into a catatonic state. When asked why he did this, John said that "[He] punished them bad men.
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Why did Percy leave the sponge dry?

Percy Wetmore doesn't wet the sponge

His contempt for convict Eduard "Del" Delacroix (Michael Jeter) leads to blood-curdling consequences when Del is executed. As Delacroix sits in the electric chair, Wetmore steps away to wet the sponge that will better ensure a quick death for the prisoner.
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What's the least painful way of execution?

Lethal injection is usually considered to be the most painless and humane form of execution.
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Is lethal injection painless?

Awareness. Opponents of lethal injection believe that it is not actually painless as practiced in the United States.
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What does the sponge is dry mean?

The sponge on the left is moist, but no more water can be removed by squeezing, so in one sense, it is "dry". Similarly, when plants use all the water they can extract from the soil, it is "dry" to them, yet it still contains water.
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What is the stuff that comes out of John Coffey's mouth?

In the movie "The Green Mile", John Coffey heals the prison guard Paul using his special power. He then opens his mouth and hundreds of "flies" appear buzzing away.
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How did they make John Coffey look so big in The Green Mile?

In reality, Michael Clarke Duncan was of a similar height to his co-star David Morse, and was a couple of inches shorter than James Cromwell. Amongst other things, creative camera angles were used to create the illusion that Duncan, as John Coffey, towered over the prison staff, even "Brutal" Howell and Warden Moores.
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Why did Percy cry in The Green Mile?

Presumably either being controlled by Coffey or willingly out of disgust for Wharton's crimes, a crying Percy proceeds to shoot Wharton to death before going into a permanent catatonic state.
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Who was the youngest person to get the electric chair?

George Stinney Jr. became the youngest person to have ever been executed by electric chair in the US, at only 14 years old. 70 years then passed and, in 2014, he was finally proven innocent.
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What disease did Tom Hanks have in The Green Mile?

We meet Edgecomb in 1935, the year, he says in a voice-over narration, of the worst urinary tract infection of his life, and the year that John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), moves to the Green Mile. (The movie's title refers to the stretch of green linoleum between the men's cells and the electric chair.)
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Why is it called The Green Mile?

His domain was called the "Green Mile" because the condemned prisoners walking to their execution are said to be walking "the last mile". The floor of the holding area was covered with faded green linoleum.
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Why do they shave your head before electric chair?

As for the execution itself, the prisoner must first be prepared for execution by shaving the head and the calf of one leg. This permits better contact between the skin and the electrodes which must be attached to the body. The prisoner is strapped into the electric chair at the wrists, waist, and ankles.
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How does it feel to be electrocuted death?

Electrocution causes injury, pain, spasms, and, probably, fear. Your nerves know they need to do something, but the electrical current makes it so they don't know which impulses to send where. That means your body doesn't know how to respond to the stimuli.
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What is the most humane method of execution?

The USA introduced execution by lethal injection almost 30 years ago, applying it for the first time in 1982 as the most “humane” way of putting someone to death.
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What happens in a botched execution?

Botched executions occur when there is a breakdown in, or departure from, the 'protocol' for a particular method of execution. The protocol can be established by the norms, expectations, and advertised virtues of each method or by the government's officially adopted execution guidelines.
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How long does the electric chair take?

Blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled, and the areas around the electrodes singed. The entire execution took about eight minutes.
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