Could not agree more with the references stated by Feesh.
DAFTone clearly does not comprehend that many authors tend to either reference or are influenced by others and that is clearly the case here. To ignore this is to be ignorant.
Saw Green Mile first, a while back and saw of Mice and Men most recently. Could not get out of my head how the story of how Mice and Men ends, imagine if George had not killed him, perhaps he would end up in prison had he not been caught and killed by Curley. Perhaps he would end up like John in the Green Mile, (who also, out of all the traits you could choose a character to have; is a mouse who he squeezes to hard and dies. How coincidental!?).
Who's to say that this wasn't the thought of Stephen King to put in those small references that would excite readers who understand them.