Monster By Steve Harman Sparknotes

Victoria Ford Juhas Hour 6/7 2-10-2023 Steve Harmon: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Steve may have been seen as not guilty, but does that mean Steve is truly innocent? After all, the Justice System can falsely accuse somebody or see a guilty person not guilty. I believe Steve to be one of those times, being a guilty person seen as innocent.

The book Monster written by Walter Dean Myers is about about of 16 year old boy named Steve Harmon who makes a decision to be part of a robbery. But in this robbery Steve and the others made a huge mistake and now accused of murder. The case is to find out who was involved and the real reason of the death of Mr. Nesbitt the store owner. During this time in Steve’s life he makes a film of what his experiences and struggles are in jail and court. Cleary, the theme of this book is one bad decision can have a big impact on one’s life.

In the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers you learn that not all people take responsibility for their actions. The main character Steve Harmon learned this lesson quickly while on trial for murder. Some of the characters he associates with are called upon to testify in a trial and he finds that they are not completely honest. Ultimately he changes his life by thinking about the decisions he makes. He is also more conscious of the people he hangs out with.

In the world, minorities are often stereotyped and profiled unfairly. The novel “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers, portrays this by showing how quick people are to judge a young black male. In the book, Steve Harmon, a black sixteen-year-old, is on trial for supposedly participating in the robbery that resulted in the murder of store owner, Mr Nesbitt. Steve is arrested and detained in absolute isolation while having to undergo everyone’s, including his parents’ harsh critiques. Despite being found not guilty, Steve continued to be profiled as a monster and will never be treated as a teenager anymore.

Julie Pawloski Mr. Leavitt Ela 1 May 12, 2023 Why Steve Is Innocent I am writing this to prove why the Judge and juries from Monster by Walter Dean Myers were correct in their final judgment saying Steve was innocent. As for him , he had a lot of evidence proving he was innocent. For example. Lorelle Henry, the key witness , never saw and never heard Steve in the store while she was there. Another piece of evidence is that after the homicide Steve was never compensated by money, which was promised by Mr. King and “Bobo” which they had stolen from the store.

Monster - Walter Dean Myers How would one feel to be on trail for something they did not do? In monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. Steve Harmon is a 16 year old who is wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit. If found guilty he can potentially serve 25 years to life in prison. He faces prejudice during his court case when there should only be hard cold facts.

“Monster” by Walter Dean Myers is an amazing book and a great show of Author’s Craft. In the book, he uses many different techniques to achieve specific goals. He uses description to create the setting, Flashbacks to provide context, and Inner thinking to build the mood. First of all, Myers uses Description to create the setting. He does this by arranging the book into a movie script format that tells the reader what is going on in a certain scene in the book.

Many people believe monsters aren’t real and are made up by one's imagination. Walter Dean Myers’ novel Monster showcases multiple connotations of a monster. Steve Harmon, a young 16-year-old boy, he was caught up in a court case. He experiences doubt, shame, and horrific fear during his time in court. Most of the spectators in the courtroom view him as malignant, violent, and aggressive.

Steve is portrayed as a victim of a racist legal system that assumes his guilt based on his race and appearance. I can show this using this quote said by Steve's lawyer, “My job is to make sure the law works for you as well as against you, and to make you a human being in the eyes of the jury. ”(Walter Dean Myers) This quote shows how his lawyer sees how race could play a role in whether or not the jury decides whether or not he is guilty. The prosecutor and police officers involved in the case are all white, and they use racial stereotypes and assumptions to build their case against Steve.

In the novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers the young main character Steve Harmen who grew up in Harlem, got caught with some bad people and is on trial for murder. Ms. O’Brien and Ms Petrocelli’s final statement during the trial of Steve Harmon and James King for the murder of Alguinanado Nesbitt, helped me come to the conclusion that Steve Harmen is innocent. I came to this conclusion because he never agreed to be the lookout, he never gave a signal, and never received any money. He was not with them at their chicken meet and greet after the robbery, The witness never saw Steve inside the store, Steve also said he was in there to buy mints. When he was on stand he then said he was never in the store.

At the end of the trial, the jury made their decision. The author wrote, “The guards who were standing behind Steve moved away from him. He has been found not guilty.” (Myers 276).Steve being a good person has better reasons than him being a bad person because one of the reasons for him being a bad person was because he was friends with bad people. Just because he is friends with bad people doesn't mean he does the same stuff as them.

When asked why he voted not guilty, juror eight stated “Look, this boy has been kicked around all his life. You know---living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. He spent a year in and a half in an orphanage while his father served a jail term for forgery. That’s not a very good head start. He’s had a pretty terrible sixteen years.

Steve’s judgment of his actions is similar to a pendulum swinging. Although Steve believes within himself that he is innocent, of the important people around him, make him insecure as to the degree of his innocence and turn to others for confirmation. Steve Harmon, the defendant, is faced with an internal conflict that questions his self-identity and his character in relation to the crime.

Before the trial, Steve is already scared of what the outcome is and how he might spend his whole life in jail and starts doubting his chances of being found not guilty. During the trial, Steve starts hearing the things the prosecutor is saying and sees the people who are testifying against him, which is already not putting him in a good state of mind, and this combines with him seeing his father who looks very scared of Steve, and this all gives Steve disappointment. After the trial, Steve is found not guilty and gets to return home and we next hear from him five months later where we see his father had left him and that Steve doesn’t even know who he is, which shows that he feels damaged. With all of this in mind, we can see that Steve, a dark-skinned, sixteen-year-old boy, has gone through a change from being afraid to feeling lost with himself through doubt, disappointment, and damage. Image how other people feel in

According to deathpenaltyinfo.org “Black people are about 7 ½ times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder in the U.S. than are whites.” It also states how “Black people were overrepresented in every category of the 1,167 wrongful murder convictions in the Registry’s database.” The critical literacy novel Monster, by Walter Dean Myers takes place in The Manhattan Detention Center, when 16 year old Steve Harmon went on trial for convicted murder, after being spotted in the drugstore moments before the tragedy happened. “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.” This is basically saying when the right time to cry is so you don't get beat up for being “weak.”