Monster by Walter Dean Myers - MonkeyNotes by PinkMonkey.com
PinkMonkey® Literature Notes on . . .
Monster
by
Walter Dean Myers
1999
MonkeyNotes Study Guide by Diane Clapsaddle
Reprinted with permission from TheBestNotes.com Copyright  2006, All Rights Reserved
Distribution without the written consent of TheBestNotes.com is strictly prohibited.
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KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
The story takes place in Manhattan and Harlem, New York City, mostly in a city lockup, but sometimes in the
neighborhood where Steve Harmon lives.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Steve Harmon - He is a sixteen year old young Black man who has been arrested for acting as the look-out in
robbery that goes bad and ends in a murder. He is the narrator for the story, writing it in the form of a
screenplay interspersed with his journal entries.
Kathy O’Brien - She is Steve’s defense attorney who uses his character traits before the crime and makes sure
she distances him from the other defendants as way of getting a not guilty verdict.
Sandra Petrocelli - She is the Assistant District Attorney who prosecutes the case against Steve and James
King. She labels them “monsters.”
James King - A black man who is also young, but older than Steve, he encourages Steve to be a part of his
“crew” which will rob the drugstore. He is accused of being in the drugstore, wrestling Mr. Nesbitt for the gun,
and ultimately shooting the older man to death.
Richard “Bobo’ Evans - He is the other young man accused of being in the store at the time of the murder. He
is stealing the money from the register and grabbing the cartons of cigarettes when the gun goes off. He makes a
deal with the prosecution to testify against King and Steve to get a lighter sentence.
Osvaldo Cruz - He is another participant in the crime. It was his job to stand outside and trip up anyone who
tries to catch them after they rob the store. He claims he did it, because he was afraid of Bobo, but he is a
member of a street gang and slashed someone’s face to be accepted into the gang.
Minor Characters
Lorelle Henry - She is a grandmother who was in the drugstore at the time of the murder. She testifies that she
saw two men there and picks James King from a handful of pictures and then out of a lineup.
José Delgado - He worked in the drugstore and found Mr. Nesbitt’s body. He also determined that several
cartons of cigarettes had been stolen along with money from the cash register.
Steve’s parents - They are depicted as hard-working people who have tried to raise their sons right. Steve’s
mother continues to believe in him no matter what, but his father looks at him like he doesn’t really know him.
Dorothy Moore - James King’s cousin, she testifies that James had brought her a new lamp for Christmas at the
time of the murder.
George Nipping - He testifies that James King is left-handed which creates reasonable doubt that King did the
crime, since it was more likely that Mr. Nesbitt was shot by a right-handed perpetrator. His testimony is weak,
however, because the perpetrator was wrestling with Mr. Nesbitt over the gun.
Alguinaldo Nesbitt - The victim of the crime, he is depicted as a decent, hard-working citizen who lost his life
in defense of his property. However, his character isn’t well presented, because the focus of the story is Steve
and other young men on trial.
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CONFLICT
Protagonist
The protagonist is Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old black youth who is on trial for his life.
Antagonists
The antagonists include the justice system of our country, the neighborhood which impacts young men like
Steve, the people Steve associates with in the neighborhood, and Steve himself.
Climax
The climax of the story occurs when Steve is found not guilty of the murder.
Outcome
Steve is allowed to go home with his parents, but his “imprisonment” continues as he tries to make sense of
who he is and the decisions he made. His final thought concerns what his defense attorney saw in him when he
tried to embrace her with gratitude after the verdict. He questions whether he really is a good person.
SHORT SUMMARY (Synopsis)
A sixteen year old boy named Steve Harmon finds himself on trial for murder after he is accused as acting as a
lookout for the young men who actually commit a robbery at a Harlem drugstore and kill the store owner. The
story is presented predominantly from his own viewpoint in the form of a screenplay and journal entries he
writes, as he faces the trial and possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
THEMES
The theme of introspection is one of the most prevalent themes. Steve must come to terms with who he really
is and so his screenplay and his journal entries are a way to try to make sense of what he has done or hasn’t
done in his life, and what has brought him to the point of prison. By the end of the story, his doubts and his
fears about who he really is have not yet been completely resolved.
Another theme is peer pressure. This is especially seen in how Steve associates with young men he’s aware are
less than savory individuals, and yet whom he is willing to be around. There is a sense that he needs to prove his
manhood in some way by being with this “tough guys” in spite of the fact that they can bring disaster down
upon him.
A third theme is that of young Black men in Harlem. The author is presenting the situation that exists for these
boys who are growing up in the middle of poverty, crime, and hopelessness. They often make the wrong
choices, because they have few positive role models, and they see themselves as destined for prison.
A final important theme is that of race and the justice system. There is a sense that because Steve is young and
black, he is “more likely” to have committed the crime in the eyes of the jurors. There is also the sense that if he
has been arrested, he must have done it, because the police and the prosecution witnesses wouldn’t lie.
MOOD
The mood is very dark and filled with despair as we see Steve learn to cope with what may be the outcome of
this trial. The mood doesn’t even change in the end, although he is acquitted, because he now must face the
realization that his life is changed forever and that he doesn’t really know who he is anymore.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION-BIOGRAPHY - Walter Dean Myers
Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia. When he was a baby, his
mother died and his father, who was extremely poor, felt it was best to give him to a foster family (The Deans)
in New York (Harlem) that could care for him. As a child, Walter developed a great love for literature and
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poetry. He found reading books to be a way to escape to foreign lands and adventures outside of his own life.
He loved the public library and spend much of his time there.
Walter had a speech problem, and though he was a good student, he dealt with this issue by being aggressive.
In 1954, he dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Army when he was 17. After the Army, he worked
several menial jobs and wrote at nights. He began writing articles for magazines and advertising. He heard of a
contest by the Council on Interracial Books for Children and he entered his first book and won. That book was
Where Does the Day Go?
He has written many award winning young adult novels and continues to write prolifically. He has received the
Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to young adult literature and is a five time winner of the
Coretta Scott King Award.
His many titles include Shooter; Bad Boy; A Memoir: Malcolm X; Hoops; A Fire Burning Brightly, the
Caldecott Honor Book Harlem, and the Newbery Honor Books Scorpions and Somewhere in the Darkness. He
lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his wife and three children..
HONORS AND AWARDS FOR MONSTER
Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
Coretta Scott King Award
National Book Award Finalist
CHAPTER SUMMARIES AND ANALYSIS
Journal Entry #1
Summary
The first journal entry is an introduction to a young man who is in prison for the very first time and is frightened
out of his life. He begins by explaining that the best to time cry in prison is at night when someone is being
beaten up and screaming for help to cover up the noise of the tears. Then, you can’t be beaten up later for being
weak. He wonders when he looks into the scratched mirror whether he will look like himself when the trial is
over. He describes an incident at breakfast when inmate is hit in the face with a metal cafeteria tray. He
comments that “they” say you get used to being in jail, but he doesn’t see how.
All of these inmates are strangers, but they still find reasons to hurt each other. He feels like he’s walked into a
strange movie with no plot and no beginning. It’s in black and white and it’s grainy like an old film. He realizes
that it’s not a movie about bars and locked doors. Rather, it’s about “being alone when you are not really alone
and about being scared all the time.” However, for the most part, he just can’t make sense of it, so he decides to
make his own movie of this experience and he’ll title it what the prosecutor called him – Monster.
Notes
This opening journal entry is significant in that the writer has not yet introduced himself, but we learn a great
deal more about him than just his name could reveal. He is young and alone in prison for some reason. He is
frightened and he is trying desperately to make sense of what has happened to him. He turns to writing down his
experiences in the form of a journal and a screenplay to try to document what is happening to him. He is already
labeling himself for the reader by giving the play a title – Monster.
Monday, July 6th
Summary
The young man uses all of the correct stage directions and abbreviations for camera movements. This day
begins in the Manhattan Detention Center where the voices are clearly Black or Hispanic. We finally learn this
character’s name and age – Steve Harmon, 16 – and see him sitting on a cot with a suit and tie next to him.
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Around him are the realities of prison life – screams, cursing, and men sitting on toilets in front of everyone
around them. He tries to hide his head under a blanket, but is cautioned by a Voice Over that he can’t hide under
it, because this is reality. The voice continues explaining the realities of this Detention Center while the credits
begin rolling from the bottom of the screen and shrinking at the top like Star wars. The title is Monster! The
Story of My Miserable Life and he is the star, the producer, and the director. The credit calls it an “incredible
story about how one guy’s life was turned around by a few events and how he might spend the rest of his life
behind bars.” The other individuals who take part in the trial are introduced under the “Featuring . . .” part of
the credits.
The Voice Over and a prisoner named Sunset help to show the irony of life in the Manhattan Detention Center:
Steve is new to this, so he refuses food, but the other more experienced prisoners eat with gusto, even finishing
his food; and other people are outside going about the everyday patterns of their lives while he is handcuffed
and finally wearing his suit for court.
Steve meets with his lawyer, Kathy O’Brien who is all business. She explains that he is on trial for felony
murder along with a guy named King and that the prosecutor is good at what she does. She wants the death
penalty for both of them. Steve asks her if she thinks they’re going to win and she replies that it depends on
what Steve means by “wins.”
In the holding room, the reader is introduced to 23-year-old James King, the other man on trial. He gives Steve
a hard look. The stenographer and the guards discuss the case as a motion case: they go though the motions and
they lock them up! The fear is evident on Steve’s face. Once in the courtroom, O’Brien tells him he should be
scared and that it’s her job to make him a human being in the eyes of the jury. The trial then begins after the
judge and the lawyers comment on their Fourth of July weekends.
The scene switches to a flashback sequence in which Steve remembers a class with Mr. Sawicki, his film club
mentor. The teacher explains “if you make your film predictable, the audience will make up its minds about it
long before it’s over.”
Then, reality returns with the entrance of the jury. Steve asks if they look alright, but O’Brien’s comment is just
as realistic. They are what they have for a jury and they have to deal with. This is followed by Prosecutor
Petrocelli’s opening statement. Her words are even more realistic than the jury coming into the room. She refers
to the two accused men as the “monsters in our community.” She unfolds the events from the viewpoint of the
prosecution, pointing out that James King and another man named Richard “Bobo” Evans entered the drugstore,
fought Mr. Nesbitt, the victim, for his gun, shot him, stole money and cigarettes, and fled the store. She insists
there was a premeditated plan to commit the crime that included another conspirator who was expected to enter
the store in advance and check it out for police and yet another whose job was to impede anyone who might
chase the robbers. She points out Steve as being the lookout.
Steve, in the meantime, is systematically writing the word monster all over his notebook. His attorney takes the
pencil from him and just as systematically crosses out all the words. She tells him, “You have to believe in
yourself.” Petrocelli ends her opening statement by saying that James King and Steven Harmon were all part of
the robbery that caused the death of Alguinado Nesbitt.
O’Brien also gives her opening statement in which she emphasizes that the American Justice System also
protects the rights of the accused. As such, it allows her to prove that the evidence presented by the prosecution
is seriously flawed, and that there is overwhelming doubt that Steve Harmon has committed any crime at all.
She reminds the jury that by law, they are required not to prejudge him. Her opening statement is followed by
that of Asa Briggs who is the defense attorney for James King. He emphasizes that the witnesses for the
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prosecution are the most self-serving, heartless people imaginable, and that the jury must judge their testimony
carefully.
These statements are followed by the first witness – José Delgado – who testifies that as an employee of the
drugstore, he had gone out for Chinese food around 4:35 in the afternoon, and everything was fine when he left.
When he returned, he discovered Mr. Nesbitt on the floor with blood everywhere, the cash register opened, and
a lot of cigarettes missing. It is established by the prosecution that the robbery took place, because everyone in
the neighborhood knew that José had a black belt in karate. When cross-examined by Mr. Briggs, José is forced
to admit that he has no medical skills, even though he determined immediately that Mr. Nesbitt was dead. He
also makes the witness admit that he took the time to check the inventory before calling the police.
The next witness is Sal Zinzi, a young man who had been imprisoned on Rikers Island at the time of the crime.
He was in there for accepting stolen property. Sal testifies that he had spoken with another prisoner named
Wendell Bolden who told him that he knew about a drugstore holdup where a man had been killed. Bolden was
thinking of turning in the guy who committed the crime in the hopes of shortening his own sentence. Instead,
Zinzi got to the police first so as to shorten his own time in prison. He also testified that Bolden knew about the
crime, because he had gotten some cigarettes from the guy involved with the holdup.
When Mr. Briggs cross-examines Zinzi, it comes out that the prisoner wanted out early even though he only had
two months to go, because he was being sexually harassed. Briggs emphasizes through his questions that Zinzi
is willing to lie to avoid being gang-raped and that he had pre-empted Bolden by cutting a deal with the District
Attorney. O’Brien follows this up by emphasizing that Zinzi was desperate to get out even though Petrocelli has
him insist that he wouldn’t lie.
The chapter ends with another flashback, this time to four years before when, at the age of 12, Steve and his
friend Tony were throwing rocks. Steve accidentally hits a young woman walking with a tough guy. When the
tough guy threatens them, Steve yells at Tony to run which makes Tony the object of the tough guy’s punches.
The couple eventually walks away, and Tony questions Steve for telling him to run. Steve insists he didn’t say
that Tony had thrown the rock. He had just told him to run.
Notes
This chapter is all about reality – the disgusting part of the Manhattan Detention Center, the types of witnesses
and how they’re willing to say anything to get out of prison early, and Steve’s awareness that everyone thinks
he’s a monster. It’s also about whether Steve also believes he’s a monster and how he must come to believe in
himself.
It’s also interesting to note one of his flashbacks – throwing rocks with Tony. He had willing given up Tony as
the thrower of the rocks by yelling run when the tough guy came after them. He is comparable to the witnesses
who are all willing to lie to avoid punishment also.
Journal Entry #2
Summary
Steve copies some notes in which he states how he can hardly think about his movie, because he hates prison so
much. However, he knows if he didn’t think about the movie, he would go crazy. It’s a catch-22 for his
psychological state. He also mentions how all people in prison think of is hurting someone and that they even
make knives out of toothbrushes. He ends his notes with the word HATE written over and over in bold print.
Notes
Even though a small chapter, this journal entry really shows how life in the prison can turn a man into the
monster that Steve is beginning to believe he is. All he has is movie to channel his hate.
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7th
Thursday, July
Summary
The trial continues with Wendell Bolden on the stand. The prosecutor has him admit that he is imprisoned for
breaking and entering and intent to distribute drugs. He then admits that he had gotten some cigarettes from a
guy who told him he had been involved in a robbery where a guy had been killed. Bolden had been thinking
about trading what he knew “for some slack.” He reveals that the man who had told him about the robbery and
sold him the cigarettes was Bobo Evans.
The scene then becomes another flashback in Steve’s memory. This time, it takes place on a stoop on 141 st
Street. James King and Steve are sitting on the steps with a heavy woman named Peaches and a thin man named
Johnny stand above them. King complains that he needs to get “paid.” He figures if he had a “crew” with some
heart and a nose for the cash, he could get paid. He asks Steve what he had and the boy answers that he doesn’t
know. Johnny looks at him and wonders, “When you been down?” or since when has he been one of them.
The scene returns to the courtroom where Bolden continues his testimony. He tells the jury that he bought two
cartons of cigarettes for $5 a piece and heard Bobo say he had gotten them from the robbery in the drugstore.
He didn’t ask anymore about it, because all he wanted was the smokes. He says it all happened the day before
Christmas. When Asa Briggs questions Bolden about whether he knew Evans before this and Bolden admits he
didn’t. That makes Briggs question him as to why Bobo would give away this information to someone he didn’t
even know. Bolden only responds that if the guy wanted to run his mouth, it was none of his business. Briggs
also gets Bolden to admit that he’d cut a heavy deal with the prosecution to which Bolden claims he wanted to
be a good citizen and do the right thing. The judge then adjourns court for the day.
The scene now cuts to the detention center where the camera slowly pans down the corridor toward the sound of
fists methodically punching someone. Steve is lying on his cot, but he is not the one being beaten although the
sounds are coming from his cell. The punching sounds soon change to those of a sexual attack and the scene
fades out. Another flashback begins in Steve’s home where he is watching TV with his eleven-year-old brother,
Jerry. Jerry talks about being a super hero and Steve tells him he’d want to be Superman. Jerry thinks Steve
would be a cool super hero, but if he picked for his older brother, he’d make him Batman so he could be Robin.
Notes
This chapter emphasizes that the prosecution witnesses continue to be criminals willing to testify in order to
make a deal to get out of prison. However, it also establishes that Steve had been with James King when he had
been contemplating some way to obtain money with a crew that had the heart and the nose for the cash. It’s also
obvious that Steve was fairly new to the group, because Johnny doesn’t know him. This is an important
flashback, because it shows that Steve had made at least one bad decision when he chose to associate with
someone like King.
The most poignant aspect so far to Steve’s story is the flashback to the conversation with his little brother. Jerry
obviously looks up to his brother as a super hero, but ironically, Steve has decided to hang out with a
questionable element in the neighborhood.
Journal Entry #3
Summary
In this journal entry, Steve writes that the authorities take away your shoelaces and your belt to prevent a
suicide. He says, “I guess making you live is part of the punishment.” He also confesses that he doesn’t feel like
he’s really involved as he sits in the courtroom. Only when he returns to his jail cell does the reality hit him
again. His lawyer explains that the prosecutor is creating a trail with Bolden’s testimony that will lead right to
him and King. However, Steve thinks she’s just parading all these terrible individuals in front of the jury to
demonstrate that they are just like them. He contrasts this thought with his memory of Jerry and the super hero,
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because he thinks it makes him seem like a real person. One of the prisoners asks Steve if he can read his
screenplay and tells him afterwards that he likes it so much that when he gets out, he’s going to have the word
monster tattooed on his forehead. Steve feels like he already has the word on his own forehead.
Steve also remembers that a preacher came to the recreation room and asked if anyone wanted to share a
moment of prayer. Steve had been about to volunteer when a prisoner named Lynch who was on trial for killing
his wife, cursed the man, saying that everybody wanted to talk to him and act like they were good when they
were all just criminals. Steve thinks the man is at least partially right, because he believes he is a good person,
but being with these guys makes it hard to think of himself as being different.
He ends the journal entry with notes in which he describes a dream he had where he was in the courtroom trying
to ask questions and no one could hear him. When he’s awake, he’s gassy and bloated, because he can’t go to
the bathroom in front of everyone.
Notes
Some important philosophy comes out in this Journal Entry. First, we see how Steve is more and more
beginning to see himself as no different than the other prisoners in the detention center. He also is beginning to
understand that just living with all the men he is beginning to identify with is a kind of punishment. The dream
is metaphorical in that it compares Steve’s sense that he has no power to being unheard in the courtroom.
Wednesday, July 8th
Summary
The next day in court opens with a conversation between two police officers, Attorney O’Brien, and the judge
about termites, and how the detective who’s about to testify has had a hemorrhoid operation. This innocuous
everyday conversation between colleagues contrasts with the reality of two men being on trial for their lives.
Detective Karyl takes the stand and describes the gruesome scene of the murder. The camera cuts to the
drugstore and José Delgado who is discovering the body. Then, the camera returns to the courtroom where
Petrocelli asks him to identify the gruesome pictures of Mr. Nesbitt’s body, which to Steve become black and
white and flash in increasingly contrasting and grainy format until they are hardly recognizable. Karyl further
testifies that he called the Emergency Medical Service and then noted that the cash register was open. He admits
that there really were no others clues to be found. In fact, the case was grinding to a dead end until he received
the tip that Zinzi had bought cigarettes from Bobo. He explains that they often use informants in murder cases.
Once again, the play is interrupted with a flashback where Steve is speaking with Detectives Karyl and Arthur.
Karyl claims that King and Evans have said that Steve pulled the trigger in the murder. Steve insists he doesn’t
know anything about a stickup. They are obviously using lies to try to get him to admit he was involved in the
murder. Steve imagines himself being led to the death chamber on death row. Then, he is forced to lie on the
table for the lethal injection where they painfully insert a plug to keep his body from messing itself at the
moment of death.
The reality of the courtroom returns where Detective Karyl is being questioned by Briggs. Briggs tries to get
Karyl to admit that since there were no fingerprints, the police just turned to their “stoolies” for help against the
accused. He makes the jury aware that finding a “witness” in jail isn’t really that hard.
Another flashback occurs in which Steve is talking with an older prisoner who tells him that in cases like his,
they have to give him some time in prison. Steve insists that he’s a human being who wants a life, too. Another
prisoner asks the older one to suppose that Steve is innocent. Steve says he is, but the older prisoner that
somebody has to be locked up and it might as well be Steve.
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In the next scene, O’Brien answers Steve’s question about how the trial is going by telling him that nothing is
happening that points to Steve’s being innocent. She points out that he’s young, Black, and on trial. What else
does the jury need to know? When Steve questions the idea that you’re supposed to be innocent until proven
guilt, O’Brien tells him that it depends on how the jury sees the case. They often tend to see the Prosecutor as a
person who would not lie.
The next witness on the stand will be Osvaldo Cruz, which makes Steve flashback again to the neighborhood
stoop where he is speaking with 14-year-old Osvaldo Cruz and 16-year-old Freddy Alou. The conversation
concerns Osvaldo’s arrogance and pride in the Diablos – the gang he belongs to. Osvaldo tells Steve that he’s
lame, meaning he doesn’t have the heart to hang out with certain people and that when the deal goes down, he
won’t be around.
Back in the courtroom, Osvaldo has taken the stand, but he is not the same arrogant, threatening individual he
had bee with Steve. Now, he talks softly and timidly as he explains that he had to help Bobo with the robbery,
because he was afraid of him. Petrocelli gives him a series of names and asks him if he knows them. He then
identifies both James King and Steve Harmon. He finally verbally admits that he participated in the robbery and
was afraid of all three – King, Evans, and Harmon. He cannot look at James King or Steve as they lead them all
away.
Notes
This chapter serves to bring important information to the reader – Karyl had questioned Steve, but the boy had
never admitted any guilt for the crime; Steve knew Osvaldo Cruz as well as James King, so once again there is a
connection between him the perpetrators of the murder; there really is no such thing as innocent until proven
guilty, because verdicts are all about the jury’s perception of the accused; Osvaldo may insist he participated in
the robbery because he was afraid, but the reality is that he is playacting as a timid, fearful individual; Osvaldo
knew that Steve was “lame,” meaning he didn’t have the heart to there when the deal goes down; and Osvaldo
doesn’t have the character to look at the two men he testified against, because he lied.
Journal Entry #4
Summary
Steve voices one of his fears – that Kathy O’Brien doesn’t know what he’s really like and probably doesn’t
care. Another prisoner in the detention center, Acie, is expecting a verdict in his case. He claims he doesn’t care
what the verdict is, because they can put him in jail, but they can’t touch his soul. It is a moment of impact for
Steve, because after his declaration, Acie begins to cry. It makes Steve realize that he could go to jail for 25
years to life. He can’t imagine himself in jail for that long, and he wants to cry, too.
As he gets dressed for the trial, Steve thinks of his mother and wonders what she’s thinking about him. He also
thinks about Mr. Nesbitt and how he had finally looked at the pictures of the man’s body after Attorney O’Brien
laid them out on the table to force him to look at them. He knows she has to be thinking, “Who is Steve
Harmon?” He wants to open his shirt and tell her to look into his heart if she wants to know who he is. He
thinks, “I know that in my heart I am not a bad person.” He asks Miss O’Brien about her life and later hears
some guards in the holding pen talking about theirs. It seems to strike him how ordinary everyone else’s lives
are.
Then, Steve is handcuffed near James King. He can smell the different scents of the man. He prays that King
won’t speak to him, but the man does anyway. He wonders if Steve is going to cut a deal also and narrows his
eyes and curls his lip at the younger boy. Steve realizes, however, that he doesn’t fear James King anymore.
The life he’s living in the detention center is so much more frightening than King that he begins to laugh. In the
courtroom, a group of school kids are there to view a real trial. They turn their eyes away from him, while he
sits down in front of them and imagines himself sitting where they are.
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Notes
This journal entry is one of self-exploration for Steve. He insists he’s a good person, but he sounds too much
like he’s trying to convince himself. He worries about what others think of him, including his lawyer, his
mother, and even some school children in the courtroom. He comes to the conclusion that the fear he deals with
each day in the detention center is so great that a criminal like James King no longer has the ability to scare
him. All of these examples show how much he has really changed in the short time he has been on trial for
murder.
Thursday, July 9th
Summary
Back in the courtroom, a pretty black juror is smiling. Steve returns her smile, but she stops smiling and turns
away. Steve puts his head down on the table in despair at which point O’Brien pulls him up, telling him that if
he gives up, the jury will give up on him. He holds his head back up, but there are tears on his face.
Osvaldo’s testimony continues. He tells the jury that Bobo had told him the place was all lined up and that his
job was to slow anyone down who came after them. He was going to push a garbage can in front of them. He
then goes on to say much to Petrocelli’s satisfaction that Bobo had explained that he and James King were
going into the store while Steve Harmon’s job was to be the lookout. Everybody involved was supposed to
share in the money stolen. Osvaldo insists, however, that he wasn’t involved for the money, but rather because
he feared Bobo. He also admits that he’s testifying because of a deal the prosecution had given him.
Briggs cross examines Osvaldo and emphasizes in his questions that once again, the witness is only saying what
he is because he’d do anything to get out of trouble. He also points out that Osvaldo’s insistence that he’s telling
the truth makes no sense coming from someone who would holdup a drugstore. When O’Brien cross-examines
him, she asks him how he was apprehended. The witness explains that his girlfriend called the police after they
had a fight. He lies when she asks him if he belongs to a gang and has to backpedal and characterize the lie as a
mistake. He is also forced to admit how he became a member of the Diablos – he has to leave his mark on
someone, which means slashing their face. She continues to reduce the effect of his testimony by emphasizing
that he never feared fighting a member of the Diablos to get into the gang, he never feared cutting a stranger’s
face, and he never feared beating up his girlfriend, but he claims he fears Bobo.
The scene switches now to the visitors’ area of the detention center where Steve is visiting with his father. Mr.
Harmon tells him that his lawyer has told him the trial isn’t going well. “There’s so much garbage going
through that courtroom . . . that anybody in there is going to have a stink on him.” Steve tells him father that
O’Brien is going to put him on the stand to tell his side of the story. He says he’s going to tell the truth – he
didn’t do anything wrong. There is a tense moment after these words, which prompts Steve to ask his father if
he believes that. His father begins to cry and tells his son how he would lie in bed when Steve was first born and
imagine scenes of the boy’s life. In all of his imaginings, he’d never thought his own son would be in any kind
of trouble. Steve searches his father’s face for the reassurance he’s always seen there, but it’s obvious that he
can’t find it. Steve begins to cry also, but his father can only murmur words of hope since he’s not allowed to
touch his son. As the scene fades, there is only the sound of his father’s sobs.
Notes
There is juxtaposition here of two different young men – Osvaldo, age 14 and Steve, age 16. Osvaldo is a
member of a gang, has impregnated his girlfriend, beats her up, and willingly joins in on this robbery/murder.
Steve is a relatively decent young kid whose never been in trouble and now may have made some questionable
decisions which are impacting deeply on his family. Osvaldo comes across as a liar, who is out to get himself
out of trouble by turning on others. However, Steve may be a liar, too, and his own father, who obviously loves
him very much, even doubts him.
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Journal Entry #5
Steve is shook by his father’s tears and sobs. He has never seen him cry before. Instead of being sympathetic to
his father’s sadness, he cries out, “What did I do? Anybody can walk into a drugstore and look around.” Now he
fears that his father is looking down to see his son and seeing a monster instead. He thinks his dad feels the
same way as Miss O’Brien – that the jury won’t see any difference between him and all the bad guys taking the
stand.
Notes
This is a significant journal entry for two reasons. First, we see a very selfish side of Steve, perhaps evoked by
fear, but selfish nonetheless. Second, Steve admits in this entry to have gone into the drugstore and looked
around. However, he stops short of admitting that he did so as part of the robbery. His father’s behavior
obviously shows the reader that he feels Steve was part of the entire crime.
Thursday, July 9th Continued
Summary
A flashback occurs at this point in Steve’s neighborhood. There are two women discussing the murder at the
drugstore. Steve is holding a basketball and stands within earshot of the two. He hears them bemoan the guns in
the neighborhood and the shame of Mr. Nesbitt’s death. He drops the basketball and begins to walk and then
run away from the sounds of their voices. The camera pans the basketball left lying in the gutter. The scene then
shifts to the television newscast of the crime where a resident of his neighborhood explains that he’s not
surprised by the death since they killed a little girl two months before and she had just been sitting on her stoop.
The camera cuts to Steve’s apartment where he is watching the news program. His brother switches to cartoons
while Steve stares straight ahead in absolute shock. Then, it’s two weeks later and Steve’s mother has returned
with groceries to tell him they captured the guys who killed the drugstore owner. The TV once again relates the
story with a shot of Bobo in handcuffs. Then, the camera moves to Steve’s bedroom where he lays on his bed,
eyes open but not seeing anything. The doorbell rings. Detectives Williams and Karyl enter, handcuff Steve,
and take him away. Mrs. Harmon is panicky the whole time, not understanding why they’re taking her son
away. She follows the car down the street to the corner before she realizes that she doesn’t even know where
they are taking him.
Notes
Flashbacks once again reveal important information for the reader who at this point knows more than the jury,
but not necessarily enough to determine Steve’s guilt or innocence. He is obviously deeply shocked by the news
of the murder, but is the shock because he didn’t know it had happened or because he’s afraid he’ll be caught?
The saddest part of the entire section is the terrible toll the arrest takes on his mother and his little brother who
really the innocent ones, but who have now lost their innocence.
Journal Entry #6
Summary
Steve comments on O’Brien’s assertion that Prosecutor Petrocelli is playing a cheap trick. When the judge calls
for only a half-day session, Petrocelli pulls out the crime scene photos once again, so the jury will have them in
their minds all weekend. Steve imagines himself writing about the crime, but he doesn’t want to have it in his
mind anymore than the jurors might want to have the pictures in theirs. He wonders how Mr. Nesbitt felt at the
moment of his death, and he can see himself walking down the street, trying to make his mind a blank screen,
just as the man knew he was going to die. He is mopping the floor in the detention center when these thoughts
come to him and they are almost enough to make him vomit. He recalls Miss O’Brien saying that she wanted to
make him different in the eyes of the jury from Bobo, Osvaldo, and King, and he realizes that it had been him
who wanted to be tough like them.
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Notes
Once again, Steve’s journal provides important clues as to his guilt or innocence. He can’t stand to think of Mr.
Nesbitt’s final moments, but admits he was walking down the street trying to keep his mind blank at the
moment the man died. He admits also that he had wanted to be tough like King, Bobo, and Osvaldo. The
question then must be asked: are these admissions enough to make the reader believe he’s guilty?
Friday, July 10th
Summary
Steve writes his play at this point into a split-screen four-way montage: three images alternating between shots
of witnesses and defendants. The viewer will hear only one witness at a time, but see the others clearly talking
on other screens. In the upper left screen is Detective Williams; in the lower left in Allen Forbes, a City clerk; in
the lower right is Dr. James Moody, the medical examiner; and the upper right screen is sometimes black,
sometimes a startling, stark white. Sometimes the witnesses are replaced with the faces of King or Steve for
reaction shots.
Allen Forbes testifies that the gun was registered to Mr. Nesbitt and it was legal for him to have it in his
possession. Detective Williams testifies to what happened when he arrived at the crime scene. He explains that
there were few clues to help them until they got a tip from Zinzi on Riker’s Island that led them to Bobo Evans.
Dr. Moody testifies as to the time and cause of death, telling the jury that Mr. Nesbitt actually died from
drowning in his own blood. This information causes Steve to catch his breath sharply while James King tilts his
head to one side, seemingly without a care.
Notes
The four-way montage of testimony is a very creative technique, which shows Steve’s imagination and potential
as a writer. This reinforces the poignancy of such a creative young man being on trial for murder. It also allows
us to see important responses to the testimony that we might not see with a straight on view of the witness. The
fact that Mr. Nesbitt died such a horrifying death reveals that Steve isn’t like the other “monster” on trial. King
shows no reaction, but Steve is horrified.
Journal Entry #7 - Saturday, July 11th
Summary
The weekend begins with O’Brien warning Steve not to write anything his notebook that he doesn’t want the
prosecutor to see. He asks her what she is going to do over the weekend, and she appears surprised at his
question. She tells him her plans and then smiles at him. Steve is embarrassed that a smile can mean so much to
him. When he asks her how many times she’s appeared in court, her mouth tightens, and she responds, “Too
many times.” That’s when Steve knows that she thinks he’s guilty. He tells her he’s not guilty, that he didn’t do
it. Later, he finds out that Sunset had been found guilty. Sunset seems okay with the time he’ll have to do which
makes Steve even more afraid, not of rape or being beaten, but of the time he’ll have to do. He insists that he
walked into a drugstore to look for some mints and then he walked out. What’s wrong with that? He wonders.
He didn’t kill Mr. Nesbitt! He mentions a guy named Ernie who had been caught inside a jewelry store in the
process of robbing it. Ernie insists he’s not guilty, because he didn’t actually take anything. Steve says in the
journal that Ernie is trying to convince himself he isn’t guilty. He also comments on the violence in the
detention center, which makes him wonder if he would survive 20 years in prison.
Then, Steve tells us in his journal about his mom’s visit. He wanted to be strong so that she didn’t have to cry,
but it doesn’t matter, because the tears just roll down her face. She worries that she should have hired a black
lawyer, but Steve says it’s not about race. She brings him a Bible which the guards search meticulously. Steve
wonders if they find any grace or salvation in their search. She marks off a passage for him to help him keep
hope that God will do the right thing for him. She tells Steve that it seems like he’s been in prison forever, but
Steve says some guys have done a whole calendar in there (a whole year). The realization that he is using prison
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slang makes the smile that comes to his mother’s lips look like it was wrenched from somewhere deep inside
her. She tells him, “No matter what anybody says, I know you’re innocent, and I love you very much.” After
she leaves the cell area, Steve lays down on his cot, obviously moved by her words. However, even though he
knows she absolutely believes in him, he’s not so sure about himself. He wonders if he is just fooling himself.
Notes
There is a lot of irony in this journal entry, especially given that Steve applies the same analysis to Ernie that he
should be applying to himself. It’s also ironic that he’s warned not to write anything in his journal that he
wouldn’t want the prosecutor to see. The truth is that what he has written in there could get him convicted.
Finally, when he tells his mother that the trial is not about race, it’s ironic, because it definitely is about race.
The jury’s attitude is often that a young black man is automatically guilty just because he is young and black
and on trial.
Also, the fact that Steve has doubts about himself foreshadows that possibility that he will be found guilty,
because he is guilty.
Saturday, July 11th
Summary
This part of the story is yet another flashback. This time it’s a scene of Marcus Garvey Park where Steve is
sitting on a bench when James King joins him while smoking a joint. King tells Steve that he has found where
the payday is and asks Steve if he knows what he means. Steve’s response: “Yeah, I guess.” James pushes the
issue, telling Steve that they can’t count on Bobo, because he doesn’t have heart. So he asks Steve if he has the
heart for the deed. He needs a lookout and that’s all Steve will have to do. “You down for it?” asks James, but
Steve looks away and never answers the older guy.
Notes
This flashback reveals that Steve was asked to part of the robbery that ended in murder. However, once again,
he stops short of admitting to accepting the role of lookout.
Journal Entry #8 – Sunday, July 12th
Summary
Steve goes to breakfast on Sunday, something most of the inmates don’t do. So he gets more than enough to eat.
One of the workers who fills his tray smiles at him, but Steve doesn’t respond in kind, because in there, you
don’t smile back at people who smile at you. He also goes to church services where a fight breaks out. He is
struck by how calm the guards are about the fight as if they don’t really care if the two guys are fighting or not.
He comes to the conclusion that there are lots of fights in there, because it’s just the surface stuff – how
someone looks at you or what they say – that the inmates have going for them. So they fight to protect it.
There’s a baseball game playing on TV, but to Steve, it doesn’t look real, because that world is so different
from the one where he lives.
Later, Jerry and Steve’s parents come to visit. Steve wants to tell his brother that he loves him, but unlike the
Bible passage that his mother had marked, he isn’t greatly rejoicing or singing praises. His mother comes in
with her eyes smiling, but her voice cracks. It makes Steve feel like she is mourning him as if he were dead.
After they leave, he turns once more to working on his movie. It is something he needs more and more as a
better reality than what he is leading. He desperately wishes everything was just a movie. He is very aware that
Monday the prosecution will present their star witnesses.
Notes
Sunday in the detention center is filled with a total lack of reality for Steve. He can’t respond to s a simple
smile. He must endure fighting even in church. A baseball game seems like another world, another reality. His
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mother acts as if he is already dead. And he desperately wishes everything he is experiencing is just a movie he
is watching.
Monday, July 13th
Summary
The day begins with the lawyers and the judges cracking jokes at the bench. Then the State calls its first witness
– a woman named Lorelle Henry. She turns out to be a grandmother who had gone to the drugstore for cold
medication for her granddaughter. She happened to be in the store when the crime went down. She testifies that
she saw one of the two men who came the store begin to argue with Mr. Nesbitt. The same man grabbed the
owner’s collar and Mrs. Henry left immediately, fearing there would trouble. She identifies the man she saw
arguing with Mr. Nesbitt as James King. However, in the course of the cross examination, it becomes possible
that the police led Mrs. Henry into choosing James by limiting the number of pictures she looked at and only
putting six men in the line-up. She hadn’t been able to identify him at first. O’Brien has no questions for her.
Then, Steve hears Asa Briggs tell James that he should take notes when the next witness is called. He should
write down any questions he might want to ask him. This will make it look like they are challenging him while
he testifies. The next witness is Bobo Evans who comes into the courtroom in his orange prison uniform. Briggs
objects to his appearance in a sidebar with the judge, because it will make James look like he’s connected to an
admitted criminal. The judge disregards the objection, because he thinks he’s a basket case.
Bobo testifies that he’s known James King a long time, but that he just met Steve before the robbery went
down. He says he is presently serving 7 and a half to 10 years for selling drugs, breaking and entering, grand
theft auto, taking a car radio, and fighting guy who later died. He then goes on to tell about the drugstore
robbery and the murder of Mr. Nesbitt. He then says that he and King went inside and that Steve was the
lookout. He says King tried to get the gun from Mr. Nesbitt while he went to the register for the money. He
heard the gun go off, saw the victim fall, and realized King had the gun. Then, they grabbed some cigarettes and
left. Just he and King left and they didn’t hear that Mr. Nesbitt had died until later that night. They spent some
of the money on friend chicken and wedgies and then split the rest of it. He also says that both Osvaldo and
Steve were supposed to get some of the money. When asked what sign Steve had given them, Bobo says he
didn’t give any sign, so they assumed it was alright to go inside the store. King later told Bobo that he to kill
Nesbitt, because he was muscling him and was strong for an old man.
Later, Bobo sold some of the cigarettes to Wendell Bolden who sold some to a white boy who told the police.
He was busted in a sting operation and then accepted a plea that dropped his time in prison to 10 to 15 years.
On cross examination, Briggs tries to undermine Bobo’s credibility by pointing out that he is a drug dealer and
thief who watched a man get killed and then went to eat fast food. He also points out that Bobo is the only one
who admits being in the store which makes Bobo blame King, because King was the one who shot the owner of
the store putting Bobo in this mess. When O’Brien questions him, he admits that he never spoke to Steve,
saying that was King’s job. She also gets him to admit that he had no idea what the signals were that Steve was
supposed to have given. Bobo insists that Osvaldo wanted in on the deal and that he had never coerced him into
it. He says he never saw Lorraine Henry, which prompts O’Brien to wonder if he really saw anything. She
emphasizes that his deal with the Prosecution depends on him admitting he was there, but he never to anyone
but King after the crime was committed. He finally testifies that he knew that they were supposed to wait until
Steve came out, but he never spoke to him before or after. They decided to lay low because of the death, but
intended to share the money after awhile. He doesn’t know whether king gave anything to the other two.
Then the camera moves in for a close-up of a juror – a middle aged man who stares at the camera for a long
time as if he’s looking at Steve. When the camera turns away, it’s as if Steve has turned away from the accusing
stare.
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The Prosecution rests. Steve then imagines in his screenplay a cartoon city with a small cartoon man looking
out his window. He shouts, “The People rest!” and all the cartoon characters screech to a halt and everybody
sleeps. Then the judge orders the jury dismissed for the day and the Defense will begin their case in the
morning. The last scene is of Steve’s mother talking in a distraught manner to Miss O’Brien.
Notes
Mrs. Henry’s testimony is damaging to James King, but Bobo’s testimony hurts Steve. Even though he never
talked to Steve, the fact that he knew the young man was supposed to give them a sign is damaging. O’Brien
skillfully makes Bobo look like someone who really didn’t know what went down that day and was coached by
the Prosecution. It reinforces the point the author has subtly referred to throughout the novel: Prosecutors are
willing to take the word of criminal witnesses who are motivated to lie or be coached in their testimony in order
to make a deal concerning their own prison time.
The juror who seems to look at Steve in such an accusatory manner is perhaps foreshadowing of worse things to
come. The use of cartoon figures to indicate the People rest their case is symbolic of how much of joke trials
like this are.
Journal Entry #9
Miss O’Brien tells Steve that Bobo’s testimony really hurt them, and she needs to find a way to separate him
from James King. Unfortunately, Asa Briggs wants to keep them connected, because Steve seems like a decent
guy. Steve is also having panic attacks in jail whenever he thinks about what the outcome could be. Like the
other prisoners, he lies to himself, which makes him think that that’s why they are all there – because they lie to
themselves. As he lies on his cot thinking about all that has happened over the last year, he understands why
prison authorities take away their shoelaces and belts.
He says that O’Brien also asked him to write down all the people he loves and who love him as well as people
he admires. He writes down Mr. Sawicki’s name for the latter. James King’s case will be presented first and
then Steve’s. O’Brien must tread carefully, because if she says anything that attacks King, Attorney Briggs will
attack Steve, and that will be Steve’s undoing.
Steve wishes Jerry were there – not in jail, but just as a companion – so he could tell him to think about all the
tomorrows of his life.
Notes
This journal entry really reveals the despair and regret Steve is feeling now that his case is about to be
presented. His attorney is worried, he is far from home, and his advice to his brother reflects his regret. All of
that fills him with despair.
Tuesday, July 14th
Summary
The first witness for James King is Dorothy Moore, James’ cousin, who insists that James was at her home at
the time of the murder. She claims he brought her a lamp he’d bought, because he thought she might like it.
Unfortunately, Prosecuting Attorney Petrocelli weakens Dorothy’s testimony through questions that show she
doesn’t really know much about her cousin, and his bringing her lamp would, therefore, be out of character.
Also, she doesn’t seem to know where the lamp is now.
The next witness is George Nipping who testifies that when James was a kid, he bought him a baseball glove he
couldn’t use, because he was left-handed. O’Brien tells Steve in a note that it’s a weak argument, but speaks to
the idea that since Mr. Nesbitt’s wound was on his left side, he would have been shot by a right-handed
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assailant. Petrocelli gets the witness to admit that he doesn’t know which hand James might use to shoot a man,
because he’s never seen him commit such as act.
The scene switches to a flashback of Mr. Sawicki’s class. The teacher is telling the class that because they don’t
have unlimited access to their audience, they need to keep it simple.
Then, the action returns to the court where Steve is meeting with O’Brien in a room reserved for lawyers and
their clients. She paces nervously while she explains to him that he’s going to have to take the stand in his own
behalf and let the jury see that he is innocent. She warns him that he has to distance himself from King and
Bobo; that he has to present himself as someone they can believe in. Not testifying will only strengthen the
connection between him, King, and Bobo. She also explains that everything, even his own witnesses, have hurt
James King, and that Briggs will have to rely on his closing statement to win over the jury. Then, she plays a
“game” with him using a paper cup – she asks him questions, and if he gives the answer she’s looking for, the
cup stays up, but if it’s a wrong answer the cup turns over. In this way, she rehearses with him what his
testimony should be.
The next scene occurs at night in Steve’s cell where some of the inmates are sleeping on the floor. They talk
about telling a lie and telling the truth. One says that he lied, because he didn’t want to get ten years in prison.
Steve says truth is truth, what you know to be right. Another inmate says that truth is something you gave up
when you were out on the street. Inside, it’s all about survival. Yet another responds that when the prosecutors
talk about wanting the truth, all they really want is a way to stick you under the jail. The final comment is a cry
for help when an inmate says, “I’ve spent half of my life in the joint, man. Where’s my life? Where’s my
damned life?” It’s followed by the flushing of the toilet.
Now the camera cuts to Steve, dressing for court with shaking hands that are slightly swollen. Then, the
testimony begins again. This time, Steve is on the stand and being questioned by O’Brien. He denies four times
that he was involved as a lookout or that he was even in the drugstore. When Petrocelli cross-examines him, she
tries to get him to admit that he knew James King, Bobo, and Osvaldo well enough to have been involved in the
murder as a lookout, but he never fails to insist that he didn’t know them well, and that he wasn’t in the
drugstore that day. He says he was probably wandering around the neighborhood looking for ideas for the film
he was doing for Mr. Sawicki’s class, something he claims he did everyday. She fails to break him, and he is
dismissed from the witness seat. He is very shaky when he sits down, so O’Brien writes on the notepad, “TAKE
DEEP BREATHS.”
The next witness is Mr. Sawicki who testifies that Steve is a talented, right-minded, compassionate young man,
very much involved in depicting his neighborhood in a positive manner. He tells Petrocelli that he can testify
for Steve, because he can see what kind of kid he is away from school through his films. He says that to make
an honest film like Steve has done, you have to be an honest person. At this point, both defense attorneys rest
their cases.
The camera cuts to Steve on his jail cell cot, soaked with sweat, trying hard to catch his breath, his head turning
away and one hand lifting and slowly sliding down the wall.
The court returns with the closing statements of each of the three attorneys. Briggs tells the jury that all of the
State’s witnesses have been offered deals, and that all of them are awful characters. Their only way out is to
look around and see who else they can accuse. He also emphasizes that Miss Henry was led into choosing
James King from both the police photos and the lineup. He insists that there is plenty of room to attach
reasonable doubt to the case, because the only monsters in the room are the ones who testified for the
prosecution.
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O’Brien emphasizes all the points of testimony that should connect to Steve if he’s guilty, but do not: being in
the drugstore, his gun being the weapon, any conversation in which he said he would participate, Miss Henry
seeing him there, and Steve receiving part of the money. None of those apply to him, so he’s innocent. She also
emphasizes, like Briggs, that the witnesses for the State are untrustworthy, but that Steve’s character is not.
Petrocelli’s closing statement emphasizes that the trial isn’t about the character of any of the witnesses, but
about an innocent victim named Alguinaldo Nesbitt. She also points to witnesses whose character cannot be
impugned like Mr. Delgado and Lorelle Henry. She also takes time to point to the weaknesses she perceives in
both Steve’s and James’s cases.
Then, the camera shows the judge preparing the jury for its deliberations. The camera cuts the portrait of
George Washington, the New York State flag, the American flag, the motto over the desk, and a wall mural,
even Steve’s mother. Then, the voice-over repeats, “Then you must return a verdict of Guilty of felony murder,”
over and over.
The final scene shows Steve and James in the cell together where James tells Steve that if the man wants him,
he’s got him, and there’s nothing to it. The guard in the cell smirks and tells them both that the guys on the next
block have a betting pool going that the two of them are going to get 25 years to life. He asks if they want in the
pool. Steve can only cover his face with his hands while the guard tells him he can get him a boyfriend that’s
really built. Later, in the mess hall, an inmate steals Steve’s piece of meat, and he is helpless to do anything
about it.
Notes
This chapter really emphasizes what it all comes down to – what Mr. Sawicki said was keeping it simple. Steve
simply testifies that he wasn’t involved, and Mr. Sawicki speaks simply about Steve’s honesty. The irony is that
Steve has lied about being in the drugstore that day, and Mr. Sawicki’s testimony, which he says is based on
knowing Steve both inside and outside the school, isn’t true, because he doesn’t know about the times Steve sat
around with the others involved in the murder while they discussed how it would go down. It’s true that he
never said he would be the lookout, but his association with them is damning.
The final scenes with the camera panning around the courtroom and Steve sitting in the holding cell with King
emphasize several things: the symbols of honesty and America are both representative what’s good and bad
about America (we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, but our justice system is not always fair);
Steve is ultimately helpless to control his own fate because of the decisions he has made and the tomorrows he
forgot about.
Journal Entry #10
Summary
Steve tells the reader that the night before he had been unable to go to sleep out of fear that he would die. He
knows there no more arguments to make and that’s why guys who have been through this before want to make
appeals of their sentences – they can continue the argument that the system has said is over. He recalls the look
of desperation on his mother’s face when he left the courtroom and for a moment felt sorry for her.
However, now he doesn’t feel that way, because all he can think of is his case and the appeals he is already
planning. Pounded into his brain is Petrocelli saying, “Steve Harmon made a moral decision,” and he wonders
what was the decision he made? Nothing seems real around him except the panic and the movies that keep
dancing through his head. The last thought for his movie is, “I know what right is, what truth is. I don’t do
tightropes, moral or otherwise.” He puts strings in the background like cellos and violas.
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Notes
Like all of Steve’s journal entries, this one shows the truth about him. He is panicked about the verdict, but
already feels it will be a guilty one, because he’s planning his appeals. He also re-examines his decisions which
show he is still lying to himself. The final thought is so ironic, because he doesn’t know what truth is or right is
and has been walking a tightrope in his neighborhood.
Friday, July 17th
Summary
The guard calls out to James and Steve that they have a verdict, and they head back to the courtroom. While
they are waiting for the Nesbitt family to arrive, Steve asks O’Brien what she thinks the verdict will be.
Significantly, she doesn’t answer him, saying instead that no matter what it is, they can appeal.
Steve then imagines the words rolling out, like the Star Wars movie, words that explain that this is the story of
his life and of his trial; that it was not something he expected and it was not the activity that he thought would
fill every bit of his soul or change what life meant to him. He insists that he has transcribed everything as he
remembers it.
Then, the jury foreman read the verdicts. Not surprisingly, James King is found guilty, is handcuffed, and is led
away. While Steve’s mother desperately clasps her hands before her, we see the guards move away from Steve,
because he has been found NOT GUILTY. The camera moves in and becomes grainier as Steve tries to
embrace O’Brien. However, she stiffens and pulls away from him. Her lips are tense and she appears
thoughtful. She gathers her papers and moves away further. The camera shot becomes grainier and grainier until
Steve, arms still outstretched, becomes a picture like those used for psychological testing or some strange beast,
a monster. The last words on the screen are: “A Steve Harmon Film.”
Notes
Once again, we see Steve making his movie into a Star Wars presentation. It is the end of his movie and he lies
to himself again when he says that he has transcribed everything as he remembers it. In his heart he knows he’s
guilty, but he is found not guilty by the jury anyway. It is a happy ending, but he is not a hero like the characters
in Star Wars. He’s just been lucky. The truth of who he is can be seen in the reaction of his own attorney who
refuses to embrace him. She knows he was the lookout and his presentation of himself to the jury won him the
verdict he wanted. What’s more, the reader can further see that Steve knows the truth about himself when he
ends his movie with his face morphing into a grainy distorted picture of a monster.
Journal Entry #11 – December, Five Months Later
Summary
Steve reflects how much time has passed since the murder. He tells us that James King received 25 years to life,
Bobo is still in jail, and Osvaldo was later arrested for stealing a car and sent to a reformatory.
His mother doesn’t understand what he is doing with films he is making. He has been creating movies of
himself in which he talks and tells the camera who he is and what he thinks he is. He sets the camera in a
variety of different angles and tries creative shots like reflections from a mirror. Sometimes, he allows his little
brother to film him as well. Ultimately, whatever he does please his mother, because he is not in jail.
After the trial, his father, with tears in his eyes, had held him close and told him he was thankful Steve didn’t
have to go to jail. Then, he moved away and Steve says the distance has been growing between them ever since.
His father is no longer sure of who Steve is. He doesn’t understand Steve even knowing people like Bobo and
King and he wonders what else he doesn’t know about him. So that is why Steve makes the films about himself.
He wants to look at himself a thousand times to find one true image. However, the thought that hits him the
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hardest is the look on O’Brien’s face after they won the case. He needs to know, “What did she see when she
turned away? WHAT DID SHE SEE?”
Notes
The films that Steve is making are symbolic of his inner struggle. He would like to turn the clock back and
never have been a part of the robbery and the murder, but he cannot and now he has to come to terms with who
he really is. It seems like a task like may be the heaviest of his life.
OVERALL ANALYSES
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Steve Harmon - Steve is a young, Black male living in the inner city who can’t help but be exposed to bad
elements in his neighborhood. The lifestyle in these neighborhoods can often overcome all the good things
parents, even in a tough neighborhood, teach their children. Steve is no different. He’s exposed to people to
whom he’s attracted, because they seem strong and tough. They are men to him, and he’s at an age where he
sorely wants to be recognized as a man.
Unfortunately, he’s not old enough to understand that these guys are not role models for a good, decent life. He
respects his film class teacher, but he doesn’t emulate him. He respects his father, but he doesn’t emulate him.
He respects a man like Mr. Nesbitt, but he doesn’t emulate him. Instead, he emulates young men who are on the
path to nowhere, and that has the biggest impact of all on Steve.
The ultimate reality is that he’s only sixteen, but he’s old enough to make choices that impact not only on him,
but on those he loves and on innocent people like Mr. Nesbitt. He goes through every stage of trying to justify
the decisions he made, but in the end, he must live with them whether he’s found not guilty or guilty. He was
part of the crime, but the only time he ends up doing is in his own heart and mind.
In the end, the reader is left wondering if the choices he made that have changed his life so much will lead to a
better citizen or to one who gives in to becoming the monster the Prosecutor thought he was all along.
Kathy O’Brien - As his defense attorney, Kathy stands by Steve and defends him to the best of her ability. That
is her job as a defense attorney, and she shouldn’t defend him based on her perceptions of his guilt or
innocence. Of course, that doesn’t mean she can’t have a personal opinion about her client. It’s obvious
throughout the trial that she won’t allow herself to get close to Steve, and in the end, her body language, facial
expressions, and lack of commentary indicates that she thinks he‘s guilty.
She is obviously a great attorney especially because she was able to control the trial to the point that she could
separate Steve from the worst offenders in the crime. However, her revulsion at his not guilty verdict is what
ultimately affects him the most and will trouble him for a long time, maybe even for the rest of his life.
Sandra Petrocelli - As the district attorney, it is her job to put the monsters on trial and prove their guilt. She is
very good at her job, even though O’Brien beats her. She knows that often it is necessary to use other criminals
to testify against those on trial, and to obtain their testimony, she offers them reduced sentences. However, in
this capacity, she is symbolic of the weaknesses of the American justice system.
It is evident that, even though reader knows that Steve was at least knowledgeable of the crime, he could have
gone to prison for a much longer time than those who had been more deeply involved. It is also evident that in
other cases, innocent people on trial could end up in jail, because of perjured testimony of an inmate seeking a
reduced sentence. It makes a mockery of the idea of a fair trial. This also makes what Miss Petrocelli does seem
almost like a game where winning or losing is all that matters.
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Bobo, King, & Osvaldo - These three young men are obviously criminals and deserve the sentences they
receive. However, like Miss Petrocelli, they are symbolic of the weaknesses of the American justice system.
According to Steve’s memories, they are guilty, but their willingness to testify against the others in the crime
indicates that lying could take place and the innocent could end up with greater sentences than the others who
are more deeply involved. It’s a breakdown in the system, and one that could lead to disaster.
PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS
The structure of this novel is two-fold: Steve expresses his thoughts in the format of a journal and in the
screenplay he writes. It is interesting that he begins and ends his screenplay like the movie Star Wars, because
that movie is one that presents heroes saving the universe, and Steve is anything but a hero. It seems to indicate
that he wants to be thought of as bigger than life while the reality drags him down as seen in his journal.
Also, telling his story in the form of a movie allows him to continue the lie he tells himself in his journal that
somehow all of this mess didn’t happen to him and is just a movie he can walk away from. The journal then
becomes the truth and shows what he knows deep in his heart.
THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS
Introspection or the self-examination of your own thoughts and feelings - The theme of introspection is the
most relevant of the novel. It refers to how the entire novel is not just Steve’s re-telling of the events he must
endure after the murder of Mr. Nesbitt, but also how he works through each step of the road he took when he
associated himself with people like Bobo, James, and Osvaldo.
Sometimes, he believes that he’s done nothing wrong while at other times, at least in his heart, he knows what
he did was wrong. This introspection begins at the beginning of the screenplay, but doesn’t stop when the
screenplay ends. That’s because Steve still doesn’t know who he is, and it’s obvious that he’s in a crisis of some
kind, trying to find out the truth. He can’t forget the revulsion on Miss O’Brien’s face, and so the introspection
has a long way to go.
Peer Pressure - Another theme is peer pressure. This is another important idea presented to the young people
who might read this novel. It presents the reality of the world, that there are people who do bad things out of
selfishness and greed, and they often impact in devastating ways on people around them. This is true for all
young people, but is especially a problem in the inner city where young Black men have few if any good role
models in their lives.
Steve is not as deeply impacted by this as are Bobo, James, and Osvaldo, but he, too, feels the pressure to
belong to groups and individuals who won’t affect him positively. Proving his manhood is extremely important.
That might mean joining a gang, like Osvaldo, or following a tougher guy who has robbery or even murder on
his mind. For Steve, the lessons of his home were not enough to handle the pressure, and in his desire to show
he was a man, he made decisions he will have to live with the rest of his life.
Being a Young Black Man in Harlem - A third theme is that of young Black men in Harlem. This theme is part
of the author’s intent to show the way life in the inner city leads many young Black men straight to prison. They
live lives of quiet desperation where the only way they can prove themselves or make any kind of mark is
through crime. They are often uneducated and inadequately prepared to live lives of integrity and morality.
The author isn’t trying to justify what these young men do nor exonerate them for their crimes; however, he is
trying to point out the social problems we often want to throw under a rug or in the case of these Black men,
into prison. It’s a problem the Black community must face, but it’s also a problem for our entire country. There
are too many young Black men in prison and the reasons why should be analyzed and resolved.
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Race and the American Justice System - A final theme concerns race and the justice system. Even Miss
O’Brien is aware that race impacts on a jury’s conception of an accused perpetrator. She worries that his being
Black will make the jury automatically assume he is guilty. Furthermore, the author seems to hint that the
justice system will put these people in jail by any means necessary and therefore, is biased. In fact, there is a
subtle suggestion that often a young Black man cannot get a fair trial.
AUTHOR’S STYLE
The author’s style is obviously serious, but it is also social commentary. He wants to show through Steve’s
example that young men like him who might read this book need to think seriously about the decisions they
might make, and that there’s more than committing a crime as a way to prove their manhood. This social
commentary is also targeted to all races of this country, so they can see the simmering problems of the inner
city. Using the format of a screenplay and a journal allows him to express these ideas in a creative, interesting
way for young readers and older readers alike. It allows him also to let us see into the mind of an
impressionable sixteen year-old boy who gets caught up in activities that will change his life forever. That is the
poignancy of his style.
RISING ACTION
The rising action begins with Steve in jail and beginning his screenplay in the midst of the horrors of hardened
criminals, rapists, and violence. It continues to the climax, which is the verdict of not guilty.
FALLING ACTION
The falling action occurs five months after the trial when Steve reveals the sentences that the other participants
received, the gap that is widening between him and his father, and his continuing inability to figure out who he
really is.
POINT OF VIEW
This novel is written in first person perspective from Steve’s viewpoint. He presents himself through his journal
entries and a screenplay.
FORESHADOWING
There are several other literary devices that pop up at various times in the story. One of the most prevalent ones
is foreshadowing, which frequently presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Some
examples of foreshadowing in this novel include:
1.) When Steve says that prison is “being alone when you are not really alone and about being scared all the
time” at the beginning of the story, it foreshadows the horrible emotional state he will live through both
during the trial and even after it’s over.
2.) Steve says that his screenplay is an “incredible story about how one guy’s life was turned around by a few
events and how he might spend the rest of his life behind bars.” This foreshadows the unfolding of the plot
which leads to changes he can never overcome.
3.) When Steve wonders what his mother thinks of him, he realizes that even though he knows she absolutely
believes in him, he’s not so sure about how he feels about himself. He wonders if he is just fooling himself.
This foreshadows the ending when he still cannot determine what Miss O’Brien saw when she looked at
him.
4.) The juror who seems to look at Steve in such an accusatory manner is perhaps foreshadowing of worse
things to come.
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5.) Mr. Sawicki telling his class that because they don’t have unlimited access to their audience, they need to
keep it simple foreshadows how Steve will testify to the jury. He will simply insist he didn’t do it.
IRONY
Another element that is important to note is irony – when something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we
may know, but the characters do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected. Some examples of irony in
this novel include:
1.) There is great irony in life in the Manhattan Detention Center: Steve is new to this, so he refuses food, but
the other more experienced prisoners eat with gusto, even finishing his food; and other people are outside
going about the everyday patterns of their lives while he is handcuffed and finally wearing his suit for
court.
2.)
It is ironic that the trial only begins after the judge and the lawyers comment on their Fourth of July
weekends.
3.)
It’s ironic that Bolden claims he wanted to be a good citizen and do the right thing when he was willing to
lie to reduce his own sentence.
4.)
Jerry obviously looks up to his brother as a super hero, but ironically, Steve has decided to hang out with a
questionable element in the neighborhood.
5.)
It’s ironic that Steve contrasts the thought that the prosecutor’s just parading all these terrible individuals
in front of the jury to demonstrate that they are just like him with his memory of Jerry and the super hero,
because he thinks it makes him seem like a real person.
6.)
It is ironic that Osvaldo finally verbally admits that he participated in the robbery, because he was afraid
of all three – King, Evans, and Harmon. The truth was that he tried to intimidate Steve, and he was a
member of a gang.
7.)
It’s ironic that O’Brien warns Steve not to write anything in his notebook that he doesn’t want the
prosecutor to see, especially when he has already admitted in it that he talked to the three others and was
in the drugstore that day.
8.)
Steve says in the journal that Ernie, another inmate, is trying to convince himself he isn’t guilty. That’s
exactly what Steve is doing, too.
9.)
Steve’s mother worries that she should have hired a black lawyer, but Steve says it’s not about race. The
truth is: it is about race in a court system where Black men are often guilty until proven innocent.
10.) It is ironic that Steve goes to church services in the jail where a fight breaks out.
11.) It’s ironic that Steve wants to see Jerry so he could tell him to think about all the tomorrows of his life,
especially since he never thought of them himself.
12.) Steve says truth is truth, what you know to be right, but he lies to himself and then lies in court.
13.) Mr. Sawicki tells Petrocelli that he can testify for Steve, because he can see what kind of kid he is away
from school through his films. He says that to make an honest film like Steve has done, you have to be an
honest person. The truth is that Steve is a liar.
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14.) Steve has this thought: “I know what right is, what truth is. I don’t do tightropes, moral or otherwise.” The
irony is that he did walk the tightrope.
15.) “Miss O’Brien stiffens and pulls away from Steve. Her lips are tense and she appears thoughtful. She
gathers her papers and moves away further. The camera shot becomes grainier and grainier until Steve,
arms still outstretched, becomes a picture like those used for psychological testing or some strange beast, a
monster.” This quote is ironic in that, at the end of the trial, Steve makes himself in his screenplay exactly
the monster he was accused of being.
MOTIFS
Another literary device used by the author is a motif. This device allows the author to run an important idea
throughout the story by using images to create the thought for the reader. There is one motif used in Monster:
1.) The motif of this novel is that it is told in the form of a journal and a screenplay. This allows the author to
show the thought processes of young Steve and try to understand why the movie format is the best way Steve
can find to express his fears and his observations
IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS - QUOTES AND ANALYSIS
The following quotations are important at various points in the story:(Harper Tempest, an imprint of Harper
Collins Publishers, 1999):
1.) “It is about being alone when you are not really alone and about being scared all the time.” (pg. 4 – This
is Steve’s first commentary as he opens his journal in jail.)
2.) “The incredible story of how one guy’s life was turned around by a few events and how might spend the
rest of his life behind bars. Told as it actually happened!” (pg. 9 – Here is Steve presenting his opening
credits in the format of the heroic presentation of Star Wars.)
3.) “You have to believe in yourself.” (pg. 24 – Miss O’Brien told Steve this so that he would present himself
to the jury better.)
4.) “I guess making you live is part of the punishment.” (p. 59 – Steve says this as a way of explaining why
the guards take away the prisoners’ shoelaces and belts.)
5.) “All they can do is put me in jail,” he said. “They can’t touch my soul.” (pg. 89 – Acie, one of the other
inmates makes this commentary about life as a prisoner.)
6.) “I know that in my heart I am not a bad person.” (pg. 93 – Steve makes this comment in his journal as part
of his lies to himself.)
7.) “If you give up, they’ll give up on you.” (pg. 99 – O’Brien says this to caution Steve that the jury is judging
him by the appearance he presents.)
8.) “Think about all the tomorrows of your life.” (pg. 205 – Steve wants to tell his little brother Jerry this piece
of advice.)
9.) “Truth is truth. It’s what you know to be right. / Truth is what you gave up when you were out there on
the streets.” (pp. 221-222 – Steve makes the first comment while another inmate makes the second. Steve’s
is ironic while the other inmate’s is realistic.)
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10.) “Where’s my life? Where’s my damned life?” (pg. 222 – One of the inmates makes this sad observation
of his existence.)
SYMBOLISM / MOTIFS / METAPHORS / IMAGERY / SYMBOLS
Other elements that are present in this novel are symbols and metaphors. Symbols are the use of some
unrelated idea to represent something else. Metaphors are direct comparisons made between characters and
ideas. There are many symbols and metaphors used by the author such as:
1.) Steve tries to hide his head under a blanket to avoid going to the first day of trial. The blanket symbolizes
comfort and safety.
2.) Steve systematically writes the word monster all over his notebook. His attorney takes the pencil from him
and just as systematically crosses out all the words. She tells him, “You have to believe in yourself.” The
word monster becomes a symbol of who Steve believes he is.
3.) In one of Steve’s flashbacks, he is throwing rocks with his friend, Tony. When he accidentally hits a young
girl, he willing gives up Tony as the thrower of the rocks by yelling, “Run!” when the tough guy comes after
them. His actions are a metaphor of the witnesses at his trial who are all willing to lie to avoid punishment.
4.) The gruesome pictures of Mr. Nesbitt’s body (which to Steve become black and white and flashed in
increasingly contrasting and grainy format until they are hardly recognizable) symbolize the reality of
Steve’s situation.
5.) The use of cartoon figures to indicate the People rest their case is symbolic of how much of a joke trials like
this are.
6.) It is a cry for help when an inmate says, “I’ve spent half of my life in the joint, man. Where’s my life?
Where’s my damned life?” It’s followed by the flushing of the toilet. That symbolizes the idea that his life
went down the toilet.
7.) The camera shows the judge preparing the jury for its deliberations. The camera cuts to the portrait of
George Washington, the New York State flag, the American flag, the motto over the desk, and a wall mural,
even Steve’s mother. Then the voice-over repeats, “Then you must return a verdict of Guilty of felony
murder,” over and over. This all symbolizes the American justice system and how powerful it can be.
8.) The films that Steve is making are symbolic of his inner struggle.
IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS SUMMARY
Title: Monster
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Date Published: 1999
Meaning of the Title: It refers on a surface level to the name the prosecutor uses to label the two young men on
trial. On a deeper level, it’s the label Steve applies to himself.
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Setting: Harlem, New York City, present day
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Protagonist: Steve Harmon, who is on trial for felony murder
Antagonist: The antagonists include the justice system of our country, the neighborhood which impacts young
men like Steve, the people Steve associates with in the neighborhood, and Steve himself.
Mood: The mood is mostly one of despair and hopelessness as we watch inmates work their way through the
justice system of this country, a system that is often one-sided and unfair. There is not even any triumph when
Steve, the main character, is acquitted, because he comes out of it with his life so changed that he doesn’t even
know himself.
Point of View: It is written totally from the point of view of Steve Harmon.
Tense: This story is written mostly in the past tense, but stage directions and the action in the courtroom is in
the present tense.
Rising Action: The rising action begins with Steve in jail and beginning his screenplay in the midst of the
horrors of hardened criminals, rapists, and violence. It continues to the climax, which is the verdict of not
guilty.
Exposition: Steve Harmon is arrested for felony murder after he is named as the lookout in a robbery/murder.
He tells the reader through his journal entries and his screenplay of the trial how he feels at each step of the
process. We see flashbacks of events that show us his connection to the perpetrators and events in his life that
emphasize his regret for decisions he has made. In the end, he is found not guilty, but he will spend the rest of
his life wondering exactly who he is.
Climax: The climax of the story occurs when Steve is found not guilty.
Outcome: Steve doesn’t actually go to jail, but he creates a new prison for himself when he realizes there is a
gap that is widening between himself and his Dad, and then he spends all his time filming himself to try to find
the look that was on his face when his attorney looked at him for the last time. Then, he thinks, maybe he’ll
know who he really is.
Major Themes: Introspection; Peer Pressure; Young Black Men in Harlem; Racism and the Justice System
STUDY QUESTIONS - MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ
1.) Steve reveals his innermost thoughts through the medium of
a.) a journal.
b.) a screenplay.
c.) a novel.
2.) Steve hates the Detention Center, because
a.) he has to share a cell with James King.
b.) he has to lie motionless on his cot while another inmate is raped.
c.) he has to share his cell with so many inmates they have to sleep on the floor.
3.) Steve is amazed by his father when he visits, because
a.) he cries.
b.) he screams.
c.) he won’t even look at him.
4.) When Osvaldo takes the stand, he
a.) shows how proud he is to be in a gang.
b.) acts meek and mild and afraid of the others.
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c.) cries like a little boy.
5.) O’Brien is angry when Bobo comes into the courtroom, because
a.) he looks like a businessman.
b.) he points at Steve and screams at him.
c.) he is wearing a jail house orange jumpsuit.
6.) Wearing these clothes is offensive to defense, because
a.) it emphasizes his participation in the crime and connects him to the others.
b.) they smell.
c.) they make him look innocent.
7.) Bobo testifies that James King
a.) got the money out of the register.
b.) fought with Mr. Nesbitt and killed him.
c.) grabbed the cartons of cigarettes.
8.) When asked about Steve’s part in the robbery/murder, Bobo says
a.) he knew the boy really well and was there when he said he’d be a lookout.
b.) he never knew him or saw him.
c.) he didn’t know him, but saw him come out of the drugstore.
9.) Mrs. Henry testifies that
a.) she saw that both James and Bobo were in the store, but Steve was not.
b.) she saw Steve buy some mints in the drugstore.
c.) she saw Bobo shoot Mr. Nesbitt.
10.) Dorothy Moore testifies that
a.) James King was at her house at the time of the murder.
b.) she is his sister and can attest to his good character.
c.) she was at a restaurant with James at the time of the murder.
11.) Mr. Nipping testifies that
a.) James King is right-handed and so probably shot Mr. Nesbitt.
b.) he bought a right-handed ball glove for James who is left-handed.
c.) he knew James as a child and he is a good person.
12.) Mr. Sawicki is called as a witness, because
a.) he heard Steve admit he was at the drugstore that day.
b.) he is Mr. Nesbitt’s brother-in-law.
c.) Steve put him on his list.
13.) When Miss Petrocelli asks Mr. Sawicki how he could know Steve outside of school, he says
a.) he was frequently invited to his home.
b.) he knows his honesty through his films.
c.) he went with him as he filmed his neighborhood.
14.) After the verdict is announced, Steve turns to embrace O’Brien who
a.) turns away from him.
b.) embraces him and smiles.
c.) raises his arm in victory.
15.) Steve’s final thought concerns
a.) how to repair his relationship with his father.
b.) how to tell his mother he lied.
c.) how to determine what his lawyer saw on his face when he was acquitted.
ANSWER KEY
1.) a 2.) b 3.) a 4.) b 5.) c 6.) a 7.) b 8.) c 9.) a 10.) a 11.) b 12.) c 13.) b 14.) a 15.) c
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ESSAY TOPICS - BOOK REPORT IDEAS
1.) Steve Harmon’s defense attorney says she wants to make her client to look like “a human being in the
eyes of the jury” in contrast to the “monsters” the prosecuting attorney speaks of. Why do you think the
author named his novel Monsters?
2.) Can you name a few of the novel’s scenes with Steve’s family and friends that show him as more human
than monster? How does that affect your opinion of his guilt or innocence?
3.) Do you think the format of a screenplay mixed in with journal entries of the main character and narrator is
an effective one? Why or why not?
4.) Cruz tells Steve that he “ain’t got the heart to be nothing but lame.” What does the idea of heart mean in
Cruz’s world? Is it good or bad that Steve is accused of not having it? Do you think Steve wishes he had
heart as Cruz defines it?
5.) Mr. Sawicki says that “if you make your film predictable, they’ll (the jury) will make up their minds about
it long before it’s over.” Did you make up your mind about Steve’s guilt or innocence before the book was
over? Did you ever change your wind or start to wonder? If so when and why?
6.) Steve testifies that he was not in the drugstore on the day of the murder, but in his journal, he says “he
walked into the drugstore to look for some mints and then I walked out.” Does that mean he lied under
oath? Does this make you question his innocence?
7.) The prosecutor says, “They are all equally guilty. The one who grabbed the cigarettes, the one who
wrestled for the gun, the one who checked the place to see if the coast was clear.” Do you agree with that?
In your opinion, is it as bad to be a conspirator in a crime as it is to commit the actual crime? Why or why
not?
8.) Why do you think the author feeds the reader the story bit by bit, allowing Steve’s story to unfold slowly?
9.) Mr. Sawicki speaks highly of Steve, and Steve writes in his journal that he knows he is not a bad person.
What do you think of his character based on his journal and the way he records the events of the
courtroom? What mistakes do you think he made, if any? How do you think his perspective on life
changes after his arrest?
10.) Steve’s only hope in this trial is that the jury will see him differently than his peers. Does his attorney
see him differently from James King, Bobo, and Osvaldo? Why does she refuse to hug him after he is
acquitted? How is he different? Is he at all the same?
COMMENT ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE
The study of literature is not like the study of math or science, or even history. While those disciplines are based largely
upon fact, the study of literature is based upon interpretation and analysis. There are no clear-cut answers in literature,
outside of the factual information about an author's life and the basic information about setting and characterization in a
piece of literature. The rest is a highly subjective reading of what an author has written; each person brings a different set
of values and a different background to the reading. As a result, no two people see the piece of literature in exactly the
same light, and few critics agree on everything about a book or an author.
In this study guide, we have tried to give an objective literary analysis based upon the information actually found in the
novel, book, or play. In the end, however, it is an individual interpretation, but one that we feel can be readily supported
by the information that is presented in the guide. In your course of literature study, you or your professor/teacher may
come up with a different interpretation of the mood or the theme or the conflict. Your interpretation, if it can be logically
supported with information contained within the piece of literature, is just as correct as ours; so is the interpretation of
your teacher or professor.
Literature is simply not a black or white situation; instead, there are many gray areas that are open to varying analyses.
Your task is to come up with your own analysis that you can logically defend. Hopefully, these booknotes will help you to
accomplish that goal.
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