Steve was only a lookout for the boys that were robbing the drug store. Steve thought that it was not a big deal being a lookout, but next thing he knows he is on trial for murder. If Steve is found guilty, he will be facing 25 years or more in jail; however, the reader slowly finds out what really happened. The book Monster takes place in New York, Harlem. Steve, along with his friends, is facing 25 years to life in jail, and none of them are ready for that. Will the judge forgive the young boys that have their whole lives ahead of them? Or does Steve deserve to go to jail? Small things that you think are fine to do and will not get you in trouble, might turn out bad.
One of the reasons why I consider Monster interesting is because of the information it gives and conveys. I like how it tells us the story about a young boy who ends up in jail without realizing it, and makes it easy for the reader to understand about Steve’s life. Walter Dean Myer's book presents how the American legal system functions. The main theme of the story is to understand how a person who commits a crime is arrested, convicted, investigated, and punished. This book looks at the legal system through the eyes of a young African American teenager: “The incredible story of how one guy’s life was turned around by a few events and how he might spend the rest of his life behind bars. Told as it actually happened!”(Myers 9); The author wants us to know how “incredible” this story is, not because somebody was killed, but because it happened so fast, and to a boy who barely participated in it. “I know that in my heart I am not a bad person.” (Myers 93); Steve understands that participating in a robbery even as a lookout was a bad idea. Steve systematically writes the word monster all over his notebook because he is trying to understand how responsible he is for the death of the store owner. 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. Being in jail is making Steve think that he is a bad person. Although Steve is adamant about defending his own innocence, he continually worries about how his arrest has affected his family's thoughts about him. Although Mrs. Harmon shows her support for Steve by telling him that she loves him no matter what, Steve still doubts their loyalty. This demonstrates how Steve also reveals his fear of abandonment. This fear is growing while Steve is locked up in a cell alone.
The writing style in the book Monster is very different from the books I have read. At first I had trouble concentrating and focusing because the sentences were very short and the text was alternating between play scripts and journal writings; however, later on in the book I realized that it was easier to follow because it was written just like a normal conversation and the way you would talk in your everyday life. The font size changes within paragraphs, and sometimes even within sentences. Some words are bold, some are underlined, and sometimes there are multiple exclamation marks. This helps to see emotion on the page and understand it easier. Sentences are mostly short and jump from one thought to the next, just like our brains do when we're having a conversation. "I could smell the different scents of him. He had on aftershave lotion and some kind of grease on his hair. I could separate the smells. Please don't speak to me, I prayed" Steve is thinking of something else at the first part of the sentence and then jumps to a different thought, just like we do when we talk to another person. The font looks like a typewriter.
It's as if Steve is typing and printing as we read. Speakers’ names are bolded, as are camera angles and directions. This helps to understand more about the scene that is going on in the book at the moment. The entire novel is written from Steve's point of view. He attempts to bring in other people's points of view by changing the camera position in the screenplay, but this is still what Steve imagines what the other points of view might be. During his note-taking at the trial, the reader is also seeing only Steve's interpretations of who said what and how. The writing style of the book Monster makes it easier to understand and relate to. You can imagine the setting or the person better because of the way it is written.
The book is very educational and teaches the reader lots of things about the law system. It educates people and helps us understand the book better with its unique writing style. I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in knowing what a real prisoner has to go through. I loved this book, and it helped me understand lots of things that I did not know before.