In his book Monster Walter Dean Myers tells the story of a black boy, Steve Harmon, who is on trial for felony murder. The story is set in a courtroom and a prison in New York City at 1990, where Steve Harmon and his defense attorney try to convince the jury of his innocence. But they are also fighting for another important thing, the believe of Steve Harmon in himself which he is always close to loose because of different reasons, for example being named a monster.
The help he receives in protecting himself against influences like this is writing a screenplay of what happens in the trial. Therefore the reader gets the impression that Steve is the author of the book, but this also means that it is written subjective. This manner of narrating makes you feel for Steve as if he was a friend. The script is very important for the character of Steve, because it helps him to deal with his problems and to understand his situation. “I looked over the movie again. I need it more and more. The movie is more real so many ways than the life I am leading. No, that’s not true. I just desperately wish this was only a movie” To give a stronger insight into the feelings of this boy, there are also pages of notes between the film script, in which he explains his worst experiences during the trial or in jail. Not only for him, but also for his family the situation of their son being arrested is very difficult and Steve tells you all about the lack of understanding of others.
During the trial, the prosecutor who tries to prove the guilt of Steve and a second defendant, James King, examines many witnesses, but you sometimes don’t know in which parts you can trust them or not, because they are mainly fighting for their own interests, like a deal to get out of prison early. Anyway, sometimes the number of witnesses is quite confusing and it is difficult to remember them, but this does not limit the readers’ interest because it just forces them to keep track through the whole book. Nevertheless, there are also reliable witnesses like Mr. Sawicki, a friend and teacher of Steve’s who has influenced Steve’s development before he was arrested. Therefore he knows a lot about his former student and tells the jury his view of things: “His film footage shows me what he’s seeing and, to a large extent, what he is thinking. And what he sees, the humanity of it, speaks of a very deep character”
The situation of black youth in Harlem or the life in jail are also serious part of the world described in Monster. The letter aspect is very detailed represented in the book, because Steve’s feelings are strongly influenced by the terrible way he lives in jail. Moreover, the problem of being black making you a suspect is also treated in the book, but you really only get into touch with this theme. Furthermore, you also learn about the American Justice system, for example about the possible penalty or the order of events in a courtroom.
Though, it is very difficult to get an overview of things, because the book doesn’t start with the crime that has been committed but with the trial, so the reader doesn’t know the truth about it as does not the jury. This creates suspense through the whole story because there are always knew details about the murder. The reason I like the book is that this suspense forces you to make up your own opinion about the crime. It is up to you to decide which testimonies you trust and which you don’t as it is the task of the jury, because the book doesn’t tell you the truth about the murder. Though, you get a version of truth in the end of the book by the judge, but still you are allowed to keep your attitude towards the crime after the verdict, because the author managed not to solve the question about guilt or innocence finally by the jury.
To get an own impression of Steve Harmon’s situation and all the other people in this book, I really advice you to read it! It even has been a Nationalist Book Award finalist and won the Coretta Scott King Award!

quotations from Monster by Walter Dean Myers