Walter Dean Myers 'Monster': Steve Harmon's Monster

Leina Alley
Mrs. Juhas
Hour 1-2
2/10/23
Murder By Monster C.R. Bitter once said, “I was never the one who believed in monsters. Until I was proven, by humans, that they exist.” Steve Harmon, a 16 year old, is on trial for robbery and murder in New York City. Steve Harmon was a caring and kind person, but the monster in him pushed onto the world, and he couldn’t overcome it. This turned Steve Harmon into a monster. In the novel, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon was a monster because he doubts himself and he lied. Steve Harmon was a monster because he doubts himself. In this story, part is given through a journal perspective. Steve writes his emotions and part of what is happening through his journal, and here he explains the doubt

When Steve testifies, he lies about many things. One of the few is about if Steve was in the drugstore, which from past journal entries, we know he was, but Steve says he wasn’t. The author wrote, “‘I don’t know exactly when the robbery happened, but I know I wasn’t in the drugstore that day.’” (Myers 229). When Steve says this, he is lying. We know from his journal entries that he was in the store, supposedly looking for some mints that day. Steve says this during court, and he is under oath, making him not allowed to lie. Steve is old enough to know that there is no exception to lie under oath, and he still decides to. Any person that thinks they can lie under oath is a terrible monster. Steve would be in even bigger trouble if they found out he was lying, and this makes him a monster and bad person. Also, Steve writes this in his journal, explaining that he did in fact walk into the drugstore. Steve has combated this multiple times, saying he did and did not go into the drugstore, and lied about it. The book says, “Anybody can walk into a drugstore and look around.” (Myers 115). This explains that Steve had gone into the drugstore before the crime, and could have inspected for police. Since Steve did this, he was a big part in the crime, and is a bad person. He was involved with the murder of Mr. Nesbitt, and because he helped with such a big part in committing the crime, that makes him a monster. Steve says later on

Throughout the entire case, there was not enough evidence given for the jury to prove him guilty. Lorelle Henry was a person that witnessed part of the crime, and even said she never saw Steve in the store. With all of the evidence given, there was not enough for Steve to be found guilty and not be a good person. However, just because Steve was found not guilty doesn’t mean he was innocent. Therefore, Steve was a monster. Steve was a monster because he is friends with bad people. When Steve is talking to Osvaldo in a flashback, one of the people with him talks about Steve’s friends. The author wrote, “‘You better chill; he hangs with some bad dudes.’” (Myers 81). When the boy says this, he is explaining Steve’s friends. His friends are very bad people, and do bad things. So, their behavior gets put onto him because he hangs out with him. This further explains that the people you hang out with show how you act and your personality. This is more believable than Steve being not guilty because he knew about the crime. Saying Steve is a good person is saying he was not at all involved with the crime, but through all of the evidence we’ve seen, we can prove that completely wrong. This makes Steve a monster because he was associated with the people that murdered someone, and he knew about the crime as well, which makes him a