Critique of Monster: Walter Dean Myers

Critique:

I thought Steve Harmon’s character was well developed throughout the book. His journal provides insight to his thoughts as he struggles with his feelings of guilt despite not thinking he did anything wrong. He shares his reaction to emotional experiences such as seeing his father cry, wishing he could talk to his brother, feeling as if he wanted to die at the thought of being sentenced to life in prison. The dialogue feels real, scattered with silent contemplative actions of the characters as well as appropriate diction and street language used by the people testifying.

Harmon goes back and forth between feeling innocent and feeling guilty, giving the plot an underlying question of how much, or if, Harmon was involved in the crime. The photographs throughout the book gave the reader snapshots of Harmon’s movements, but Myers makes it unclear if they are how Harmon wants his movie to look or pictures of how things played out during the crime in Harmon’s mind. Throughout the book Myers gives us glimpses of testimony as well as Harmon’s inner thoughts about the crime, always leaving the reader to wonder what and if Harmon had anything to do with the drug store crime. Harmon must struggle with how he sees himself versus how everyone else sees him, and what it truly means to be guilty.

The jail scenes felt just as crowded and dangerous in my mind as Myers depicted them in the book, which led to the feelings of fear and anxiety surely felt by Harmon. The camera shots and stage directions from Harmon’s movie perspective helps the reader see what he sees during the trial, from the worried face of his mother to the jurors trying not to make eye contact, from the smirks of the prosecutor to the half-asleep courtroom guard.

Monster could spark discussion about the varying levels of guilt as well as a guilty conscience. Especially with influential young teenagers, this book would be a good example of how even being associated with the wrong people could lead to extreme consequences. There is so much gang and violent activity in society today that tying this book in with real-life stories of at-risk and troubled youth could be beneficial in more ways than just another literary perspective.