Walter Dean Myer's Monster: An Innocent Boy

An Innocent Boy
In Walter Dean Myer’s novel Monster, a young, black 16 year-old, Steve Harmon is on trial for participating in a robbery and murder. Steve is innocent. Why? Ms. Petrocelli describes him as a monster. Why? She sees a young, black teenager. She stereotypes Steve. She assumes that he would commit the crime by his association with Bobo and James. To her he seems ready to confess. However, I see that Steve plays no part in the crime. He is not a “monster.” One reason I believe that Steve is not guilty is that the two witnesses who accuse him of being the lookout are testifying in order to receive reduced sentences. The first star witness is “Osvaldo Cruz, member of the Diablos as the Tough Guy Wannabe” (18). The second witness
In fear, Osvaldo states that Bobo said, “If I didn’t help him, he’d cut me up and get my moms, too” (115). Throughout his testimony, Osvaldo claims that he participated because Bobo threatened to harm him. Osvaldo doesn’t seem like someone who would be afraid of anyone. In an earlier scene he was picking on Steve calling him a “faggot” (112). Ms. O’Brien, Steve’s defense attorney gets Osvaldo to admit that he is a part of a gang, the Diablos, and that he has to fight “a guy who’s already in the club to show you got the heart”(145). Another initiation into the gang is to “cut them where it shows”(146). This means that Osvaldo has to cut a stranger, and the cut is to be made on the face. The other witness, Bobo Evans, has been convicted of numerous crimes previous to this one. This shows Bobo is a criminal who has little human sympathy for others. He has “been arrested for … breaking and entering, grand theft auto, and one time for taking a car radio and one time for fighting”(225). This long list of crimes shows that he is a hardened criminal. Bobo even claims that after the robbery they “went to the chicken joint over on Lenox Avenue, across the bridge. We got some chicken and wedges and some sodas”(230). Neither witness can be
His 11 year-old brother, Jerry, looks up to Steve. Jerry says, “I bet you’d be a cool superhero. You know who you should be” (82)? Steve replies “Who?”(82) Then Jerry says, “Batman. Then I could be Robin”(82). This interaction shows the kind of closeness Steve has with his brother. He also has a mother and a father who care about him. When Steve is being taken away she says “What do you mean don’t worry about it, when you’re handcuffing my son”(168). This shows that Mrs. Harmon had panic in her eyes and love in her heart for her son. Mr. Harmon thinks of his son: “When you was first born, I would lie up in the bed thinking about scenes of your life playing football and going off to college”(109). This shows that Mr. Harmon cares for the safety and well being of his son Steve very much. Near the end of the trial Steve’s film teacher, Mr. Sawicki is brought to the stand. The teacher speaks favorably on Steve’s behalf saying, “He’s an outstanding young man. He is talented, bright, and compassionate. He’s very much involved with depicting his neighborhood and environment in a positive manner”(307). His teacher speaks of how honest and bright Steve is. He states that Steve always completes his work on time and he is in the top of his class. The teacher emphasizes Steve’s humanity. Why would such a good kid make a wrong