"Monster" by Walter Dean Myers

In "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old boy, is on trial for murder after a drugstore is robbed and the owner of it is killed. The novel deals with themes of perceptions and judgments, which is clearly aligned with the context of the novel (a courtroom trial). Throughout the novel, Steve worries about how others view him, often encountering difficult and heartbreaking moments where others' perceptions of him are so vastly different from his self-concept. Words like "see" and "look" are used extremely frequently, which I think makes the theme of perceptions pretty obvious and easy to understand for adolescent readers. In introducing this novel as a teacher, I would probably advise my students to circle or highlight those words each time they encounter it so that they can see all of the ways in which they are used.

The novel is set up as a movie script, of which Steve is the screenwriter, and it depicts the courtroom scenes, occasionally including flashbacks to prior moments in Steve's life. Pieces that appear as Steve's journal while he is in prison are also woven into the novel, giving the reader a direct link to Steve's thoughts and feelings. The structure of the book in this way makes it very easy to read, without the need for much deep analysis. Because bits like the flashbacks and the journal entries are placed carefully in certain parts of the text, it would be simple to do a close reading of certain pages in order to get students to draw conclusions about Myers's purposes for putting those particular passages together and how they speak to the larger themes of the text.

For example, on pages 58 and 59, Myers juxtaposes a flashback scene with a journal entry in order to highlight the themes of power and powerlessness. In the flashback scene, Steve is talking with his younger brother, Jerry, who admires and trusts him. The brothers talk about superheroes and Steve says that he would want to be a superhero so that he could "kick butt" when "people would be messing with" him. Jerry affirms Steve by saying that he would be a "cool superhero." Because superheroes are strong and powerful, Myers draws attention to Steve's powerlessness and lack of control over his own destiny by including this interaction with his brother. On the following page, the journal entry includes Steve's thoughts on how he doesn't feel "involved" or like he has a "role" in the case that directly involves him. In this way, Steve comments on his frustrating powerlessness, which clearly opposes the power that he pictures himself having as a superhero. This close reading of these two pages would be a great way to get a discussion going with students about how much control they have over their own lives.