Monster

by

Walter Dean Myers

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Themes and Colors
Dehumanization and Racism Theme Icon
Lies and Self-Interest Theme Icon
Endemic Violence Theme Icon
Injustice Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Monster, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Lies and Self-Interest Theme Icon

Steve Harmon’s trial involves numerous witnesses, most of whom are themselves either convicted or alleged criminals. Although the purpose of the court case is presumably to uncover the truth about the murder, every witness tells a different story, and each lawyer is angling for a different outcome that will benefit their career. In light of all of these half-truths and selfish motivations, Steve’s account of his trial suggests that the manner in which the court system operates incentivizes people to lie, and thus the courtroom does a very poor job of uncovering the truth.

During Steve’s trial, witnesses testify in exchange for reduced sentencing for their own crimes or to present a narrative beneficial to themselves. They are often caught in lies on the stand, suggesting that the personal motivation that each witness has for testifying presses them to lie rather than tell the truth. Two prisoners, Bolden and Zinzi, have no connection to Steve’s case, but they testify as witnesses with second- and third-hand information, explicitly admitting that they’re cooperating in hopes of reducing their own (unrelated) prison sentences. Whether or not their information is true, the fact that these witnesses are hoping to cut a deal for personal gain suggests that neither of their testimonies can possibly be objective or unbiased, since they each want their contribution to the court case to seem important enough to merit a reward. Furthermore, Osvaldo Cruz, a 14-year-old gang member implicated in the murder (though already jailed for other crimes), also testifies, trying to make his role in the botched robbery seem as minor as possible. His testimony is predictably unreliable, suggesting that the testimonies of defendants are less likely to be true, since they do not want to incriminate themselves further. Even Mr. Sawicki, Steve’s character witness, likes Steve and has a vested interest in seeing him go free. Though the narrative does not explicitly say so, it seems likely that even Mr. Sawicki’s testimony may not be entirely accurate, since even civilian witnesses are often hoping for a particular outcome in a court case. All of the testimonies Steve recounts, then, are motivated by factors other than seeking the truth.

Beyond the unreliability of witness testimony, all of the lawyers involved in Steve’s court case seem more interested in winning the case than in ascertaining the truth. Petrocelli, the state prosecutor, wants King and Steve to be found guilty of felony murder; King’s attorney Asa Briggs wants King to go free, even though King is obviously guilty; Steve’s attorney, O’Brien, cares only about ensuring that he is exonerated (though she seems doubtful of his innocence as well). The fact that all three attorneys seek different outcomes—regardless of their opinion of the truth—suggests that they are more concerned with winning a professional victory than securing justice for the victim or the defendants. Sometimes, the attorneys mislead by minimizing or omitting facts, but other times they outright lie. For instance, O’Brien coaches Steve to testify that he was nowhere near the store on the day of the robbery (even though Steve admits that he was) in order to minimize his association with Bobo or King. Once again, this suggests that the truth is less important to each attorney than strategic advantage.

The attorneys’ indifference to truth is clearest when Petrocelli, Briggs, and O’Brien make their closing arguments. Addressing all the testimonies and evidence presented, they each present an entirely different explanation of the day of the murder. Briggs presents the most blatant lie, arguing that his client King had nothing to do with the murder, even though it seems it was King who shot the handgun that killed Mr. Nesbitt. Petrocelli argues that all the men are monstrous criminals, while O’Brien argues that Steve was wrongly accused simply for having a casual association with King. The fact that each lawyer presents an entirely different view of one event further suggests that the courtroom does little to uncover the truth of an event or a crime.

The court system seems engineered to encourage participants to lie and then passes off the decision of guilt or innocence to a jury, whose members likely have their own prejudices or preconceptions. All of this indicates that the justice system is a very poor system for ascertaining the truth of an event or establishing a person’s actual guilt or innocence. Although the novel does not recommend any solutions for this problem, it certainly demonstrates the futility of the justice system.

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Lies and Self-Interest ThemeTracker

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Lies and Self-Interest Quotes in Monster

Below you will find the important quotes in Monster related to the theme of Lies and Self-Interest.
Wednesday, July 8 Quotes

STEVE: I thought you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty?

O’BRIEN: That’s true, but in reality it depends on how the jury sees the case. If they see it as a contest between the defense and the prosecution as to who’s lying, they’ll vote for the prosecution. The prosecutor walks around looking very important. No one is accusing her of being a bad person. They’re accusing you of being a monster.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), Kathy O’Brien (speaker), Sandra Petrocelli
Related Symbols: Monster
Page Number: 62
Explanation and Analysis:
Thursday, July 9th Quotes

King curled his lip and narrowed his eyes. What was he going to do, scare me? All of a sudden he looked funny. All the times I had looked at him and wanted to be tough like him, and now I saw him sitting in handcuffs and trying to scare me. How could he scare me? I go to bed every night terrified out of my mind.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Friday, July 10th Quotes

I remembered Miss O’Brien saying that it was her job to make me different in the eyes of the jury, different from Bobo and Osvaldo and King. It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Osvaldo Cruz, Kathy O’Brien
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:
Saturday, July 11th Quotes

He said he wasn’t guilty because he hadn’t taken anything out of the store. He didn’t even have a gun, just had his hand in his pocket like he had a gun.

“What they charging you with?” somebody asked.

“Armed robbery, unlawful detention, possession of a deadly weapon, assault, and menacing.”

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker)
Page Number: 142
Explanation and Analysis:
Tuesday, July 14th Quotes

[O’Brien] said that Bobo’s testimony hurt us a lot and that she had to find a way to separate me from King, but King’s lawyer wanted to make sure the jury connected us because I looked like a pretty decent guy.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Kathy O’Brien, Asa Briggs
Page Number: 201
Explanation and Analysis:

There are a lot of things you can do with film, but you don’t have unlimited access to your audience. In other words, keep it simple. You tell the story; you don’t look for the camera technician to tell the story for you. When you see a filmmaker getting too fancy, you can bet he’s worried either about his story or about his ability to tell it.

Related Characters: Mr. Sawicki (speaker), Steve Harmon, James King, Asa Briggs
Page Number: 214
Explanation and Analysis:

If you don’t testify, you’ll just make the tie between you and King stronger in the mind of the jury. I think you have to testify. And the way you spend the rest of your youth might well depend on how much the jury believes you.

Related Characters: Kathy O’Brien (speaker), Steve Harmon, James King, Asa Briggs
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis:

The prosecutor said I was lying. I wanted to ask her what she expected me to do when telling the truth was going to get me 10 years […]. You get up on the witness stand and the prosecutor talks about looking for truth when they really mean they looking for a way to stick you under the jail.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon
Page Number: 220-222
Explanation and Analysis:

O’BRIEN: One last question. Were you in any way involved with the crime that we are discussing here? To make it clear—were you, in any way, involved with the holdup and murder that occurred on the 22nd of December?

STEVE: No, I was not.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), Kathy O’Brien (speaker)
Page Number: 224
Explanation and Analysis:

I think [Steve’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.

Related Characters: Mr. Sawicki (speaker), Steve Harmon
Page Number: 235
Explanation and Analysis:
Friday afternoon, July 17th Quotes

[O’BRIEN’s] lips tense; she is pensive. She gathers her papers and moves away as STEVE, arms still outstretched, turns toward the camera. His image is in black and white, and the grain is nearly broken. It looks like one of the pictures they use for psychological testing, or some strange beast, a monster.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon, Kathy O’Brien
Related Symbols: Monster
Page Number: 276
Explanation and Analysis: