Walter Dean Myers’ Monster, expresses a profound, and substantial theme throughout the entire novel. This novel is about a 16 year old kid named Steve Harmon that goes on trial for felony murder. Throughout the trials, Harmon has a journal where he keeps his private thoughts and writes his screenplay for the movie he will produce when the trials are over. Harmon believes he is innocent, but as the trials progress, he no longer knows what he is. The overall theme that’s presented in the novel is fighting for what is true.
To commence with, at the beginning of the trials, Harmon felt that he was innocent. Although he knew he didn’t do anything wrong, he was still nervous and scared because of all the stress of the trials, and for having to stay in jail while the trials are going on. The text states, “How are you doing?” “I’m scared” (Myers 15). Kelly O’Brien, Harmon’s defense attorney, asks Harmon how he is feeling before the trials, and Harmon replies that he is trepidation, because he doesn’t know what is going to transpire. As the trials progress and become more intense and…show more content… Harmon states about Ernie, “He was trying to convince himself that he wasn’t guilty” (Myers 143). Ernie is another inmate at the prison Harmon is staying at, and Ernie is telling his story of why he says he is not guilty. Ernie knows that he did something wrong, but he is still trying to convince himself and convince everyone else that he is not guilty. He is fighting for what he thinks is the truth. During the trials, Harmon and O’Brien have a conversation, and during this conversation, Harmon can tell that O’Brien thinks he is guilty. “I’m not guilty,’ I said to her. ‘You should have said, ‘I didn’t do it,’ she said. ‘I didn’t do it,’ I said” (Myers 138). Harmon knows what O’Brien thinks of him, and he is trying to prove to her that he is not what she thinks he
