Steve Harmon's Monster

There are several people whose names you will hear throughout the trial. There is the victim, Vicky. There are the accomplices that committed the crime, Richie Red and Bobby Blue. Finally, there is the respondent, Pat Purple, who you will learn aided in the assault of the victim in order to steal her cell phone.

His story is quite engaging as he was placed on the death sentence at only fourteen years old in June 1959 of rape and murder of a fellow classmate, arranged to be executed of hanging months after the conviction that he was wrongfully convicted for. Even despite being found not guilty by a jury of the murder of Lynne Harper in 1959, Steven has always claimed he was innocent, though he did not offer his evidence at the original murder trial, the jury did disclose that most of the evidence had been circumstantial. He also even voluntarily submitted to psychiatric probation in prison for truth serum and LSD to help his innocence. There was also no DNA evidence that could have been analyzed in his case. Steven's father, Daniel also had struggled for two decades to clear the name of his

First of all Steve is guilty of being the lookout because he made the plan to rob the store with James King, BoBo Evans, and Osvaldo Cruz. Steve, King, Mr. Evans, and Osvaldo all agreed that Steve would be the lookout. According to the text on the page (150), James King was talking to Steve and said, “all we need is a lookout. You know, check the place out-make sure ain’t no badges copping some

As the prosecutor, Petrocelli shows the jury that a man is dead because of Steve Harmon and James King. Petrocelli wants to put both King and Steve behind bars, and to do so, she shows the jury that Steve was a part of the plan. Petrocelli already thinks Steve and King are guilty and that they participated in the act of the robbery. When Petrocelli bring up her first arguments to prove Steve guilty, she says, “But there is no doubt in my mind, and I believe by the end of the trial there will be little doubt in yours, that these 2 men, James King and Steven Harmon, were all part of the robbery that caused the death of Alguinaldo Nesbitt” (25). There isn’t clear evidence Steve committed the crime; Petrocelli wants the jury to know that he volunteered to commit theses acts.

Imagine being on trial for a crime you did not commit. In the book Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon, a nice sixteen-year-old boy living in Harlem, New York was in a situation just like this. Steve was on trial after being accused of being a lookout during a robbery and murder at a neighborhood drugstore. Steve is innocent because he never gave a signal to the robbers that the store wasn’t clear of people and he did not know Bobo, one of the other suspected robbers. Steve was just in the store shopping for mints at the time of the crime.

The idea of what a monster is and how it pertains to modern day society has fascinated readers and writers for decades. Before taking this class, I was aware of what a monster is and the function it served in today’s society. Furthermore, after taking this class, I am now aware of what a monster truly is, and what really separates a monster from a regular person. The piece of text that I mainly chose to focus on and elaborate closely to demonstrate the aspects of a monster is appropriately named, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. The reason I chose this piece of literature is because, Monster thoroughly elaborates what a monster is in todays society and how it functions in the modern day world. In this essay I will elaborate on

First Steve and Mrs.Petrocelli said “ I don’t remember seeing him play ball” “you having trouble remembering what you’ve seen.” (Myers 226). Steve is using a tactic which he said he doesn’t remember something and nobody can disprove that because it’s his memory. Then in the jail inmate number two states “Nah! truth is something you gave up when you were out there on the street. Now you are talking survival” (Myers 226). This demonstrates my theme because the criminal is saying nobody will tell the truth, they will just look for ways to lie to get out of trouble. Steve is a very smart person as he is only saying the bare minimum as to not say any facts to show that he is guilty. The truth is gone all you have left now is

The judge thinks the same thing about him too even though he’s supposed to be innocent until there’s enough proof to call him guilty. "People who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others" (Page 21). This is what the judge thinks about him, that he doesn’t care about others. In Steve’s mind he’s a part of society and an equal to everyone who's judging him. He knows he didn’t commit the crime since he didn’t even know that there was a crime that happened after he left the drugstore. He’s finally called a bad person by his lawyer due to his age and his race. “You’re young, you’re black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?” (Page 79). This quote describes all his physical features but not his characteristics. His characteristics show that he’s just a person who cares about his friends and family and really likes to learn how to capture videos. He’s not a criminal. Steve is just a person who was at the wrong place at the wrong

In the Monster by Walter Dean Myers, the character Steve Harmon finds himself easily excepting of the label of a monster which was presented by Sandra Petrocelli "But there are also monsters in our community- people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others". Steve doesn't view himself as an active participant in the robbery which leads to the death of the store owner Alguinaldo Nesbitt and because of this he has not completely excepted the label of a monster, looking at Petrocelli point of view of what makes a monster showed Steve that regardless if he plays a minor role or are larger role, he still took part in the crime which leads to death of Mr. Nesbitt, a crime which showed no regard for the rights of others and willingness to steal and kill. Being a person of morals Steve should have seen that they were about to steal from an innocent person without consideration for the victim, even though murder may not have been apart of the plan it is still an act which victimizes someone and in some ways place people in danger. Secondly, Steve faces probably the most challenging of all, Steve realizes that his father now views him as a monster and not as his son. Mr. Harmon showed his disappointment when he shares with Steve what he dreamt of for his son "When you were first born, I would lie up in bed thinking about scenes of your life. You playing football. You going off to college. I used to think of you going to Morehouse and doing the same things I did when I was there. I never made the football team, but I thought—I dreamed you would. I never thought of seeing you in a place like this. It just never came to me that you'd ever be in any kind of trouble." This

First, Steve Harmon is not guilty of felony murder because he was scouting locations for school film project. Mr. Sawicki, Steve's film club teacher states, “It is my belief that to make an honest film, one has to be an honest person. I would say that. And I do believe in Steve's honesty." he says this after Steve says, "I don't know exactly where I was when the robbery took place. Most of the day I was going around taking mental notes about places I want to film for a school film project. The evidence shows that on the day of the robbery, Steve was believed to be scouting places for a film assignment. Mr. Sawicki, his film teacher believes Steve is honest. As a result of the evidence Steve Harmon is not guilty because he was scouting locations for a school film project while the crime was taking place. Steve Harmon is not guilty of felony murder

You're not gonna tell me you believe that phony story about losing the knife, and that business about being at the movies. Look, you know how these people lie! It's born in them! I mean what the heck? I don't even have to tell you. They don't know what the truth is! And lemme tell you, they don't need any real big reason to kill someone, either! No sir! [Juror 10, page 51] This type of prejudice offended many of the other jurors, especially Juror 5 who is of similar race to the accused.

“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria” - Alan Greenspan. New York author, Alan Greenspan, here is explaining that the threat fear presents is really no different than the state of intensity caused by euphoria. In Andrew J. Hoffman’s anthology, Monsters, there is substantial evidence that both fear and euphoria are inflicted upon men, by female monsters. The two threats men typically face against women are temptation and emasculation. Thus, in mythology and folklore, female monsters exemplify the impulse of desire (sexually) for men, and male weakness. These are creature that are lusted after and yet, still feared because of their power. Men find female monsters both fearsome and euphoric and will always threaten their dominance and control.

Today we are discussing whether if Steve Harmon should be held guilty or not guilty. I, the defender, says that he is not. We’ve all experienced being accused of doing something we didn’t actually do but Steve’s situation is just more extreme than most of ours. It’s not everyday when we get told a friend is being accused of felony murder. I will be using O’brien’s closing statement along with other quotes to prove to you, that Steve Harmon is not guilty.

One reason I believe that Steve is guilty is because of his journal. In Steve’s journal he says, “Anybody can walk into a drugstore and look around.”(115) This proves that Steve was helping to be a lookout in the crime, which means he was an accomplice, and that he was in the drugstore when the crime happened. “It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them.” Steve also writes in his journal (130). Steve is writing that he wanted to be tough like King and his friends. This proves that he wants to be like King, which might have influenced him to help with the crime. Steve also writes in his journal, “I knew she felt that I didn’t do anything wrong. It was me who wasn’t sure.” (148). Steve wrote this after talking with his mother. Steve is doubting his own innocence, if he is doubting his innocence, then is he really innocent?

The movie “Monster” is based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, a woman who was popularly known as “America’s first female serial killer” (Pearson, 2007, p.256). She was executed for killing six men on October. 9th, 2002, after 12 years on Florida’s Death Row (Jenkins, 2003). Aileen Wuornos was a 37-year-old white woman, born in Rochester, Michigan, and growing up in the nearby Troy area. When Aileen was young, a friend of her father sexually assaulted her for years. She complained to her farther, while her farther did not believe her and physically abused her instead (Jenkins, 2003). After her farther killed himself, she was abandoned by her family because she engaged in prostitution. Due to the