Monster Steve Harmon Character Analysis
Innocent until proven guilty; a phrase commonly used by the accused. But if the accused is guilty but never proven to be, does that mean he is innocent? An example of this is Steve Harmon in the novel, Monster. Steve is on trial for felony murder for a robbery. In the book, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, although Steve Harmon is pronounced innocent, he is actually guilty because he lied to the jury, is familiar with the crime, and is paranoid.
Steve always changes his story, telling the jury one thing but writing something else in his notebook. While on the stand, his lawyer begins to question him: “O’Brien: ‘Mr. Harmon, were you in the drugstore owned by Mr. Nesbitt, the victim, on the 22nd of December of last year?’ Steve: ‘No, I was not’”(223).
Steve always changes his story, telling the jury one thing but writing something else in his notebook. While on the stand, his lawyer begins to question him: “O’Brien: ‘Mr. Harmon, were you in the drugstore owned by Mr. Nesbitt, the victim, on the 22nd of December of last year?’ Steve: ‘No, I was not’”(223).