The Motivation of the Character in Monster by Walter Dean Myers

About the Author

Walter Dean Myers was an African-American writer who had won many awards. He is best known for his children and young adult books. He was born on Aug 12, 1937, and later moved to New York where he died in mid-2014. In the making of his newest release, monster, he interviewed former teen prisoners to lawyers and juries. It won him several awards including the Michael L. Printz Award, which the year's best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit.

Plot

Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, is a nonfiction young adult narrative. It is situated, as I've inferred by the text, in the late 1900s(1980-1990) due to the fact that there are several appearances of twentieth-century technology, including black and white films, and a lack of retail camera monitoring. The protagonist spends most of their time in prison and court but the main event was situated in a drugstore.

The story begins with the protagonist (Steve Harmon) in prison for a trial on murder, even though he was not guilty of anything.

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The misconception came from Steve’s race and his appearance n a drugstore. Both of his parents greatly support him, as they reassure him that everything will be fine. They also attend every court session and visit Steve regularly. Their support is a great aid to his tragedy.

This tragedy then comes to an end when Steve made a movie, originally to find what personality he is, but ended up saving his life as the judge and others watched it in guilt.

Steve then continues to make films of himself to find out one day who he really is.

Climax

I have identified the climax to be when Steve is just entering the prison after been told he if found guilty. I believe this is the case because right after, Steve is found innocent he has found what “Monster” he is. He and his parents still don’t know who he is (learning more and more from his movies).

Main Character

First trait:

The main character is Steve Harmon and I find him very motivated, as he is ready to face his situation and get out of jail. He repeatedly mentions in the book he is in favour of staying in jail, As mentioned in the book “ I want to be away from this place even if I’d have to live alone, I just want to be away, away from this place.”.He clearly hates is state-of-being and is destined to go away.

Second trait:

Steve is also very creative. To find what his personality is he makes movies of his life. If I’d wanted to find my personality I’d think about how I would be in certain situations, I would have never thought of making a movie of my own life, therefore I find Steve very Innovative.

Conflict

The conflict would be between Steve and the court (person vs world/society). This conflict exists, as mentioned before, because of the misunderstanding of steve being a killer.

Theme

I have identified the theme to be simply, being in the wrong place at the wrong time can result in various and very serious problems. I believe this is the theme because Steve has been seriously misunderstood in a way that led him to jail. The entire book revolves around the idea of the misunderstanding of Steve Harmon.

Conclusion

For me, the conclusion was satisfactory. It had a clear ending and was simple to understand. The reason why I didn’t love it, is because it was very simple. No complexity just a strat forward ending, like a movie. I'd like if it had more of a dramatic or suspenseful ending.