He is called different names by people he doesn’t even know and even by his own lawyer. Throughout the book Steve Harmon is called a monster, and he doesn’t like being called that name. “Cut to: Steve Harmon. Then: CU of the pad in front of him. He is writing the word Monster over and over again,” (Myers, 24). He hates being called a monster in the beginning of the book since he knows he didn’t commit the crime. However, later on he starts considering himself a monster because of the people that he’s surrounded by. He’s surrounded by people who have stolen from other people and had killed other people, which impacts him because he fears he himself is becoming one of them or has already become one of them. Steve is also considered a criminal just because people infer that, since he was at the drugstore where the murder was, he was a part of the murder. The judge thinks the same way about him, even though Steve’s supposed to be innocent until there’s enough proof to deem him guilty. "People who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the …show more content…
One of these ways is to write a play of everything that happens. “Maybe I could make my own movie. I could make my own movie. I could block out the scenes like we did in school,” (Myers 4). Steve does this throughout the book which helps him because it allows him to do what he likes while distracting him from the chaos that’s happening around him. It acts as a way for Steve to remember everything that happened for the future and forget everything around him at the same time. Another way that Steve cope’s with what’s going on around him is by seeing different things around the prison and doing different things around the prison. “I looked down in the street from the corridor leading to the recreation door,” (Myers 156). Steve wants different things to see than just a jailhouse. He wants people who he can see that are equal to him. Steve finally copes with jail by thinking optimistically. He’s thinking positively so that he won’t have to think negative things about his life in prison. “If I got out after 20 years, I’d be 36,” (Myers 144). Steve wants to think positively because he wants to think of the future and what he could do then instead of thinking about what he could do in prison. He wants to forget the present and focus on the future. Through all of the chaos, Steve manages to stay calm by focusing on other things than just the