Steve Harmon's Monster

Final Fate

The novel Monster was written to show the hardships Steve Harmon endured during one of the most important times of his life. Due to a robbery and murder that he was assumed to be involved in, Steve was put on trial, where his fate was put in the hands of the jury. Fortunately, towards the end of the novel his defense attorney Kathy O’Brien managed to convince the jury that he was not guilty. He was free to go home and continue his life as a teenager, but as a result of the current events, his father moved away and distanced himself from his son. The book states, “I understand the distance. My father is no longer sure of who I am.” Though Steve was found innocent, he was still seen differently by everyone around him. His father was not sure how Steve could end up being associated with men like James King and Bobo Evans, who were criminals. Steve’s father was not sure how many more secrets were being kept from him after the trial. Even Kathy O’Brien, who was in charge of defending Steve, was not quite sure if he was innocent or not. After Steve’s innocence was announced, he held out his arms to hug O’Brien, but she simply turned her back to him. According to the novel, “When Miss O'Brien looked at me, after we had won the case, what did she see that caused her to …show more content…
What did she see?” It was inevitable that people would see Steve in a different light after he was almost convicted of murder, but he was not aware that people would see him as such a monster, even after being