Character Analysis: Steve Harmon

Steve Harmon is the sixteen-year-old boy whose trial is the entire premise of the story. The book begins with him writing a journal entry about the trial and how he feels about being in prison. He decides he is going to record his experiences like a film script, thus initiating the formatting style in which the book is published. In choosing to write his story like this, Steve has put himself in full control of what the readers know. He does a fair job at capturing the emotion of other characters in the story like that of the lawyers and the other inmates involved in the crime, yet he is the only character who keeps a personal journal that the readers get to see.

Reading the story through Steve's lens is a juggling task because not only does one see his frustration with trying to prove his innocence, but one also sees his anxiety regarding his reference as a "monster." Petrocelli, the prosecutor, calls Steve a monster early in the trial process. In addition to this, Steve receives early criticism by his own lawyer, O'Brien, who is skeptical about winning because Steve is "young...[and] black" (Myers 79). She converses with Steve multiple times and makes her doubts known. She reminds him that she has worked hard in a lot of trials, but this one will be hard for her to win (not only due to the racial circumstances, but due to her lack of faith in Steve's innocence). Knowing that his lawyer doesn't even fully believe in him, Steve is brought to ponder if he really is a monster. Even if he does win the trial, the tag sticks with him and he is uneasy about it.

When the verdict is called, Steve attempts to hug O'Brien, but she "stiffens and turns to pick up her papers," looking "pensive" (276). The last bit of the novel is a journal entry months after the trial, and Steve records that he still wonders what O'Brien saw that day, why she was so tense. These thoughts bring Steve back to seeing himself as a monster. It becomes clear that though the story appears to be about the crime, the real mystery to be solved is whether or not Steve is a monster. It's as if that claim never got proven true or false; it's up to readers to analyse Steve's actions, the actions of others, the crime, and the verdict in order to come to a decision.

-Kayla Loos