Some details of the fight between the victim and attackers were different.The victim’s death seemed more accidental than intentional. Throughout the movie, the failed robbery is shown in flashes until the full ordeal is revealed. In the end, he still lies in court and says he didn’t know King very well even though he had spent time with him. From the testimony Steve gave in the book, he seemed to have not known King, but in the movie, King takes him under his wing. Steve’s relationship with King was a big part of the movie. The movie also uses different storytelling techniques.

In the movie, the prosecutor is a man instead of a woman, and the setting and time of the crime were different. The Monster movie is very similar to the book, but it does have slight differences. King is found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The book ends with Steve getting a “not guilty” verdict, and his lawyer doesn’t celebrate with him because she may find feel he is guilty. He also claimed to not know co-defendant James King very well. Toward the end of the book, Steve testifies and claims he was nowhere near the robbery. There are little details hidden within the flashbacks in the story that may imply Steve isn’t a reliable narrator. The witness’s testimony of the robbery puts the reader in a tough position on whether to believe Steve or Sandra Petrocelli, the prosecutor. This is the main conflict Steve goes through and even makes him question if he is a monster or human. The trial is used as a way to give details to the reader about the robbery.ĭuring the trial, Steve and his lawyer Kathy O’Brien struggle trying to get the jury to see Steve as a human. Throughout the book, it switches between the trial and Steve’s writings about what he sees and goes through in prison. He talks about writing a movie not about his life, but this whole experience. Monster tackles many issues, such as the criminal justice system, fear, and racism.Īt the start of the book, Steve writes in his notebook that was given to him while in jail. The book version of Monster was released in 1999 but surprisingly is still relevant today. Monster was first a book that was later turned into a movie in 2018. Monster is a story by Walter Dean Myers about 16-year-old Steve Harmon and his alleged involvement in a robbery that led to a man being killed.

Monster book by walter dean