Monday, January 27, 2014

In the novel Monster, describe how Myers suggests that good and evil can be blurred and life is not "black and white."

Throughout the novel, Steve Harmon struggles to justify his actions. He is essentially a good person who has made several terrible decisions and regrets his past actions. Myers purposely leaves Steve's participation in the crime ambiguous but suggests that Steve did enter the store for the purpose of acting as the crew's lookout. Whether or not Steve gave the signal that the coast was clear does not exclude the fact that he knew James King and Richard "Bobo" Evans were attempting to rob the store. However, Steve not giving the signal to James or Bobo suggests that he had a change of heart in the store. While Steve made the right decision not to give them a signal, he did make the wrong decision to agree to participate in the crime. By displaying Steve's duality, Myers suggests that life is not "black and white." Many of our decisions have both positive and negative effects on those around us. Very few decisions in life are purely good or evil. As humans, we tend to justify our actions to make ourselves feel better about circumstances similar to the way Steve contemplates his actions during his incarceration.

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