The Monster in Him

In Monster by Walter Dean Myers Steve Harmon is writing a movie about his time in jail and trial. The point of view is from Steve Harmon as he endures the worst thing of his life, trial. From the way Steve describes it you feel bad for him and you feel like King is a bad person. It’s those feelings that keep you on his side.

One way Steve’s point of view influences the reader's interpretation is how his perspective describes his relationship with King. He says that King is just an acquaintance. In Steve’s words “I know him from the neighborhood.”  Which in the jury’s eyes and yours separates him and King and makes him seem innocent and King more guilty.

However, the reader would feel a lot differently about Steve if the story was written in Petrocelli’s point of view. For instance, the reader wouldn't think Steve was innocent they would feel he was guilty because that her job as prosecutor. If she had it her way Steve and King would go to jail from 25 years to life without parole.

Steve makes the reader believe that he’s innocent and doesn't deserve to be here. His point of view is the difference maker. I know if this story was in almost anyone else s point of view I would've thought he was guilty. His point of view is the big thing.

As you can see, the point of view of this story forces the you to see just Steve’s side of the story. In Monster, Steve’s perspective makes the reader want him to be released and King prosecuted. Steve seems like a great kid and if you knew him before this turn of events even you wouldn't think he did it.

Hope is a Powerful Thing

Imagine waking up every morning and not knowing where your next meal is coming from or where you’re going to sleep tonight. You may think that it’s hopeless that you’ll ever live a normal life. That may be hard for you to comprehend it’s hard for me to, but for Michael Oher a 16 year old black kid it’s reality. He had the slightest hope of living a better life and that hope led him to a christian school where white people outnumber blacks 10 to 1. He found hope in one of the families, the Touhys giving him hope. That’s why I think hope is the theme.

Michael Oher finds hope when his friends dad takes him with to a christian school for his son and convinces them to let Michael in too. Then a family that goes to that school takes him in as if he was their own. That family the Touhys feeds him, clothed him, and gave him a place to sleep. These are examples of new hope given to him and it helped a lot because now he’s a NFL star.

New hope is something you see in sports a lot. Like claiming the player you drafted is the star of the future and will lead you to victory. When Billy Beane started his moneyball campaign he gave the A’s new hope. He saved a dying franchise by changing the way he bought players. He gave players who thought their careers were done hope and the whole franchise.  Like when the Touhys took Michael in and gave him hope.

Hope is what drove The A’s to the playoffs and Michael to the NFL. It’s also what gave Frodo from Lord of The Rings the power to destroy the ring. Sam supplies Frodo with hope as he fights the ring. Frodo relies on Sam because all his hope in succeeding has depleted. Sam is a beacon hope for Frodo. Hope is what wins a battle and Sam had to have enough for him and Frodo. The Touhys were Michaels Sam there what gave him hope in succeeding.

Hope is what wins battles and Michael Oher's battle is no exception. He relied on the hope of a new start and got it with the Touhys when they took him in. He wouldn’t be as successful as he is now without the Touhys to help him through it. Hope is a powerful thing that can save your future from your past. If you have enough hope you can do almost anything.