Monster

Steve envisions his incarceration and prosecution as a screenplay for a motion picture which he produces, directs, and stars in. This framing device allows Steve to guide himself through the overwhelming worlds of the jail and the courtroom. As an author, Myers uses film and filmmaking as a symbol of how the truth can be shaped by artists through their subjective experience.

The use of a screenplay allows Steve to present images and scenes without comment such as a judge discussing a termite infestation with a guard or his defense attorney sharing a laugh with the prosecutor who is trying to send him to prison for life. However, Steve’s choice of what the camera reveals shows his individual experience and should not be mistaken for an objective account of the truth. In this way, the filmmaking motif plays against the novel’s ideas regarding truth and truth telling. 

Myers researched the cultural settings in which the narrative takes place, which . allowed him to be up to date with current slang, informal language often only familiar to a specific group of people.

Much of the slang in Monster has symbolic meaning. For instance, in his encounter with Osvaldo, Steve remains calm while Osvaldo several times calls him a “lame,” on one occasion saying “He’s just a lame looking for a name. Ain’t that right, Steve” (81). The connotation of lame is that Steve is a passive, helpless, and unassertive person unwilling and unable to stand up for himself (this connotation makes the term ableist and offensive when used to describe people with disabilities). Another expression frequently used is the word “heart,” as when King asks Steve if he has the heart to be part of his robbery team. The meaning of heart here means refers to a person who is brave enough to participate in a dangerous, illegal adventure. One of the more interesting aspects of these terms is that Myers turns them around, often using them ironically. In the courtroom, Osvaldo weakly proclaims himself to be afraid of Steve, making Osvaldo the lame one. After pressuring Steve to have the heart to be brave and participate in the robbery, King tries to intimidate Steve, only to have Steve laugh in his face, showing the heart he has gained through his experience—and revealing the price he paid for it.