Many times in history, people have had their lives damaged at the hands of a paranoid public for crimes that they were not involved with. Unfortunately, this tragic truth did not die with time, and even today in places like the United States people are accused and put to trial for things they are not involved with. Through cases like these, one is taught that they must examine everything with clear glasses, not shades — they are taught that they must not let their point of view become obscured by their own assumptions. This lesson is very well shown in Walter Dean Myer’s Monster, where the young, black Steve Harmon is being put on trial for being involved in the murder of Mr. Nesbitt during a stickup at his store, alongside Osvaldo Cruz, Richard…show more content… You’re going to be home again and it’s going to be all right” (Myers 112-113). After the case, his father moves away, and Harmon comments that he can “understand the distance. My father is no longer sure of who I am” (Myers 281). Steve’s relationship with his father was completely destroyed due to the case; his father put on shades to see something terrible and untrue. Beyond just family losses, he ended up losing the friend in O’Brien that he had at beginning of the case. At the end of the court case when it is decided that Harmon is innocent, he “spreads his arms to hug O’Brien, but she stiffens and turns to pick up her papers from the table before them” (Myers 276) which prompts him to wonder why she reacts the way she did. Near the end, he realizes that she must have seen something that causes her to lose trust in him, wondering exactly “what did she see” (Myers 281). Although his lost relationships with his father and O’Brien are tragic, the most tragic loss is
