Theme and Summary: Monster

The main theme of the novel Monster by: Walter Dean Meyers is fear, fear of prison, trial, his future life, and himself. This emerges in the beginning of the book when Steve Harmon, the main character, gives us the setting of the story. After this point in the book the theme is constantly being further developed and refined by specific details. An example of this would be when Steve is writing in his notebook where he writes, "Miss O'Brien said the judge could sentence me to 25 years to life. If he did, I would have to serve at least 21 years and 3 months. I can't imagine being in jail for that long." (Monster pg. 90).