Monster

This section is a journal entry from main character Steve Harmon: “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out, and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. That way even if you sniffle a little they won’t hear you” (1). Steve describes life in the Manhattan Detention Center, where he awaits trial for murder.

Different prisoners come and go from the cells, so Steve is constantly in the presence of strangers. Each cell has a toilet with no partitions, allowing no privacy of any kind. Even after the months he has been incarcerated, he is not used to being in jail. A student of film, Steve has decided to write a screenplay of his life to help cope.

In Steve’s screenplay, the narrative switches to the third person.

The scene begins as he is preparing to begin the first day of his trial. Readers encounter motion picture notation and abbreviations, such as “VO” for voice over, “Cut To” meaning the camera changes its focus from one subject to another, “CU” for close up, “MS” for medium shot, and “LS” for long shot, or a panorama of all that can be seen in a single shot.