James King Character Analysis in Monster

James King is man in his mid-20s, charged with the same felony murder as Steve over the death of Mr. Nesbitt. King’s attorney Asa Briggs knows that if King is allowed to testify in court, he will immediately incriminate himself, and thus King speaks very little throughout the story. However, through Steve’s recollection and Bobo Evans’ testimony, the narrative suggests that King formulated the plan to rob Mr. Nesbitt’s drugstore, drew Steve into being an accomplice by checking the store for cops, attempted to rob the place with Bobo, and then accidentally shot Mr. Nesbitt with his own handgun when there was a struggle. After King is arrested, he tells the police about Steve’s involvement, leading to Steve’s arrest as well. Although King once seemed tough and untouchable to Steve, and was thus someone he looked up to, Steve realizes that King is actually just a fool, trying to act tough and powerful even when he is in handcuffs and at the mercy of the justice system. King is ultimately deemed guilty of felony murder for Mr. Nesbitt’s death.

James King Quotes in Monster

The Monster quotes below are all either spoken by James King or refer to James King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Most people in our community are decent, hardworking citizens who pursue their own interests legally and without infringing on the rights of others. But there are also monsters in our communities—people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others.

Related Characters: Sandra Petrocelli (speaker), Steve Harmon, James King

Related Symbols: Monster

Page Number and Citation: 21

Explanation and Analysis:

Miss O’Brien says that Petrocelli is using Bolden’s testimony as part of a trail that will lead to me and James King. I think she is wrong. I think they are bringing out all of these people and letting them look terrible on the stand and sound terrible and then reminding the the jury that they don’t look any different from me and King.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Kathy O’Brien, Sandra Petrocelli, Wendell Bolden

Page Number and Citation: 60

Explanation and Analysis:

King curled his lip and narrowed his eyes. What was he going to do, scare me? All of a sudden he looked funny. All the times I had looked at him and wanted to be tough like him, and now I saw him sitting in handcuffs and trying to scare me. How could he scare me? I go to bed every night terrified out of my mind.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King

Page Number and Citation: 96

Explanation and Analysis:

I remembered Miss O’Brien saying that it was her job to make me different in the eyes of the jury, different from Bobo and Osvaldo and King. It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Osvaldo Cruz, Kathy O’Brien

Page Number and Citation: 130

Explanation and Analysis:

[O’Brien] said that Bobo’s testimony hurt us a lot and that she had to find a way to separate me from King, but King’s lawyer wanted to make sure the jury connected us because I looked like a pretty decent guy.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Kathy O’Brien, Asa Briggs

Page Number and Citation: 201

Explanation and Analysis:

There are a lot of things you can do with film, but you don’t have unlimited access to your audience. In other words, keep it simple. You tell the story; you don’t look for the camera technician to tell the story for you. When you see a filmmaker getting too fancy, you can bet he’s worried either about his story or about his ability to tell it.

Related Characters: Mr. Sawicki (speaker), Steve Harmon, James King, Asa Briggs

Page Number and Citation: 214

Explanation and Analysis:

If you don’t testify, you’ll just make the tie between you and King stronger in the mind of the jury. I think you have to testify. And the way you spend the rest of your youth might well depend on how much the jury believes you.

Related Characters: Kathy O’Brien (speaker), Steve Harmon, James King, Asa Briggs

Page Number and Citation: 216

Explanation and Analysis:

James King Character Timeline in Monster

The timeline below shows where the character James King appears in Monster. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...courthouse, where he meets his attorney Kathy O’Brien. O’Brien explains that both Steve and James King are on trial for felony murder, and that the prosecutor Sandra Petrocelli is talented and... (full context)

Steve and King sit handcuffed in the holding room with a guard and the stenographer. King is 23,... (full context)

...to rob the place, and the state believes they were Richard “Bobo” Evans and James King. The shopkeeper, Alguinaldo Nesbitt, produced his legally-owned handgun, there was a struggle, and Mr. Nesbitt... (full context)

...in himself so the jury can, too. Petrocelli closes her remarks by stating that both King and Steve are implicated in the murder of Mr. Nesbitt. Then O’Brien makes her opening... (full context)

The screenplay cuts briefly to a trash-filled Harlem street. A woman, a man, King, and Steve are sitting on the step. King complains about not having money, and says... (full context)

...says that Petrocelli is bringing out her witnesses to build a connection between Steve and King, but Steve thinks that Petrocelli is just showcasing all these terrible people and “reminding the... (full context)

The screenplay resumes in the courthouse. Steve and King are handcuffed to the bench. The attorneys, the judge, and one of the guards stands... (full context)

...know something until Zinzi called him and told him about Bolden, who told him about King and Bobo Evans. The screenplay cuts to a precinct where Detective Karyl, who is white,... (full context)

...both the judge and Briggs criticize. Osvaldo continues that he was afraid of Steve and King, as well. When Briggs and Petrocelli start to become more hostile towards each other, the... (full context)

While Steve is waiting, someone brings King in and handcuffs him to the bench next to Steve. King asks Steve if Steve... (full context)

...robbery (his job was to stop anyone who came out of the store from chasing King and Bobo) simply because he was scared of Bobo. The government is cutting him a... (full context)

...murderers from the drugstore. Steve watches on the news as a newscaster announces Bobo and King’s arrest, showing footage of them being handcuffed. Mayor Rudy Giuliani appears in a press conference,... (full context)

...He thinks about how stupid it was that he once wanted to be tough like King, Bobo, and Osvaldo. In the detention center, while Steve is assigned to mop a hall... (full context)

...As his lungs filled with bled, Nesbitt drowned in his own blood. Steve gasps, while King looks bored. (full context)

Through the screenplay, Steve recalls sitting with King in a park. King tells Steve he’s found a place to rob, that Bobo’s got... (full context)

...58-year-old school librarian. Petrocelli questions Henry, who testifies that she was in the drugstore when King, whom she identifies, and another man entered the store and started arguing with Mr. Nesbitt... (full context)

...stating that she was given around 20 photographs of different people from which to identify King. Henry admits that at first she had trouble identifying him; he looks different in person... (full context)

...been arrested numerous times before for thefts and even manslaughter. Bobo states that he’s known King his whole life and met Steve just before the robbery took place. (full context)

Bobo continues to testify that he and King robbed the drugstore. He claims that first, Steve went into to see if there were... (full context)

...store, but Bobo only says that Steve didn’t say anything at all, so he and King assumed they were good to go. Bobo believes the shooting was accidental. The police came... (full context)

...someone if he could go buy himself a meal directly after. Bobo still claims that King shot Nesbitt, most likely because he was high, and then tells Briggs that he’s done... (full context)

...the store, and that they didn’t split the money up as planned after he and King heard Nesbitt died. O’Brien sits. (full context)

...Bobo himself never spoke to Steve or saw him again, nor does he know that King ever contacted Steve again. Petrocelli announces, “The people rest,” which Steve envisions through his screenplay... (full context)

...that Bobo’s testimony looks bad for Steve, and Briggs is going to try to attach King to Steve because Steve looks like a decent guy. When Steve asks O’Brien if they’re... (full context)

The screenplay resumes inside the courtroom. King’s cousin is on the stand. Briggs questions her, and she testifies that King was at... (full context)

Briggs brings another witness to testify that King is left-handed and Mr. Nesbitt was shot from an angle that suggests a right-handed shooter,... (full context)

...the jury as a good, innocent kid. He also needs to break his association with King as much as possible, since that is Petrocelli’s strongest argument for Steve’s supposed guilt. O’Brien... (full context)

...was wrong with his answer. As she asks Steve practice questions about his association with King and when he last spoke to him, angling for vague answers, the scene fades away. (full context)

...O’Brien sits and Petrocelli takes her place. She begins questioning Steve about his relationship with King, and Steve responds that he only knows him because King hangs around the playground where... (full context)

Back in the courtroom, Briggs makes his closing argument for the defense of James King. Briggs argues that Petrocelli’s prosecution does not have a single witness to the actual murder... (full context)

Briggs thus argues that King did not enter the store with Bobo; Osvaldo did. One of them shot Mr. Nesbitt.... (full context)

O’Brien argues that even Bobo’s testimony suggests that only he and King had any contact with each other after the murder, again removing Steve from the plot.... (full context)

...although Bobo and Osvaldo obviously do, their testimonies corroborate each other. Three witnesses testify that King entered the drugstore at the time of the robbery. Bobo testifies that Steve was the... (full context)

...only possible version of events that fits all available evidence is the state’s accusation, and King and Steve Harmon are thus both fully culpable for Mr. Nesbitt’s death. They each played... (full context)

The jurors convene and speak with the judge, who states that if they believe either King or Steve were involved in the robbery that led to Mr. Nesbitt’s death, regardless of... (full context)

Steve sits in a holding cell with King. Steve admits that he’s scared, but King seems unbothered, and states that “if the man... (full context)

...movie he keeps rewriting and re-editing in his mind. In the movie, he proudly tells King that he doesn’t do robberies, that he knows what is right and true. He sets... (full context)

The head juror reads his verdict for King and a guard puts handcuffs on him and leads him out of the courtroom: guilty.... (full context)