Monster: Friday afternoon, July 17th Summary & Analysis

Steve was afraid to sleep the night before, as if he’d die in his sleep. His case consumes him, but he knows there is nothing left to do. He used to feel sorry for his mother, who was crying in desperation as Steve was led out of the courtroom yesterday, but now all he can think of is his appeal, just like all the other guys in jail. Steve thinks about Petrocelli’s claim that he made a “moral decision” and he wonders what decision he made that day, or didn’t make. The world feels unreal to Steve, except for his sense of “panic” and the 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 the scene to music.

At the courthouse, in the screenplay, a guard tells Steve that the jury has reached a verdict. Steve asks O’Brien if it will be a good one, and she says she doesn’t know, but if not they’ll appeal the case and keep fighting. They enter the courtroom, and as the judge orders the jury to enter, a title card rolls over the screen: “This is the true story of Steve Harmon. This is the story of his life and trial.” The jury sits as the title card states that the trial changes Steve’s view of the meaning of life.

The head juror reads his verdict for King and a guard puts handcuffs on him and leads him out of the courtroom: guilty. The juror reads his verdict for Steve. Mrs. Harmon listens with clasped hands before she throws them in the air and closes her eyes. Steve is found not guilty. He spreads his arms to hug O’Brien, but she turns away stiffly to collect her papers. She moves away while Steve still has his arms stretched out, and he turns towards the camera as the image turns to black and white, grainy, and blurs until Steve’s silhouette looks like “some strange beast, a monster.”