Monsters: A Fictional Narrative

“I can kill a man, dismember his body, and be home in time for Letterman. But knowing what to say when my girlfriend's feeling insecure... I'm totally lost”-Dexter Morgan (Hall, 2007). Dexter Morgan is a fictional serial killer from Showtime’s series “Dexter”, but the writers and actors have portrayed a real life serial killer. Manuel Prado is the real Dexter Morgan. Prado was a Miami cop who started with smaller crime and worked his way up to becoming a serial killer. ”Prosecutor David Waksman told the Miami Herald: "He was very cold. He was doing robberies and went home and slept like a baby. He was proud of what he did."” (International, 2012) Real life serial killers do not have any empathy. They kill their victims and then return to

Monsters and the Moral Imagination by Stephen T. Asma is an exploration into why, as of recent, society has become so fascinated with monsters. Asma considers a vast amount of reasons why this surge in interest could have come along, such as; “social anxiety in the post-9/11 decade, or the conflict in Iraq” (Asma). Another possibility is even the fall of the economy that occured around December 2007.

What defines a monster? Is it their grotesque, unnatural appearance that separates them from the rest of mankind, or is it their lack of remorse and compassion that makes them different? The word monster conjures up figures from gothic horror of exotic peoples with horrifyingly exaggerated features, and the kinds of impossible delusive beasts inhabiting the pages of medieval bestiaries. Well at first I thought exactly that. When I used to hear the word “monster”, my mind immediately pictured the petrifying beast that took residence under my bed for a substantial portion of my childhood. It had demonic beating red eyes, razor sharp teeth that glistened with fresh blood and amphibian like scales covering every inch of its enormous body. However, as I got older, I started to realize that there was no such thing as monsters and that it was all just a figment of my imagination. Accordingly, the fear of the monster under my bed slowly dissipated. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until after reading a quote by my favorite author, Steven King, that I was finally able to fully comprehend what the true definition of the word “monster” really was. “Monsters are real, ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win”. It had taken me awhile to truly grasp what King had meant, but then it clicked. Everyone has a monster inside them, dormant or not. That monster is the voice we hear in the back of our heads, urging us to cheat or to steal, and in some instances, worse. That monster

The novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers is the book I chose to read and do my essay on. The genre Walter chose for the book Monster is realistic fiction. The novel was published in 1999 which is a year after I was borning. The reason why I chose this Novel is because a teacher recommended the book to me a couple year ago but, I never got a chance to read it. I always assumed the book was good because it won three awards. The first award the book won was the National Book Award for young people’s literature. The second award the book won was the Michael L. Printz Awards. The third award the book won was called the Coretta Scott King Award Honor all in which the book won in the same year 2000. The book is told from the perspective of a young african american teenager named steve harmon. Steve lives in harlem where the story takes place. One night steve chose to hang with a bad group of friends and was in a robbery. During the robbery one of Steve’s friend kills the cashier. Now Steve is in jail and going back and forth to court hoping to be proven not guilty of felony murder. Steve and I lives are alike in many different ways although we come from different backgrounds.

P.1. In “Monsters and the Moral Imagination” Stephen Asman believes monsters are lurking everywhere. But some fear of monsters are long gone past our times, but believes that monsters can send us fear instead of physical harm, and why do we call monsters, monsters if they're not real. But does believe that monsters have been on the rise over time. The rise of monsters could be tragedies that have happened in real life like 9/11 and believes that stress and trauma could be a huge role in the growth of monsters.

Every human being on Earth has a different perception on justice, innocence and guilt. In the book Monster, the author Walter Dean Myers explores on this topic in an unusual way. The protagonist, Steve Harmon, writes about his experience on trial and in jail. Steve tells it through a screenplay for a movie, where he is the main character, but the thing that is fascinating about this idea is the way Steve presents his innocence. The reader is able to scrutinize his thoughts and feelings from his journal entries to have a better grasp of what happened.

Judgment is a fundamental function of the human brain. On a daily basis one judges their peers for their actions, whether it be good or bad. In the novel, Monster by Walter Dean Myers, a young boy named Steve Harmon is put on trial for felony murder; he shares his experiences of what is going on throughout the case and how he is being perceived by his peers. The jury has to make a decision, marking Harmon guilty or not guilty. The jury must make a judgment about him, about who he is. Evidently, it is revealed that judgment is determined by one’s traits, actions, and appearance.

Think about a time, where wild accusations occurred due to a power outage. This is exactly what happened during “Rod Serlings” teleplay. In the 1960s version, “The Monsters on maple street” (2003 Movie). During the unexpected power outages, neighbors accuse neighbors of aliens from a different planet. On the other hand, in the 2003 movie, terrorists were suspected of attacking a neighborhood. Even though both sections are difficult, scared people with fear can cause them to turn against each other.

Why is gang affiliation such an alluring, appealing lifestyle? Admittedly, the appeal is conceivable. Watching Boyz in the Hood or listening to hip-hip may cause some to think, “I can live that life,” but thought does not turn into action while others never formulate such a thought. This raises the question, why does Monster Kody Scott, consider devout gang membership as a sole objective despite constant contingencies of incarceration and demise? To answer this question, this paper will take the social disorganization position in its review of Monster: An Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member. In addition, this paper will use examples to show that social disorganization explains the behavior portrayed the book.

In the 2014 article The Devil in Disguise: Modern Monsters and their Metaphors, published by The Geek Anthropologist website, author Emma Louis Backe talks about the “monsters” surrounding pop culture and their hidden significance and meaning. Author Emma Backe an Anthropology and English major explains that explains that with each “monster” we see an underlying threat to human life as we know it. She states that pop culture has taken these images and made them a reincarnation of our fears. That these creatures are symbolic of incurable disease, indestructible beings, the undead, loss of humanity and extinction. Emma claims that we have moved from dismissing and ignoring these fears to confronting them in a more literal and real way. In the

“Fear and euphoria are dominant forces, and fear is many multiples the size of euphoria” - Alan Greenspan. New York author, Alan Greenspan, here is explaining that the threat fear presents is really no different than the state of intensity caused by euphoria. In Andrew J. Hoffman’s anthology, Monsters, there is substantial evidence that both fear and euphoria are inflicted upon men, by female monsters. The two threats men typically face against women are temptation and emasculation. Thus, in mythology and folklore, female monsters exemplify the impulse of desire (sexually) for men, and male weakness. These are creature that are lusted after and yet, still feared because of their power. Men find female monsters both fearsome and euphoric and will always threaten their dominance and control.

In the article “Monsters and the Moral Imagination,” Stephen Asma, a professor of Philosophy and Distinguished Scholar at Columbia College Chicago, argues that the existence of monsters have a purpose in our lives. It is not only to reveal our deepest fears, but to question our moral instincts. Being attacked by fictional monsters seems impractical, however, chaos and disasters do happen and exist in the real world. The creation of monsters is due to our reaction of our fears and the inability to control the world we live in.

The lyrics to a song called The Monster by Eminem are different than the lyrics to any other rap that I have heard. This song is about the writers’ fame, and how he sometimes struggles and becomes angry at it. The speaker of The Monster is “I”, which we know is the author, Eminem. This means that the point of view of this poem is first person.

Monsters run free in epic poems of centuries far past; horrific, villainous creatures of fantasy who illustrate all that is bad in the world and stand for the tribulations the epic hero much overcome. The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is no different. Some are born of, and in turn give birth to legends, such as the fire-breathing dragon, while others are tied to the bible. In studies, Beowulf's monsters are explained and will continue to be analyzed as symbolic of countless different ideas. In relation to each other and the epic's hero, the monsters of Beowulf represent the ever-present flaws of humanity and the monstrous feelings or behaviors that over take the mind in a moment of weakness, leading to eventual downfall.

How is the term “monster” defined? Are monsters dark creatures, with the ability to call upon hell and all its attributes? Do they have mangy fur and eyes the vibrant color of blood? In reality, monsters are not furry beast that live under the bed. Monsters are born into this world just as you and I, as human children.Children who utilize false innocents to cloak their wicked tendencies. Monsters are no longer simply being that haunt the nightmares of children, no longer can they be vanquished by the flip of a light switch. Monsters are real, they are individuals that have traveled so deep into the darkness of their own soul that they have lost their way out. As human beings we are gifted with free will, therefore we have the ability to chose what side ,light or dark, prevails in our hearts. With fierce unwavering determination, we even possess the power to fight away the darkness with in the hearts of others.