Steve Harmon is not a violent person. He is creative rather than destructive, and his instinct when he sees violence is to write a screenplay about it rather than to join in. Nonetheless, he has lived all his life in a violent society and has been unable to avoid the effects of this context, one of which is that many people see him as a violent monster.

In fact, Steve’s sensitivity and aversion to violence are unusual in the society Myers depicts. His environment has always been dangerous, but he is confronted with new levels of violence during the narrative. Steve’s life alternates between the detention center, where he is constantly hearing the disturbing sounds of altercations, fights, and rapes—and where he even sees a man stabbed in the eye—and the courthouse, where they are undertaking a forensic investigation into a violent death. When Steve hears the medical details of Mr. Nesbitt, the drugstore owner, drowning in his own blood, he is horrified, but he appears to be alone in his horror. James King, a hardened criminal, merely looks bored, and the lawyers are all clearly used to such grim details.

In Harlem, violence is part of growing up. Osvaldo Cruz has been allowed a plea bargain because of his youth, but he is already part of the Diablos, a criminal gang whose initiation rituals include cutting a stranger’s face with a knife. The flashbacks in which Steve recalls his childhood often include violent altercations. He thinks that people in prison actually enjoy the violence. Steve’s gentle, reflective character provides a contrast to the violence around him. Indeed, readers are led to reflect that if a boy like Steve cannot avoid being constantly surrounded by violence, presumably no one in his social context can escape it.