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what is karyl circular

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Monster

   

by Walter Dean Myers

Characters 

The Detectives

SummarySHMOOP PREMIUM

TOPICS 

Character Roles (Protagonist, Antagonist...)

Character Clues

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THE DETECTIVES

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Character Analysis

Detective Karyl and Detective Arthur Williams

Karyl and Williams are the cynic and the newbie. Williams is younger than his partner, and probably a junior on the pay scale to boot, so his opinions don't hold much weight. Which stinks for Steve.

Williams doesn't even want Steve on trial. When Karyl questions our boy about shooting Nesbitt, Williams calls him on it: "What are we playing with this guy for? We don't need him. We got the case locked" (6.50). Doesn't matter to Karyl, though—he figures they might as well throw Steve to the wolves.

So what's the real issue? Williams and Karyl know Steve didn't pull the trigger, or that's their hunch at least, so why drag him in? Perhaps it's because he's young and black. Williams is black too—which may be why he pulls for Steve—and Karyl is White—which might be why he's so flippant about tossing the poor kid to the jury. Karyl claims they'll push for the death penalty, and Williams counters, "This guy's only 16. They won't kill him" (6.54). Karyl jokes back, "What are you, a pessimist? Hope for the best" (6.55). Wait a second… so killing young black boys is the best? No, no, no, no, no…

Is this investigation about justice or about race? Does Karyl hope to make a Tom Robinson out of Steve? Out of King? The defense attorneys hammer Karyl about his handling of the case. Briggs questions, "Isn't it true that what you did in this case was to skip the investigation and run to your stoolies?" (6.63). It sure is easier to grab some jailbirds and offer them a deal for pointing the finger than it is to buckle down and follow the trail.

It seems quite likely that Karyl and Williams are here not only to move the plot along, but also to show the problematic role that race plays in the U.S. justice system.