Preview

Reaction 12 Angry Men

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1161 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Reaction 12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men: Reaction Paper The film 12 Angry Men gives an inside look at the inner workings of a jury deliberation as twelve random strangers are called to do their civil duty. In a group of diverse people from different backgrounds, Henry Fonda’s character attempts to convince the rest of his fellow jurors not to easily convict a troubled young man just because it would be the simple solution to all of their problems. The jurors are placed in extreme circumstances in which heat and angst drive them to push for a guilty verdict, despite the clear evidence of reasonable doubt presented through the trials facts. In the end, Henry Fonda’s character gets the other jurors to realize that all of the evidence is circumstantial and they present a not guilty verdict to the judge. This film presents a situation in which it becomes clear that previous prejudices can influence the verdict that certain jurors hand down. It is difficult for people to become unbiased, even in cases that require them to be. The backgrounds of the various jurors came to light throughout their deliberations. The one juror that took the most convincing was one that was carrying emotional baggage involving his own tumultuous relationship with his estranged son. Another juror clearly looked down on the defendant’s impoverished background. One man could care less about the situation and just wanted to make a baseball game that night. The jurors had their reasons for voting the ways that they did, but this proves that everyone has bias based on their backgrounds and past life experiences. The only way that someone can form an opinion is because they have a moral compass that guides them as to what they accept to be right and wrong. This is what drives a person’s beliefs, and this is what influences them the most if they are placed on a jury.
The deliberation room also caused an uncomfortable situation for the jurors. Most people dread the day that they will be called upon to serve on a jury. It

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    To elaborate, throughout the film one can clearly see the jurors review the evidence provided in the case and during these reviews some of the jurors are able to use their own experiences to break down the evidence being provided which in turn helps shine some light upon the case. An example of this in the film is, when the jurors were analysis the stab wound and how the boy stab his father by it went down and in, although this may seem logical for the average person, juror number 5 who used his own personal experience to explain why this boy wouldn’t do stab his father like that, to support this in the film he started, “In the vacant lot across the street, too many of them. Switch knives came with the neighborhood where I lived. Funny I didn't think of it before. I guess you try to forget those things. (Flicking the knife open) Anyone who's ever used a switch knife would never have stabbed downward. You don't handle a switch knife that way. You use it underhanded” (Rose 25). This show how one's personal experience can be used in a positively. Due to the fact that the boy on trial has been in knife fights before thus making the stab wound on the father incoherent to the boys past. Another example of personal experience being useful in a case is when the jurors question whether or not the woman who claimed she saw the murder occurred and upon investigation as well as personal…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Jurors within Twelve Angry Men portray individual aspects of a 1950s American culture, all with their own take on the American Jury system. The closed minded, sheep like attitudes of the Jurors illustrates the McCathic mentality of the public which directly reflects the weaknesses within the American Jury system. Though flawed in many aspects one juror displays the key strength in the American justice system when dealing with serious crimes, a unanimous vote must be accomplished through the consideration of reasonable doubt. The question remains throughout if Juror 8 had not been present would the verdict of been the same? Would reasonable doubt of been taken into consideration? And was the American justice system strong enough to uphold their value of innocent until proven guilty.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American justice system is intended to be fair and unbiased. It is founded on the ideal that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty, and ensures the duty of proving a dispute charge rests with the prosecution. However this system has inevitable flaws as every individual’s beliefs, values and morals are affected by their own experiences and factors. While such factors could potentially be the systems weaknesses, they could also be its biggest strength bringing experience and understanding to the courtrooms. It is this contradiction that Reginald Rose aims to explore through his portrayal of jurors in his play “Twelve Angry Men.’ The play presents the possibility that some jurors are driven by prejudice, while others self-interest motives can jeopardize the rights of the defendant through aspirations to speed up the case. However Rose portrays a voice of reason through the ethical juror 8 and the unbigoted juror 11, these jurors help to represent Rose’s view that a fair trial can be held in a jury room full of flawed human characters that symbolize the spectrum of society.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Imagine having to decide a young boy’s fate who is accused of murder in the first degree. This is the case in “Twelve Angry Men”, the prize-winning drama written by Reginald Rose. Some jurors address relevant topics, while others permit their personal “judgments” from thoroughly looking at the case. After hours of deliberation, the jurors reached the decision that the boy is not guilty, due to the fact of reasonable doubt. While few jurors are motivated by their respect and determination for the justice system, Juror 10 is motivated by his personal prejudice.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men Essay

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The movie "12 Angry Men" focuses on a jury's decision on a capital murder case. A 12-man jury is sent to begin decisions on the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old Latino accused of stabbing his father to death, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8 (Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis' bases his vote more so for the sake of discussion after all, the jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. As the movie unfolds, the story quickly becomes a study of the jurors' complex personalities and how they deal with argumentation within groups and critical thinking. This allows Mr. Davis to try and convince the other jury members that the defendant might not be guilty by using cooperative argumentation, claim, evidence, warrant, facts, etc.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Emotion does play a hefty part but facts can overcome any emotions. One of Juror #3’s biggest arguments was the testimony of an old man that lived on the floor below the apartment, where the murder took place. The old man stated in…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The generalisations established by certain Jurors, makes them oblivious to the facts before them. Characters rely on generalised stereotypes to support their prejudices against those of a lower-socio economic status. The 10th Juror says to other Jurors ‘the kids who crawl outta those places are real trash’ and the 4th Juror states ‘Children from slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society.’ Neither the 10th nor the 4th Jurors makes reference to specific details of the defendant’s situation, but…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelve Angry Men

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the play Twelve Angry Men, Reginald Rose shows that prejudices can prevent jurors from seeing the truth. This is evident throughout the play as juror 10 blinded to the facts because prejudice clouds his judgement. However, besides prejudice, Rose also show personal bias, ignorance and a weak characteristic can take away jurors’ abilities to see the truth. For instance, juror 3’s bad relationship with his son in the past and juror7’s ignorant attitude towards the case ultimately affect their perspective about the facts and evidence presented in the case. As a result, these factors not only obscure the truth but also make it hard for the jury to reach a just verdict and threaten the credibility of the jury system.…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Reginald Rose’s play Twelve Angry Men emphasises the importance of seeing things from more than one perspective. Set in a New York jury room in 1957, Rose highlights how important it is that the jury discuss all of the evidence from the case in detail and from multiple angles. Representative of this notion is the 8th Juror who is willing to acknowledge alternative views or interpretations. From the outset of the play he goes against the crowd voting “not guilty”. He then considers all of the details of the evidence including the old man’s testimony and the boy’s inability to remember the movie he saw. In contrast to this character, are Jurors 3 and 10 who are portrayed as the antagonists because of their narrow mindedness and arrogance. They are very rigid in the way they apply their single minded world view and they have a reluctance to recognise the existence of another truth. Rose endorses the 8th Juror’s ability to see things from many perspectives and condemns the 3rd and 10th Juror’s inability to do so. This reveals the significance of looking at the evidence from a variety of perspectives in order to create a just verdict.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Those that have not been exposed to a jury trial might be rather shocked how to process works, not only in criminal matters but also in civil matters as in the case…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the outset, eleven jurors vote in favor of convicting the accused without even discussing a single shred of the evidence presented at trial. Only one brave juror refuses to vote. He openly admits that he does not know whether the accused is guilty or innocent and that he finds it necessary to simply talk about the case. What follows is not only a discussion of the particular facts of the case, but an intense examination of the personal baggage that each jury member brings to the room.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reginald Rose's play, Twelve Angry Men, takes place in the 'jury-room of the New York Court of Law' in 1957, and explores how the persistence and determination of juror 8 eventually influences the other jurors into changing their minds about the verdict. Juror 8, the protagonist of the play, continually questions the veracity of the evidence in order to persuade other jurors to think about reasonable doubt. He goes out of his way to attempt to make other jurors deliberate about the murder. Even though the 8th juror broke the law by submitting the ‘one of a kind’ switchblade knife in the jury room the evidence was put into good hands and became a positive element towards the end of the play. The 8th Jurors intellectuality of twisting facts around is an important component that tests the…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelve Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose in 1957, portrays the intense discussion between 12 jurors in the American jury about a 16 year old boy, who is accused of killing his own father, and charged with “premeditated homicide”, the most serious charge in court. It explores the flaws of human nature, and the impacts of misinterpretations of the case can have on the defendant. However, they play also illustrates when jurors reassess the case and themselves, they will finally follow the judge’s words, which is to “separate the facts from the fancy.” Throughout the play, all jurors reconsiders about the case and themselves, nonetheless not all succeeds. The 4th Juror is the only character which successfully renewed his knowledge about the case and himself. Characters such as the 6th juror develops new understanding of the case but is still a few steps from truly knowing himself. While jurors such as the 10th juror, is forced to alter his vote despite rejecting all of other juror’s arguments.…

    • 880 Words
    • 26 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose is a drama that displays twelve jurors' in-depth reasoning to decide a unanimous decision on the defendant's sentence. There are many assets and liabilities of the group that play a role in their decision making. The jurors are all defined in terms of their personalities, backgrounds, prejudices and emotional tilts. This paper will argue that when pride, jealousy, frustration and prejudice all emerge we see irrational and rational decision making methods.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    12 Angry Men Response

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The setting of 12 Angry Men is a jury deliberation room where the jurors are and required to decide the guilt or innocence of an 18 year old that is accused of committing first-degree murder by stabbing his father with a switchblade knife. Witnesses were presented to give evidence of hearing a quarrel; hearing a threat to kill, and have seeing the boy run away. Another witness swore to having seen the boy stabbing his father from a window across from where the murder occurred. Eleven jurors were convinced the boy was guilty and deserved the death penalty. One raised questions he felt had not been asked or had not been pursued by the defense.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics