Twelve Angry Men Essay
Topic: ‘The 8th Juror’s heroism lies in the individual courage and integrity he displays.’
Reginald Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men’ is a play which displays the twelve individual jurors’ characteristics through the deliberation of a first degree murder case. Out of the twelve jurors, the 8th Juror shows an outstanding heroism exists in his individual bravery and truthfulness. At the start, the 8th Juror stands alone with his opposing view of the case to the other eleven jurors. Furthermore, he is depicted as a juror who definitely understands the jury system and defends it from the jurors who do not know it fully. At the end, he eventually successes to persuade the eleven other jurors and achieves a unanimous verdict, showing his trustworthiness. Therefore, the 8th Juror is considered as a ‘hero’ due to his boldness presented by the independent actions he takes in the play.
Initially, the 8th Juror is independent from the other jurors for having a different verdict with them. In the preliminary vote, the 8th Juror votes for a “not guilty” verdict facing eleven votes for a “guilty” verdict because he has compassion towards the defendant’s young age. It shows that he is not afraid to express his opinion to the others even when he is all by himself. The 9th Juror states that the 8th Juror has been “standing alone against the ridicule of others” and that he wants to support the 8th Juror. This statement proves that the 8th Juror is courageous enough to fight back to the taunting of the others solely and also puts him further into becoming a ‘hero’ to the defendant. Therefore, we can see that his heroism is situated in the individual courage he displays.
Moreover, the 8th Juror has a clear understanding of the jury system and appears as a defender of the system which falters by the other jurors. The jury system is only successful when all individuals exclude their personal prejudice and bias in the deliberations. But most of jurors have coloured views of the case,
Reginald Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men’ is a play which displays the twelve individual jurors’ characteristics through the deliberation of a first degree murder case. Out of the twelve jurors, the 8th Juror shows an outstanding heroism exists in his individual bravery and truthfulness. At the start, the 8th Juror stands alone with his opposing view of the case to the other eleven jurors. Furthermore, he is depicted as a juror who definitely understands the jury system and defends it from the jurors who do not know it fully. At the end, he eventually successes to persuade the eleven other jurors and achieves a unanimous verdict, showing his trustworthiness. Therefore, the 8th Juror is considered as a ‘hero’ due to his boldness presented by the independent actions he takes in the play.
Initially, the 8th Juror is independent from the other jurors for having a different verdict with them. In the preliminary vote, the 8th Juror votes for a “not guilty” verdict facing eleven votes for a “guilty” verdict because he has compassion towards the defendant’s young age. It shows that he is not afraid to express his opinion to the others even when he is all by himself. The 9th Juror states that the 8th Juror has been “standing alone against the ridicule of others” and that he wants to support the 8th Juror. This statement proves that the 8th Juror is courageous enough to fight back to the taunting of the others solely and also puts him further into becoming a ‘hero’ to the defendant. Therefore, we can see that his heroism is situated in the individual courage he displays.
Moreover, the 8th Juror has a clear understanding of the jury system and appears as a defender of the system which falters by the other jurors. The jury system is only successful when all individuals exclude their personal prejudice and bias in the deliberations. But most of jurors have coloured views of the case,