‘”Twelve Angry Men” illustrates the dangers of a justice system that relies on twelve individuals reaching a life-or-death decision.’ Discuss
‘”Twelve Angry Men” illustrates the dangers of a justice system that relies on twelve individuals reaching a life-or-death decision.’ Discuss 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.
It is inevitable that the jurors own personal experiences affect their opinion on the innocence of the defendant. It is these personal experiences, which threaten the defendants right to ‘a fair trial’ at the danger of a juror’s personal bias ‘obscur[ing] the truth.’ Juror 3 is depicted as the juror with the most prejudice throughout the play, consistent with the vote of ‘guilty’ as he relates the defendant to his own son who he describes as a ‘rotten kid.’ This illustrates the danger that personal bias has on the justice system, as the defendant is being adjudicated by juror 3 on his age and gender rather than the merits of the case. Prejudice is also displayed by juror 10 who see’s the accused as ‘trash’ due to his ‘slums’ background, this
It is inevitable that the jurors own personal experiences affect their opinion on the innocence of the defendant. It is these personal experiences, which threaten the defendants right to ‘a fair trial’ at the danger of a juror’s personal bias ‘obscur[ing] the truth.’ Juror 3 is depicted as the juror with the most prejudice throughout the play, consistent with the vote of ‘guilty’ as he relates the defendant to his own son who he describes as a ‘rotten kid.’ This illustrates the danger that personal bias has on the justice system, as the defendant is being adjudicated by juror 3 on his age and gender rather than the merits of the case. Prejudice is also displayed by juror 10 who see’s the accused as ‘trash’ due to his ‘slums’ background, this