FREE ESSAY ON 12 ANGRY MEN

12 ANGRY MEN

Every person may have his own way of defining the term reasonable doubt. In the play
Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose, one juror, number Eight, stands alone against 11
others to convince them that the boy is not guilty. He looks beyond the given testimonies
in order to give the boy a fair trial, though this is more then the others think the boy
deserves. If the jury finds a reasonable doubt, it must declare an innocent verdict. 
A young man stands accused of fatally stabbing his father, and his fate now lies in the
hands of his peers: 12 men from all walks of life, each with his own agenda, fears and
personal demons. At first, based on their conversation, it seems that it will be a
unanimous conviction.The first vote is taken and one man stands out; his confidence to
stand alone is strong. He is the only man voting not guilty. His opinion is reasonable;
he feels that there is no way to prove it was the boy, saying the testimonies given were
shaky. The others do not agree on this, arguing that the boy comes from a slum and one
can't expect more from someone with this upbringing. Eight goes into the case assuming
the boy is innocent, while the others attribute guilt to him. He first brings in a knife
directly like the one used in the killing, to prove that it was not one of a kind. He
discounts the testimony of the old man, saying it was impossible for him to hear the boy
scream over the roar of the passing El-train. He also makes a point of demonstrating that
it was impractical for him to reach his door in 15 seconds, in order to see the boy
running down the stairs. To some this and other logical arguments proved to be a
reasonable doubt, and in consequence they changed their votes to not guilty. By the end,
Juror Eight has everyone convinced, besides Juror Three, who holds true to his ground.
Eight was the juror responsible for giving the boy a chance. If he would have given into
the others in the beginning, the boy would have been falsely convicted of murder.
Juror Three is the last juror to change his vote; nothing anyone says can convince him
that there is a reasonable doubt in the case. This man was the most stubborn of all. He
refused to pay attention to things that were being stated in order save the defendant
from death. It was as if the word guilty seemed to dwell in his mind and was unable to be
altered. He becomes outraged that the others are changing their votes and letting this
kid slip through their fingers. He says that the whole case is based on the testimony of
the woman across the el-tracks. The jurors play out the murder to themselves, and talk
about the lady across the street. They notice several things about her. The lady claimed
that she saw the murder through the last two cars on the train that was passing. A juror
also noticed that she had indents in her nose which means she wore glasses. She never
mentioned the glasses in the trial. It was finally agreed with eleven jurors that there
was reasonable doubt that the lady could not have successfully seen the murder without
her glasses, and through a train. Everybody is angered and the votes gradually change to
not guilty, some come from people that honestly believe it and others who just want to
leave and get it over with. Juror Three, who deadlocked the jury, was full of anger. He
finally gave his plea of not-guilty when, angered, he shouts out that he is entitled to
his opinion and shall have it. A couple minutes later he caves in, most likely due to the
anger he has combined with frustration. He had gone into the case thinking the boy is
guilty, before any evidence was even resgistered into his head. The Juror acted as if no
ones opinion counted but his, and talked above everyone else. Juror Three gave into the
pressure of the jury, realizing that he shouldn't have voted guilty to punish the boy for
the memories he had of his son. He brought his personal life into play, following his
heart instead of his head.
There are some people in life who like to make things more difficult for others, the way
Juror Three did. He was stubborn and did not wish to see anyone else's point of view. One
will always have a Juror Three in his life. It is up to a person to take a stand like
Juror Eight, and fight for what he believes in even if it is against the majority.