12 Angry Men
Twelve Angry Men highlights the importance of seeing things from more than one perspective. Discuss.
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.
From the outset of the play, the 8th Juror exemplifies seeing things from more than one perspective by voting “not guilty” against the crowd. Many of the jury members in the case believe that the trial is “obvious” and does not need much discussion. However the 8th Juror believes in civic responsibility and the defendant’s right to a fair trial. He doesn’t necessarily believe that the defendant is “innocent”, however he understands the seriousness of the case and finds it difficult “to send a boy off to die without talking about it first.” Instead, the 8th Juror puts himself in position of the accused and imagines that he is the one on trial. This is why he decides to vote against the crowd and vote “not guilty”. The 8th Juror
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.
From the outset of the play, the 8th Juror exemplifies seeing things from more than one perspective by voting “not guilty” against the crowd. Many of the jury members in the case believe that the trial is “obvious” and does not need much discussion. However the 8th Juror believes in civic responsibility and the defendant’s right to a fair trial. He doesn’t necessarily believe that the defendant is “innocent”, however he understands the seriousness of the case and finds it difficult “to send a boy off to die without talking about it first.” Instead, the 8th Juror puts himself in position of the accused and imagines that he is the one on trial. This is why he decides to vote against the crowd and vote “not guilty”. The 8th Juror