The jury is sent to a hot, crowded room to deliberate. Before any formal discussion, they cast a vote. Eleven of the jurors vote “guilty.” Only one juror votes “not guilty.” That juror, who is known in the script as Juror #8 is the protagonist of the play. As the tempers flare and the arguments begin, the audience learns about each member of the jury. And slowly but surely, Juror #8 guides the others toward a verdict of “Not Guilty.”…
What caught my attention to this play was that the two authors were passionate about this theme for the play and obviously researched the history of the actual trial, in order to portray it as realistically as possible. This hard work and attention to detail created a very informative and memorable play. (Although some…
Truth can be represented in differing ways according to the values and attitudes of the persona whose representation of truth is being expressed. Throughout Geoffrey Robertson’s The Justice Game the responder is convinced to accept the composer’s representation of truth through the use of composing techniques such as the short story structure, Robertson’s social status, various language techniques, symbolism and the use of examples and quotations to back up Robertson’s statements. The perspective on truth held by the other participants in each trial is however also included. The term ‘truth’ refers to accurately placing information in accordance with fact or reality. The ‘truth’ in The Justice Game is essentially about revealing to its readers “What is kept from the public, and what the public wish to be kept from”. Each case was chosen by Robertson to provide different representations of the ‘truth’ based on different values and attitudes.…
1. Each Act takes happens in the same place. The entire play takes place in the jury room of a New York City court of law in 1957 during a very hot summer afternoon. It is a large, dull, minimalistic room with three windows in the brick wall which the skyline of New York City can be seen. There is also a wash room and lavatory off the jury room. There is a large, scarred table in the centre with twelve chairs around it. There are pencils pads and an ashtray on the table. There is also a water cooler in the room with plastic cups. The dullness of the room may signify and provide a mood for the act and is evident in the interactions between the jurors. The Twelve jurors are all seemingly awkward and uneasy towards each other once they enter the room.…
When there is suppression and exploitation of voices, standing up to a group can prove to be difficult to the unrecognised heroes. Both Terry and 8th Juror, the protagonists in the texts experience self-doubt in their journey to heroism through daring actions that eventually getting them to success. Whilst the reader can identify the initial courage in 8th Juror voting ‘not guilty,’ against the opposing jurors and the majority bias, the reader can note through the stage directions his anxiousness leading up to revealing his vote “The 8th Juror turns, startled.” He’s logical sense came forward unlike the biased and lazy judgement of the other jurors. “There were eleven votes for “guilty.” It’s not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy…
After watching Peter Donnelly: How juries are fooled by statistics (Donnelly, 2005), I learned that the use of statistics is very important to the medical field. In the case of Sally Clark, the mother who was convicted of murdering her children, statistics proved that she was innocent.…
Throughout his play, Rose critiques the oppressive and discriminative environment of McCarthyist America, exploring the way some jurors use the power of their personality to attempt to sway others to share their point of view. Indeed, the 8th juror is aware of the effects and dangers of peer pressure and this is illustrated through his request to have the second (and possibly the most important vote) taken as an anonymous ballot (p.18) At various moments in the play, the 10th, 3rd and 7th jurors do try to sway the vote to ‘guilty’ through the use of intimidation rather than argument. What can be interpreted is another clear message conveyed by Rose through his play is that this type of intimidation will ultimately be unsuccessful. Logic and reason do win out over endemic prejudice, but what the play also illustrates is that for this to occur, there must be voices who are prepared to hold true to their convictions. This is clearly portrayed through the contrast between the “[interrupting]” and “[shouting]” of jurors 10 and 3 and the “[calm]” and reflective “[pauses]” of juror…
The Architect’s statement is an appeal to emotions because he was attempting to use emotion, sympathy, that the boy is barely an adult. This is a fact in the trial, but nothing to assume that he is innocent. He could have avoided committing this fallacy by saying he is eighteen, and follow up with facts about the crime that prove the boy’s innocence.…
Throughout the story the people hear the story of murder through his words, and through his version of reality. People lie for thousands of reasons, occasionaly we don’t always know why they lie or know why they do what they do. The story reveals that paranoia, and madness can make someone look dishonest, and untrustworthy. The result of this is a narrator that we don’t even know if he committed a crime. Most times when people are innocent their stories are broad, and when their guilty their stories become more complex. This shows that guilt makes people do things they typically wouldn’t…
The Crucible has such a title, meaning severe trial, because puritans believe that life is a test. They lived a very strict style and understood that if you do anything wrong in life, god would harshly punish you for it. This puts a lot of stress on the characters to live up to the expectations of living perfectly and faithful.…
Set in the sweltering summer of 1954, Reginald Rose's socially insightful play "Twelve Angry Men", illustrates the dangers of a justice system that relies on twelve individuals to reach a "life or death" decision with collective states of minds hindered by "personal prejudice". At the conception of the play, rose explores the idea that doubt is a harder state of mind than certainty by portraying doubt, in the guilt of the boy, as a minority view within the courtroom. However, as the play progresses a seed of doubt is planted and the importance of self prejudice hindering the verdict is removed, making it harder for the jurors to hold their certainty in their guilty verdict.…
In the short story “Truth” written by W.P Kinsella, the story has started by documenting Silas and Frank’s experience in managing the Hobbema Wagonburners’ hockey team. The audiences learn the “truth” about who is really to blame for starting the riot in Saint Edouard’s Hockey Arena when Silas and Frank let Mad Etta to be the goalie for their team and beat the Saint Edouard’s team. This story is created with humour though the author mixes prose and dialect to get the readers into the world of misunderstood Aboriginal people. Also, Kinsella demonstrates absurd view of the world and concerns regarding culture conflicts between Aboriginal and White people in North America. Kinsella achieves this effect through his use of narrative point of view, plot, conflicts, settings, themes, and characters throughout the story.…
It’s a scary but a true reality that prejudice has the power to overshadow the facts and evidence, which can prevent jurors from seeing the truth. From the start of the play, juror 4 votes the defendant guilty of murder, not based on facts but entirely based on prejudice and stereotyping the defendant. The fact that the defendant “was born in a slum” (p.g 12) and the generalisation from the outside world: “Children from slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society.” (p.g 12) convince juror 4 that the defendant must be guilty. Because of prejudice, he cannot see the details like the defendant’s birthplace and circumstances may potentially be used to prove that he does not have a strong motive. As pointed out by the 8th Juror, the defendant was raised in a slum and had “been hit so many times” (p.g 11) that a few slaps from his father cannot make the defendant commit patricide. Therefore, the defendant does not have a strong motive. When we compare juror 8 and juror4’s reasoning, we can see that prejudice and stereotyping can veil the truth of the case and hide it from jurors and consequently prevent them from seeing the truth. However, juror 4 is only prejudiced at the start of…
This conflict between truth and appearance is illuminated in Act 3 Scene 2 via the 'play within the play'. The 'acting on all levels' in this scene causes the play to become highly reflexive and meta-theatrical, audiences are alerted to its constructed nature as "twere a mirror up to nature" yet also cautioning audiences over the "masks" that are constructed by people to disguise truth. The scene's reflexive and modernist techniques allow us to contemplate upon the nature of 'appearances' demonstrating the iconic relevancy of the…
High profile cases being spread through the media attracting massive attention. Cases such as the Sean Bell shooting, Amadou Diallo, and these trials were spread all throughout television which sometimes doesn’t fall in the favor of the defendant. There are two types of trials a bench trial also known as a court trail and a jury trial. NYS procedural law 260.10, states that every criminal depending on the crime must be trialed with 12 randomly selected jurors. The bench trial is another term for a judge trial without the jurors. The bench trial is conducted in this fashion; both parties present their evidence or make their opening statement. After the plaintiff finishes presenting his evidence, the defendant presents…