‘Twelve Angry Men Shows That One Man Can Make a Difference.’ Do You Agree? Essay Example
‘Twelve Angry Men shows that one man can make a difference.’ Do you agree?
Rose’s dramatic teleplay ‘Twelve Angry Men’ was written in a time of social upheaval in which the United States witnessed the calamitous misuses of the justice system during the McCarthy era. The play centres around twelve men who are given the task of deciding the fate of a sixteen year old boy, charged with his father’s murder. Set in the 1950s, in a New York Courtroom, Rose reveals that compassion and understanding are essential in order to serve justice. The playwright expresses this view through the protagonist Juror 8 as he reveals how we should value a system of democracy. Yet, through the 8th jurors’ sense of compassion and integrity, he is able to appeal to the other jurors’ sense of humanity in order to allow them to give the boy a chance. Through the varying experiences and perceptions of the twelve jurors, they are able deliberate and scrutinise the evidence in a careful manner. Hence, Rose enforces the importance of the twelve jurors in attaining a sense of fairness as it provides the only means for justice.(well done)
In the initial stages of the play, the majority of the jurors are ignorant and their desire for expedience potentially hinders the course of justice. Despite the seriousness of the tone of the judge’s monologue, when he reminds the jurors to deliberate “honestly and thoughtfully” it appears that a fair trial will not be possible as the jurors’ indifferent attitudes become evident to the audience. This is shown through the majority of jurors voting “guilty” as they perceive the accused as a “dangerous killer, you could see it”. This demonstrates the subjectivity of their judgements as they have not yet deliberated on the evidence. The light hearted attitudes of the jurors become evident to the audience when the 7th Juror offers some “gum” to the 8th Juror and when the 3rd and 12th Jurors “play tic tac toe on the class pad”. The juxtaposition between
Rose’s dramatic teleplay ‘Twelve Angry Men’ was written in a time of social upheaval in which the United States witnessed the calamitous misuses of the justice system during the McCarthy era. The play centres around twelve men who are given the task of deciding the fate of a sixteen year old boy, charged with his father’s murder. Set in the 1950s, in a New York Courtroom, Rose reveals that compassion and understanding are essential in order to serve justice. The playwright expresses this view through the protagonist Juror 8 as he reveals how we should value a system of democracy. Yet, through the 8th jurors’ sense of compassion and integrity, he is able to appeal to the other jurors’ sense of humanity in order to allow them to give the boy a chance. Through the varying experiences and perceptions of the twelve jurors, they are able deliberate and scrutinise the evidence in a careful manner. Hence, Rose enforces the importance of the twelve jurors in attaining a sense of fairness as it provides the only means for justice.(well done)
In the initial stages of the play, the majority of the jurors are ignorant and their desire for expedience potentially hinders the course of justice. Despite the seriousness of the tone of the judge’s monologue, when he reminds the jurors to deliberate “honestly and thoughtfully” it appears that a fair trial will not be possible as the jurors’ indifferent attitudes become evident to the audience. This is shown through the majority of jurors voting “guilty” as they perceive the accused as a “dangerous killer, you could see it”. This demonstrates the subjectivity of their judgements as they have not yet deliberated on the evidence. The light hearted attitudes of the jurors become evident to the audience when the 7th Juror offers some “gum” to the 8th Juror and when the 3rd and 12th Jurors “play tic tac toe on the class pad”. The juxtaposition between