12 Angry Men Courage Essay

“It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone” - Indian lawyer, non violent, protest activist and world leader Mahatma Gandhi. It’s easy to do what everyone else is doing and fit in. But it takes a lot more courage to stand out and do what you think is right. In Reginald Rose’s play, 12 Angry Men, twelve jurors are locked into a small, hot room. They have to decide whether a young man is guilty of stabbing his father to death, or not. When votes are taken initially, it is eleven for guilty and one for non-guilty. Juror eight is the first one to speak up for the boy and say he’s not guilty. Throughout the rest of the play, Juror eight does his best to convince the other jurors that the young man is innocent by uncovering

When the vote was first taken, Juror eight was the only person to vote not guilty. The other jurors got aggravated at how stupid they thought his decision was, they were all shocked at how obvious they thought it was that the young man killed his father. For example, right after they find out Juror eight voted not-guilty, Juror four exclaims “Look! What is there about the case that makes you think the boy is innocent?”(14). Juror four is very perplexed with Juror eight's decision, as is everyone else. They all try to convince Juror eight that his decision is incorrect, they think that he is making a clear mistake since the evidence they have leads them to easily believe that the boy is guilty. Juror eight does not care, he is going to stand up for the young man and what he believes happened at the night of the crime scene. For example, Juror eight announces, “There were 11 votes for guilty-it’s not so easy for me to raise my hand without talking about it first” (15). It takes a lot of courage and confidence to stand your ground in front of eleven people that are constantly trying to prove you wrong. Since everyone voted guilty, it is not easy for Juror eight to speak up about his vote. Although, he did defend his opinion with conviction and courage. Overall, Juror eight concluded the

Juror three has a strong and forceful tone while trying to convince the other jurors that voting guilty is the right option. For example, Juror three shouts, “ Tell him! You come in here with your heart bleeding all over the floor about slum kids and injustice and you make up these wild stories, and you’ve got some soft-hearted old ladies listening to you. Well, I’m not. I’m getting real sick of you. What’s the matter with you people? This kid is guilty! He’s got to burn! We’re letting him slip through our fingers.” (42). He has a very loud and angry way of explaining his thoughts. The other jurors are not going to listen to Juror three because he is yelling and screaming. Instead, using Juror eight’s method, being calm and collected while analyzing and interpreting the case will draw more people to agree and believe him. For example, Juror eight explains, “But supposing the old man really did hear the boy say ‘I’m going to kill you.’ This phrase-how many times has each of you used it? Probably hundreds… We say it every day. This doesn’t mean that we’re really going to kill someone.” (35). He has a reasonable way of indicating his thoughts, he stays serene and nice while talking to the jurors. They are more likely to side with Juror eight because he acts nicer and speaks to them with a kinder tone. Overall, Juror eight has a more effective way of getting the Jurors to vote