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12 Angry Men Jury Duty Essay

794 Words4 Pages

Jury duty is often seen as an option people are seeking to avoid at times. However, jury duty should not be seen as a negative, but rather jury duty should be seen as a chance for a civilian to do their part in contributing to justice. Twelve Angry Men is mainly about twelve men coming together to discuss and argue whether a young man should be put on the death penalty, the play continuously makes it a point to make the jurors have a hard time deciding a final verdict. Jurors argued their side of what occurred with the defendant and the victim, some would change their answers or few would make a point of trying to convince the other jurors why the defendant is guilty. As the act progresses, the jurors finally realize one important detail of …show more content…

In particular, jurors engage in rhetoric to gain other jurors’ attention. As an example, “This boy- let's say he's a product of a filthy neighborhood and a broken home. We can't help that. We're not here to go into the reasons why slums are breeding grounds for criminals; they are. I know it. So do you. The children who come out of slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society.” (Sergel 22). Not to mention most of the jurors take one piece of information about the defendant to piece out why the boy is guilty, they argue that because he is from a poor background that he is automatically a menace. For this reason, jurors like this have control over how they can change others' …show more content…

Jurors do this by challenging prejudices, this is how they articulate what to say next. Specifically, “I don't mind telling you this, mister. We don't owe the kid a thing. He got a fair trial, didn't he? Do you know what that trial costs? He's lucky he got it. Look, we're all grown-ups here. You're not going to tell us that we're supposed to believe him, knowing what he is. I've lived among 'em all my life. You can't believe a word they say. You know that.” (Sergel 17). In the same way, this juror heavily believes his interpretation of what the kid is like, a criminal, he stereotypes the boy due to his own experiences. As a juror, people are allowed to point out what you may believe are some factors that need to be considered, which is why this can be a reason to consider jury

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755 Words | 4 Pages

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915 Words | 4 Pages

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

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1232 Words | 5 Pages

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814 Words | 4 Pages

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