Authority In Twelve Angry Men, By Harper Lee

Authority is something that many people do not take seriously. Whether it may be a sibling, parent, teacher, or any sort of hierarchy, nobody wants to feel as if there is somebody who has a higher status or who has control over them, especially when it interferes with their right to express their views and opinions. The play, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, tells the story of twelve jurors who are trapped in a jury room due to the fact that they are unable to come to a unanimous verdict on a very important and questionable court case. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is told from the point of view of a young girl, Scout, who learns about herself and the others around her from the situations happening in her life. Although both

In Twelve Angry Men, Jurors Ten, and Seven, who both have varying but very strong personality traits, hold back Juror Eight, the outcast in the group of men, from expressing his views opinions. Similarly, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s Aunt Alexandra, her neighbor Mrs. Dubose, and her teacher Miss Gates, are all clear authority figures throughout the book who prevent Scout from expressing herself, her views, and her opinions throughout the book. In the very beginning of Twelve Angry Men, after Juror Eight explained his reasoning for voting not guilty. Juror Ten says, “I don’t mind telling you this, mister. We don’t owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn’t he? You know what that trial cost? He’s lucky he got it. Look, we’re all grownups here. You’re not going to tell us 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” (Rose 6). “They”, referring to the type of person the victim is, which is something the reader never actually knows, ironically helps convey

In Scout’s case, Mrs. Dubose, while in Juror Eight’s case, Juror Seven. During To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose, an elderly, all knowing, but very sick and rotten woman, makes a rude comment to Scout as she passes her house one day when she yells, “what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways—a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café—hah!” (135). Mrs. Dubose does not understand and accept the way Scout chooses to present herself because of her extremely old fashioned and closed minded views. Due to this, she thinks that the way Scout chooses to