Character Differences In 12 Angry Men

The Film 12 Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose, is a film written about the American jury system. In the film, as in any part in life, emotions are a tricky thing; This is especially true for the 3rd, 7th, and 8th jurors. One of the main themes in the film questions that of the emotions of the jurors. That question is: Is it possible to keep personal prejudice and emotions out of a trial? Is this even a good or bad thing? The film is all about this issue, and the question remains until the end of the play. While two characters represented in figure 1 are dynamic characters, one is static. First, Juror 3 is the complete opposite of a “static character”. This is shown when Juror 3 says, “I never saw a guiltier man in my entire life. You sat

While both end up voting the same way, their approaches throughout the majority of the film are vastly different. To start, the third juror is much more factual, stating in the film, “Okay let’s get the facts… and he ran to the door of his apartment and the boy!”(12 Angry Men) This immediately shows the viewer that Juror 3 will base the majority of his argument in fact. In contrast, Juror 8 feels that communicating with the other jurors and piecing together their views is a better way to solve the case. This is shown when Juror 8 says, “There were eleven votes guilty. It’s not so easy for me to send a boy off to die without talking about it first.”(12 Angry Men) In the first difference, Juror 7 falls with Juror 3, believing much more of the facts than discussion. The second difference with the approach of the two jurors is in their persuasions techniques. As for Juror 3, he prefers loud, yelling, and calling people out and telling them they are wrong. This is why Juror 3 is represented with a lightning bolt. On the outside, he is obviously quick striking, hot, and loud. He can obviously be seen in the film yelling and attacking every character. On the other hand, Juror 8 is more tranquil, and cool, and will let anyone speak. He is often seen asking other jurors to elaborate on their opinion, not just tell them they are wrong. The cool blue, soft circle shows his willingness to listen, and not have a

To begin, Juror 8 has the largest shape, as he is the most important, but there is more into it than that. Without 8, the film would have never happened, as the boy would have been voted guilty right away. The third juror is displayed by the second biggest shape in figure 1.; while he has the “largest” personality of all the characters, his shape is the only second biggest because he failed to convince anyone to vote his way. This is displayed every time the jurors cast a vote and more people vote on the not guilty side. Thirdly, juror 7 has the smallest shape as he is basically only a supporting character. With this being said, however, his placement in figure 1 is important. Juror 7 serves as a kind of a wedge in the jury room. While at times it was rude, his joking manner may have prevented an all out screaming match. His placement in the figure almost turns it into a Venn diagram with one side (guilty) on the left and another (not guilty) on the right. Although 3 does change his mind in the end, he is the last to change so he is the leader for the guilty side. In the end, the reader can look at figure 1. and take away the fact that juror 8 is the main character, and that jurors 3 and 8 causes the main conflict in the