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Injustice In Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men

814 Words4 Pages

“When injustice becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty” told by Thomas Jefferson. Sadly, since the judicial system of America was established there has been a lack of fairness, through which it has become unavoidable. This has resulted in some of the citizens themselves to confront it by fighting back trying to establishing justice. In Twelve Angry Men, Reginald Rose emphasis the theme of “Injustice” through his characterization of eleven out of the twelve jurors, the extensive use of verbal irony to convey their ignorance, and sarcastic attitude the author has towards the play.
Reginald Rose utilizes characterization to thoroughly depict each of the twelve jurors. In the process of this he allows each of them to carry a symbol through their actions and personalities. Sadly, most of jurors let personal experience or their unfair judgments take over their decision to execute the 16-yrear old boy. For example, Juror number four is painted as a very logical and persistent character simply due to the fact he is always basing his …show more content…

Rose’s specific essence is speaking about the judicial system and having a sarcastic viewpoint towards it. This is communicated through his authorial voice, passing through juror number eight. This could be shown in the sentence, “I’m not trying to change your mind. It’s just that we’re talking about somebody’s life here. I mean, we can’t decide in five minutes. Suppose we’re wrong?” (Rose 12). Juror number eight could be a representative of how the Reginald feels in the American society. He is the voice of reason in a chaotic world, such as that court room. Reginald Rose was ahead even for his time, which is once again seen through juror number eight. This is because juror eight was unbiased and not racist especially in the setting they were located, New York city being very diverse increasing racial tension all

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Juror Eight was the only man from the beginning of the play who stuck by his belief that the kid was innocent. He stood alone in front of the other jurors and defended himself from the other jurors, such as Juror Three and Juror Ten. Jurors Three and Ten were adamant that the kid was guilty and refused to listen to Juror Eight’s “nonsense”. Juror Eight’s evidence and speeches persuaded all the other jurors to change their vote from not guilty, except for Juror Three. The only reason Juror Three had it out for the kid was because he himself had some issues with kids respecting their parents, and specifically their fathers.

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People tend to base characteristics of people pretty quickly; likewise, their personalities. Most people base their opinions on stereotypes. Reginald Rose and his play “12 Angry Men” demonstrate how people are quick to judge other people based on looks. In the movie all twelve jurors must decide if a young boy is guilty or innocent. At the beginning of the movie/play-write, only one juror, juror eight, decides the boy is innocent.

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