Heroes In 12 Angry Men, By Reginald Rose

In many different stories, a hero is made out of an ordinary person. The heroes that get introduced to us all have the intention of doing good and helping people. The heroes that we meet come in all different shapes and sizes. Some heroes will stand up for strangers in order to do the right thing, like Juror No. 8 in 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Heroes may also stand up for those who don’t have a voice like what Atticus Finch did in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Some heroes are more traditional and go on dangerous adventures, like Odysseus from The Odyssey by Homer. Whether we realize it or not, there are heroes who surround us in our everyday lives. In books and movies there are many different heroes that fit different themes. However,

8 is our hero because he chose to stand alone against a whole room of people just because something about a boy’s murder trial didn’t seem right to him. The boy was accused of stabbing and killing his father. The evidence seems to go against the boy, making it look like the boy committed the murder. When all of the jurors voted for a second time, Juror No. 9 chose to change his vote. “This gentlemen chose to stand alone against us. That’s his right. It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly. He left the verdict up to us. He gambled for support, and I have it to him.” (Rose, 13). What Juror No. 9 was trying to say is that it took a lot of guts and strength for Juror No, 8 to stand up against a whole room of people, especially if he wasn’t 100% sure about his decision. Juror No. 8 also wants to defend the boy because he didn’t believe the boy got a fair trial. “I don’t want to change your mind. I just want to talk for awhile. Look, this boy’s been kicked around all his

However, when things like these come up, Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee doesn’t hesitate on doing the right thing. Atticus shows an act of heroism when he thinks that Jem killed Bob Ewell after trying to stab Jem and Scout, so he wants to turn Jem in. “‘You heard what Scout said, there’s no doubt about it. She said Jem got up and yanked him off her--he probably got hold if Ewell’s knife somehow in the dark . . . we’ll find out tomorrow.” (Lee, 365). This shows that Atticus would turn in his own son over to the authorities in order to have the right thing done and bring justice. Another time that Atticus has shown that he was a hero was when he agreed to take Tom Robinson’s case in court. “‘I’m simply defending a Negro--his name’s Tom Robinson.’” (Lee, 100). By agreeing to take Tom Robinson’s case, Atticus shows that he is willing to risk his and his family’s reputation in order to prevent an innocent person from receiving a punishment for a crime that he didn’t commit. Atticus Finch fights his battles psychologically unlike Odysseus from The Odyssey by Homer, who likes to fight with his