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Similarities Between 12 Angry Men And To Kill A Mockingbird

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Why Fair Trials Should Live Up to Its Name
The fathers of our nation believed that everyone has a right to a fair trial. However, when the fate of the defendant is put into the hands of a jury, it’s safe to say that prejudice comes into play. The two trials from the movie Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are perfect examples of how trials, in reality, aren’t as fair as they appear to be. Although the two trials differ in regard to the final verdict, they are similar in regard to having prejudiced juries and the fact that the defendants in both trials were innocent from the start.
One difference between the two trials is that when it comes the verdict decided by the jury, the results are on opposite ends. …show more content…

In To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudice is noticeable because Tom Robinson is a colored man fighting against a white man’s alleged words. What makes it worse is that the jury is made of all white folks. The plaintiff, Mr. Ewell, claimed, “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (231). Every individual, when trying to earn people’s trust, will try their best showcase what they have in common. As for Mr. Ewell and the white jurors, their trait of similarity is the very idea that they all resent colored folks. The fact that Mr. Ewell specified “black nigger” shows that this method was his insurance to earning each and every one of the jurors’ votes. Still, though, in a prejudiced society like Maycomb, such an assurance wasn’t necessary- the fate of a Negro was decided long before the trial even started. Along the same lines, in 12 Angry Men, the defendant was brought up in the slums, thus creating an opportunity for the jurors to pounce on him with prejudiced views. The mere fact that the jurors would back their position with biased reasoning based on social class shows that their belief of the defendant’s guilt isn’t based solely on tangible, direct evidence. Despite the different reasons for biased views, it is plain that the judgments made by both juries were contaminated with

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