12 Angry Men Essays

12 Angry Men Essay
Over the last 60 year laws have significantly changed around the world. In 1957 New York's
penalty for 1st degree murder was the death sentence. In order for an accused to be convicted 12
jurors must come to a unanimous consensus of a guilty verdict. The film 12 Angry Men directed by
Sidney Lumet and produced by Henry Fonda and Reginald Rose is about 12 jurors who are
attempting to come to a unanimous decision involving an 18 year old boy who allegedly stabbed
his father to death. Within the first five minutes of their deliberation 11 jurors voted for a guilty
verdict; all expect jurors eight who believe that they should spend some time to discuss, before
sending an 18 year old boy to die (Lumet, 1957). During the course of 80 minutes...show more
content...
He disproved this with the help of all of the jurors as they all agreed that the El train would take at
least 10 seconds to pass any given point meaning that the El train would have made too much noise
for the old man to hear anything. Finally, he demonstrated that it was impossible for the old man to
walk to the door as the old man had a stroke that significantly hinders his movement. He
demonstrated this by walking 55 feet in the jury room while dragging his leg on the floor to
replicate the old man. While going as fast as he could he walk 55 feet in exactly 41 seconds which
is 26 seconds more than the old man claimed (Lumet, 1957).
Characteristics
In terms of leadership Henry Fonda has demonstrated many characteristics that prove him to be a
leader like no other. The characteristics that he demonstrated were honest, inspiring, straightforward,
mature, fair–minded, self– controlling, intelligent, courageous, and broad–minded.
Honesty, Inspiring and straightforward
These three characteristics are constantly demonstrated throughout the film. From the very
beginning, he said not guilty, and he did not beat around the bush when he explained why. He was
not saying that the accused was innocent he was simply stating that he had some reasonable doubt
about the 1st–degree murder charge. He was also able to flip 11 guilty votes to none guilty by
explaining the reasonable doubt he found in the witness testimony.
Broad–minded, fair–minded, and
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12 Angry Men Essay
Reginald Rose's play '12 Angry Men' entirely takes place in a small New York City jury room
where 12 male jurors have convened to decide the verdict in a homicide case. The verdict of this
case will decide if a young boy will be charged with murdering his father, with a switchblade knife,
on the first degree. The film shows us nothing of the trial itself except for the judge 's perfunctory,
almost bored, charge to the jury where he reminds them that they must base their unanimous
decision of "guilty" or "not guilty" on whether or not there is "reasonable doubt" in their minds as to
the guilt of the accused. His tone of voice indicates the verdict is a foregone conclusion. We hear
neither prosecutor nor defense attorney, and learn of the...show more content...
After all, they 're about to send an eighteen year–old kid to the electric chair, and Juror #8 doesn 't
want to do that without having a conversation first. He brings up certain details of the case that have
been bothering him, but the other jurors want him to stop stalling so they can get on with the Guilty
verdict. Among the main sources of evidence that the jurors have found compelling include the
testimony of two key witnesses. The first was the testimony of the tenant living below the apartment
where the defendant's father had been killed, during which he stated that he heard the defendant say
that he would kill the father and that he saw him soon afterwards fleeing the scene of the crime. A
juror counters the evidence by stating that the boy claimed he had been at the movies while his
father was murdered, but couldn't remember the name of the movies or who was in them. The
second key witness was a woman, who was living across the street, testified that she saw the boy kill
his father through the windows of a passing elevated train. Aside from the considerations mentioned,
the jurors also took it to be significant that the defendant had, that night, had an argument with his
father, which resulted in the boy's father hitting him twice, and that the boy has an extensive list of
prior offenses, including trying to slash another teenager with a knife. Finally, the murder weapon
recovered from the scene of

12 Angry Men Essay
Karina VeranoPd. 2B
12 Angry Men
1. Which characters base their decisions on prejudice?
Juror number 4 based his decision based on the fact that the boy on trial grew up in the slum.
Juror number 4 said, "He was born in a slum. The slum is a breeding ground for criminals. I know
it and so do you. It's no secret that children from slum backgrounds are menaces to society." While
Juror number ten just doesn't like the boy bases on his race. Throughout the entire movie, he referred
to the boy as them.
2. Does Juror #8, or any other character, exercise "reverse discrimination?
Juror number eight did not exercise reverse discrimination. But juror number 9 did. He favored the
old man and made all the other jurors believe that he was...show more content...
Juror number two was timid when it came to speaking his mind. At the beginning, he agreed with
everyone else and voted guilty. But after a while, he was able to speak against the others and
changed his vote to not guilty. Juror number three is rude, stubborn, loud, straightforward, and
unmannered. He was extremely hard headed when it came to this case and he made himself
strongly believe that the boy was guilty until the very end. Juror number four was extremely
logical when it came to this case. Every time he spoke, he would base things on the facts rather
than the 'what ifs'. Both jurors numbers five and six were more like observers and kept an open
mind to things. But juror number six had respect for his elders because when juror number 3
interrupted juror number 9, he stood up for him and asked for him to continue speaking. They talked
only when they thought necessary or when spoken to. Juror number seven
6. How would you have voted if you were on the jury?
If I we on the jury, I would have voted guilty at first. But as time went on, and the events happened
as they did, I would have changed my vote sometime after seeing that it would have taken the old
man a total of 41 seconds to get to the door.
7. How does the twelve angry men demonstrate the weaknesses of the jury system?
It demonstrates that most people put their personal feelings when it comes to trials like these. Even
though there are people that will say that they are not racist or

12 Angry Men: Leadership Essay
Leadership:
In the movie 12 Angry Men there were two primary examples of leadership. The first was in the
beginning of the movie, when the foreman gets everyone together in the room and has them sit
down, assigning them each a number. He then proceeds to go over the process and rules they will
proceed with, and sets up the initial voting. After the initial voting, he has them go around in a
circle one by one to discuss the reasons why they voted the way they did. As the film progresses, the
leadership shifts towards man number 8, the one who initially voted not guilty. He demonstrates
behavioral leadership as he begins to give information and supporting arguments of why there could
be reasonable doubt to accuse the boy of murder, while...show more content...
By choosing aggression over cooperation, they put themselves at an automatic disadvantage within
the group, as aggression led to a lack of credibility among those who demonstrated it. The group did
not share a common goal, which also led to poor performance. Some team members had alternative
motives, such as man number 3 who was showing aggression towards teen boys because of the
poor experience he had with his own teenager and man number 7 who wanted to get in and out of
the discussion as quickly as possible because he had baseball tickets for that night. The bigotry and
grudge against teenage boys prevented men numbers 3 and 10 from being constructive team
members and probably should have disqualified them from serving on that jury in the first place.
This team dealt with participation problems within the group in a number of ways. One way was
that they began sticking up for each other when one man would become aggressive towards another.
The group moved away from man number 10 when he went on his rampage about young boys and
how they are all criminals, prompting man number 4 to tell him to shut his mouth and not speak
again.
Decision Making:
The 12 angry men were forced into making a consensus decision because that was the only way
they could present a verdict to the judge. They used nominal group technique because their decision
making was solely task related and required no social relational development. They used a
democratic voting system and

12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men revolves around opinions, perceptions/perspectives, and the logic and reason of the 12
jury members. This movie highlights the importance of critical thinking as well as its components.
In order to think critically, one must examine one's thinking process and the thinking process of
others. We can evaluate posing arguments by focusing our attention on various thinking approaches
and strategies. We actually have to think for ourselves, exemplified by Henry Fonda's character, to
explore and make sense of situations by using our thinking abilities. We must break down every
component of an argument and question the credibility of the source the information is coming
from, put aside our own emotions/judgments/majority influence, and listen to other's perspectives. To
think critically, one need to analyze the content through breaking down each component and
analyzing each point through an examination of what was presented.
The premise of 12 Angry Men was that a minority may affect a majority if rational thought/logic are
used to construct credible arguments based on sound reasons and inconsistencies in argument come
be evaluated to form a credible and reliable conclusion. Critical thinking was not present...show more
content...
Juror #8 or Davis really supported and believed in all of his decisions and thoroughly examined
the evidence. Davis looked at the situation through the eyes of others, such as the young adult's and
witnesses'. Davis took to time to really evaluate and dissect all options, in which the other jurors
were interested in what Davis had to say. He reached out to each juror which improved their
thinking by reasonable, justified persuasion. When taking a second vote, Davis suggested that a
secretive ballot takes place, which made a huge impact. This change allow one person to change
their mind free of pressure and embarrassment to display their true beliefs on the

Essay On 12 Angry Men
"12 Angry Men"
The play "12 Angry Men" by Reginald Rose reveals human nature, personal experiences, and the
men's effect on the justice system. The play brings out how as humans we jump to conclusions
without thinking things through, we don't like to take the time and look over things, and we use our
own experiences and use them to help influence our thinking. In the play, everyone but juror number
eight jumps to conclusions about the young man on trial. Number eight helps guide most of the other
jurors to look over the case and discover what really happened through him being unsure and not
jumping to conclusions. Still, some of the others stay stuck in what they think happened. The jurors
use their own past experiences to shape what they...show more content...
Juror number five grew up in slums. He was younger compared to all the other jurors, yet had
more under his belt than others. He had different life experiences than most of the men. At first,
he believed that the young man, but after eight had pointed a few things out he was one of the
first to change his mind. "Eight. Have you ever seen a knife fight. five. Yes, I have. . . in my
backyard. On my stoop." (12 Angry Men). Juror five has seen certain things in own life, such as
knife fights. This helped him become more helpful while the group of men deliberated on what
went down during the crime. His own personal experience helped them proved details in the
crime to be not reliable. This affected the justice system by giving the young man who came from
the same pace as five a better chance at a new start. Juror Five wasn't the only juror who used his
life experience and human nature to help the young man and justice. Juror number eight was a well
thought out man. He was independent, not afraid to be different, and liked to look through things
very carefully unlike other jurors. In the beginning of the play number eight stands alone. He isn't
sure if the young man is guilty or not. Instead of just jumping to conclusions and voting guilty he
takes his time and votes not guilty unlike everyone else. "Five. You're all alone. Nine. It takes a
great deal of courage to stand alone" (12 Angry Men) This quote is from when number eight went
from being alone to number three

Analysis Of ' 12 Angry Men '
12 Angry Men
Barling definitions (for background):
Idealized Influence – defined by the values, morals, and ethical principles of a leader and is
manifest through behaviours that supress self interest and focus on the good of the collective.
Research has shown that leaders who have higher moral reasoning, who are ethical, or who are
self–sacrificing are perceived as more transformational or charismatic.
Ways in which juror number 11 demonstrated idealized influence:
"A refugee from Europe who had come to this country in 1941. Aman who speaks with an accent and
who is ashamed, humble, almost subservient to the people around him, but who will honestly seek
justice because he has suffered through so much injustice." https://docs.google.com/document/d
/1irVXTuMAQESSwtoqOtQiC_–5dZa59LCmOxA_IQzlxww/edit Juror 11 is a refugee from
Europe. He is a watchmaker who speaks politely and deeply appreciates his democratic rights and
freedoms and has no tolerance for those that don't. He respects process, and wants others to do
what is right. For the most part he is controlled in his emotions and we only really see him get
fired up when juror 7 wants to change his vote simply to hurry the process so that he can make the
baseball game for which he has tickets. He is disgusted that someone would not take their role
seriously especially when a boy's life is at stake. He pushes hard at the juror and demands that he
explain why he changed his vote. He speaks with such conviction that seven

Twelve Angry Men Essay
"Its not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others". Twelve Angry Men is more than a play, it
is a reminder of our social responsibility. Discuss.
Twelve Angry Men is a legal drama, written by Reginald Rose during the heightened period of
1950's McCarthyism. The didactic play presents a cross section, examining 1950's America during
a period of immense suspicion and uncertainty. Roses' play reminds us of the importance of
responsibility and integrity, emphasising qualities such as courage that aid in preserving justice.
The play examines the power of the "lone voice" and places a special emphasis on the serving of
justice over the quest for truth through a central plot and strategic framing. The idea of time versus
...show more content...
Rose utilises a central plot and setting to ensure the jurors remain focused on deliberating and the
audience's engagement is limited to the deliberation process. The central focus creates a narrow
spectrum in which the didactic themes of the play can be reiterated and emphasised. The play's
juror 8 emphasises that "the boys life is not a game", constantly refocusing the jurors to the
deliberation process when they digress. Through juror 8 Rose further highlights the importance of
the juror's roles and their responsibility as civil servants. This also serves as a reminder to society to
remain integral to their responsibility as civilians and thus Rose's non fictional undertone is carried
through his fictional plot and characters.
The play is limited to a timeline in which Rose aims to convey his didactic message and hence the
importance of social responsibility. The time elapsed in the play is synonymous with the amount of
time the audience spend viewing, to create a sense of realism and dire importance. Within this
period Rose addresses the issue of time versus responsibility as apathy within jurors serves to
undermine the justice system and compromise the mechanisms of justice. "This better be quick" is a
notion adopted by juror 7 serving as a justification behind his impulsive "guilty" verdict. The clock
on the wall acts as a motif that exposes apathetic jurors

Summary : ' 12 Angry Men ' Essay
Amit Erez
Professor Huppin
Communication Studies 170
May 14, 2016 Thought Paper #2 The Constitution guarantees the right to trial by an impartial jury.
Impartiality is the principle holding that all parties should be subject to equal treatment under the
law. Being impartial requires jury members to reach a decision based on the evidence presented.
The chosen jury must be unbiased, and capable of weighing out the evidence objectively. In order
to counter bias, The Supreme Court established a rule that the selection of jurors must be from a
pool representative of a cross–section of the community.
In the film, 12 Angry Men, the chosen jury panel was far from what we would consider today to be
"representative of the community." As we saw in the film, a jury non–representative of its peers can
provoke prejudice and indifference in the trial process. The jury panel in 12 Angry Men consisted
of all white men who were all middle–aged with the exception of two elder fellows. The defendant in
this case was a young, Puerto Rican male. Before deliberation, the jurors took an initial vote count
to see which men were leaning toward a verdict of guilty, and which ones were leaning to vote not
guilty. The count was 11 to 1. Only one man was reasonable and brave enough to challenge the
majority, and presume the boy's innocence. From the very beginning, a more diverse jury could have
remedied this imbalance. It is a concern that a jury consisting of all white members

Essay On 12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men; A Celebration and Criticism The modern trial system has been reshaped and molded
over centuries although it maintains built on a democratic foundation. Although structured in order
to provide constitutional rights and freedoms to all people, their remains flaws in it's system. The
film, 12 Angry Men celebrates the many accomplishes in providing individuals rights in its structure
while highlighting and criticizing its flaws. The film, 12 Angry Men highlights many of the great
things about the American justice and jury system. The film shows the beauty in having a jury
needed to be unanimous in order to make its final decision. With people capable to not vote guilty
because they have merely reasonable doubt opens the floor to healthy arguments and discussion.
This really allows...show more content...
The film also discusses how truly democratic the system is with the practice that fellow peers are
asked to judge a person's innocence or not. It explains that the jurors truly have no personal gain
or loss from the verdict but rather can freely decide the verdict of the defendant with their own
true beliefs on the matter based on the facts. The film, 12 Angry Men, also looks at the flaws in
the American justice system. A strong flaw they press very strongly is how prejudice can and
will always take a place in the courtroom to some varying degree. Although the voir dire process is
meant to help eliminate jurors who would have biases towards the case, it can't eliminate all jurors
who can't separate the facts from personal beliefs and that's very dangerous for the defence. In the
film it became evident that a man was voting guilty purely on the basis that the defendant was
raised in the "slums" and he had an already constructed bias which he used to judge the case. The
film also raises the issues with jurors that aren't committed to the jury process, although may grow to
want to leave

12 Angry Men Essay
"12 Angry Men" Essay The movie "12 Angry Men" focuses on a jury's decision on a capital murder
case. A 12–man jury is sent to begin decisions on the first–degree murder trial of an 18–year–old
Latino accused of stabbing his father to death, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death
sentence. The case appears to be open–and–shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed
to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the
killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8
(Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis' bases his vote more so for the sake of
discussion after all, the jurors must believe beyond a...show more content...
The other jurors get annoyed with Mr. Davis because they do not want to stay and discuss the
case and they can't leave without all of them consenting to one side. But despite all that Mr. Davis
starts to look through the evidence presented on the case, and he starts to rationalize and think
critically of the presented information. He then starts using warrant which is basically asking
questions. He asks about how the evidence given was faulty and wasn't enough to back the claim
that the 18 year old killed his father. Mr. Davis starts to sway the idea that the boy is guilty and he
gets the other jurors to start agreeing with him with his claim, rethinking of the evidence, and
warrant. In the middle of the 2nd half of the movie, Mr. Davis talks about the facts that are
presented to them after discussing the case for a couple hours. A fact is the verifiable
observation, experience, or event basically something that is known to be true. He says that facts
don't line up with the story and he talks about how the old man with a leg problem could never
had made it to the door to see who was running or hear the body hit the floor because of the train,
he also brings up the point that the woman across the street could not have seen who killed who
due to the fact that she did not have her glasses on. After he lays out all the facts many of the jurors
are convinced that the 18 year old was not guilty but a few of the

12 Angry Men Essay
TO: Dr. Villanova
FROM: Christopher Denison III
DATE: November 13, 2014
SUBJECT: 12 Angry Men
1.Juror #7 is preoccupied with going to see the New York Yankees baseball game. But, how could
you blame him? The New York Yankees won the World Series in 1956 and had just won 6 of the 7
World Series from 1947–1953. So the Yankees incredible baseball team seemed to take precedence
over juror #7 jury duty. I found great humor in him given the variety of jokes and smart comments
for any juror member who keeps him there any longer than need be.
2.Asa
3.Deindividuation takes place 32 minutes into the movie when the jury proceeds to tally up their
second vote. After being informed that one juror member voted not guilty juror #3 stood up in...show
more content...
This commonality is a superficial factor that added to the group's cohesion. The main factor is that
they all share the same goal which is to reach a verdict. The cohesion of the group is further
enforced by the fact that the door is locked and the group cannot leave until such time that they all
agree on the verdict without contest. The locked door forced them to become cohesive as well as
the duty. Originally there was a sense of group cohesion towards the beginning of the movie when
11 out of the 12 Jurors found the teenager guilty. After the second vote we found that only 10 of the
12 jurors found the teenager guilty. As the movie progresses it switches to a split decision between
the juror members. Finally towards the end of the film it becomes a unanimous decision of finding
the teenage boy not

Arguments In 12 Angry Men
In the drama "Twelve Angry Men'' by Reginald Rose, there are twelve juror's debating their
opinions on a murder case. Even though all jurors were present during court and heard the same
thing each of them has their own presupposition on democracy by which they portray using various
phrases and actions. Throughout the drama the jurors debate and rebuttal opinions on the case. One
of the characters in the story that plays a important role is the Foreman. The Foreman helps
maintain between the jurors. The Foreman makes sure the jurors are acting in a organized manner
according to the rules. In the Drama "Twelve Angry Men" page 100 paragraph 9– 11 it states " I
was thinking we oughta sit in order, by jury number. Two, Three, Four and so on and so on, if thats
ok with you gentlemen?" This evidence claims that the Foreman thinks in a democracy thinks that
you should act in a organized manner. The Foreman thinks that in a democracy obeying the law is
important and all must be on the same page when doing so. In the drama "Twelve Angry Men" page
102 paragraph 58 – 59 it states " This has to be a twelve or nothing vote any way. Thats that law ok,
are we all ready?" This evidence states that the Foreman takes democracies seriously, even though he
is the reason that a boy might die he still acts calmly.
The 3rd juror from the drama "Twelve Angry Men" is another character that play an important role
in the drama. Throughout the drama he argues hi point that the boy is guilty. To him it's clear that
the boy is guilty because in a democracy you must decide based on the evidence given. In the drama
"Twelve Angry Men" page 103 paragraph 82– 83 it states " I really think this is one of those open
and shut things." The 3rd juror is sharing his opinion that he thinks the boy is guilty based on the
evidence he heard. The 3rd juror treats the accused a if he was a adult because of the crime he
committed. He believes that the accused should be trialed as an adult and he receive the full
punishment. In the drama "Twelve Angry Men" page 102 paragraph 75– 76 it states " I mean, lets
be reasonable. You sat in court and heard the same things we did. Theman's a dangerous killer. You
could see it." The 3rd juror is stating that in

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12 Angry Men Essays