FREE ESSAY ON 12 ANGRY MEN

12 ANGRY MEN

As Thomas A. Kempis says, "Such as every man is inwardly so he judgeth outwardly." In
other words, how someone feels inside reflects his or her thoughts and opinions. This is
true in the play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. In Twelve Angry Men, a boy is accused
of murdering his father, and it is the job of the twelve members of the jury to decide
his fate. Jurors eight and ten have strong feelings towards the boy that affect their
votes.
Juror eight is a calm, thoughtful man who fights to see that justice is carried out.
Eight is the first to state that they should at least review the facts of the case before
they send him off to die. He also points out holes in the old man's testimony, and proves
that they cannot put all their trust in what the old man has to say. One of the last
pieces of evidence that juror eight brings to attention is the way the boy's father was
stabbed. Juror eight gets it into the other jurors minds that there is reasonable doubt,
and saves the boy's life because he opts to review the facts of the case with the jury.
Unlike juror eight, ten is a boisterous, angry bigot who is not fond of they boy, and
this affects his vote. Ten believes that he's guilty up until the end of the play, and is
constantly referring to the boy's racial group as "them," and "those people." He also
thinks of the boy as being ignorant, and a slob. Ten is not a fair man, and is very
prejudice towards the boy and says that he does not value human life. The negative
feelings that ten has against the boy cause him to vote guilty for the majority of the
play.
As a result of the feelings of jurors eight and ten, their votes are affected. How the
jurors feel inside reflects their thoughts and opinions, and as Kempis says, "Such as
every man is inwardly so he judgeth outwardly."