12 Angry Men - Themes and Characters
Theme: Prejudice
Father/Son relationship Quotes:
Prejudice Quotes:
Theme: Father/Son relationship (family)
Juror 3 is prejudice because the defendant lives in a lower socio economic area
- "It's the kids. That's the way they are---you know, they don't listen."
- "I think we’d be better off if we took these tough kids and slapped them down before they make trouble, you know?" (3rd juror, page 7, Act 1)
- Juror 10: "...You're not going to tell us that we're supposed to believe him, knowing what he is. I've lived among 'em all my life. You can't believe a word they say. You know that."
Prejudice is a preconceived opinion about a racial or cultural minority.
- In 12 Angry men the jurors refer the defendant as “one of them” prejudging the defendant because of the community in which he belongs to.
- All of the jurors, except juror 8, enter the jury room with a clear decision that the defendant is guilty. The 8th Juror sees past the prejudice and finds that the evidence doesn't match up. He reminds the other jurors to keep personal prejudice out of it because it obscures the truth.
- In particular the 3rd juror is prejudice against the defendant because of his race, age and upbringing, reminding him of his troubled distant son who is no longer close with him.
- Prejudice plays an important role in deliberations, affecting the jurors decisions in the jury room.
- 3rd Juror: "You’re right. It's the kids. The way they are—you know? They don't listen. I've got a kid. When he was eight years old, he ran away from a fight. I saw him. I was so ashamed. I told him right out, I'm gonna make a man out of you or I'm gonna bust you up into little pieces trying. When he was fifteen he hit me in the face. He's big, you know. I haven't seen him in three years. Rotten kid! You work your heart out…."
An important part in the play was that the suspect was accused of murdering his father. The relationship is very important as to how the 3rd Juror and 8th Juror understand the suspect.
- 8th Juror symbolises and shows a fatherly relationship with the person accused, even though he doesn't know him and they were never seen together in the play. He stands up for him in a very protective way.
- The 3rd Juror jumps onto the accused because of his own relationship with his son. He immediately turns one-sided against the accussed and has a strong mind set that he is guilty.
Theme: Doubt
Theme: Justice
Justice Quotes:
The 10th Juror emphasizes his opinion in many occasions throughout the play, saying, “I don't understand you people. How can you believe this kid is innocent? Look, you know how those people lie. I don't have to tell you. They don't know what truth is.”
At the beginning of the play, the judge sets the scene of a sixteen year old boy who has been accused of murder and the verdict is yet to be made by these twelve jurors.
Throughout the play, there are two opposing sides of justice.
- The 8th Juror considers the boys upbringing, and all the factors that may have contributed to his actions, and gives his verdict in favor for the boy. The 8th juror see’s all forms of injustice, including his poor and biased legal representation, troubled upbringing and the jury’s quick and biased decision to convict him.
- We also see a side of justice brought by the other eleven members of the jury, who feel as though the boy is clearly guilty and should be punished. Two perspectives of justice is shown in the play, and showing us the possibility that there is no certain truth about justice in situations where humans are involved.
- At the end of the play the jury finally came to an agreement that the accused is innocent.
- While much of the evidence is was questionable and manipulated, there remains a large amount of evidence against the 16 year old boy.
- It is “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the jurors must need to declare the boy guilty in order to convict him, and they all eventually come to a decision that they all have some doubt about the evidence.
- At the end of the play we are shown that justice and right won over irrationality and prejudice, but we never find out the truth.
Characters: 8th Juror
8th Juror: Quotes
Characters: 10th Juror
- The 10th Juror is one of the most passionate attackers of the defendant. Tactless and fairly prejudice, he refers to the defendant as “one of them” right from the beginning.
- The 8th Juror is the only juror who at first votes “not guilty”. He shows sympathy for the accused and wants to discuss the evidence in greater detail.
- The 8th juror brings in a switch knife identical to the one used as evidence, showing the other jurors that the knife used in the murder isn't as unique as it is said to be.
- The 8th juror is thoughtful, gentle and patient as he discusses the relevance of the witness testimony, eventually managing to persuade the other jurors to vote the defendant as “not guilty”.
- In comparison to Montana 1948, the 8th Juror stands alone and makes the difficult decision to stand up for what is right and justice. Wesley in Montana 1948, also has to make a difficult decision and choose between family and justice and what is right.
- Eight: "There were eleven votes for guilty. It's not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first."
- Eight: "I don't want to change your mind.... I want to talk for a while. Look – this boy's been kicked around all his life. You know – living in a slum – his mother dead since he was nine. That's not a very good head start. He's a tough, angry kid. You know why slum kids get that way? Because we knock 'em on the head once a day, every day. I think maybe we owe him a few words. That's all."