12 Angry Men: A Study of Juror Influence and Bias

928 Words2 Pages

In 1957 there was a film entitled “12 Angry Men,’’ and it was a film about a son who, supposedly, killed his father and the 12 men who are the juror's for the court case. Throughout the film, there is a lot of arguing and bickering, but with the arguing, watchers learn more and more about all the characters and their views and beliefs and how they influence their votes. In the 1957 film, viewers learn the most about how jurors' votes are shifted mostly by their, past experiences, unfamiliar knowledge, and their open minds. One of the most influential traits to change the jurors views is their past experiences with “slum boys.’’(Film) The jurors who had been influenced by the trait were jurors all but juror eight. As the movie went on, all …show more content…

The first example and the most important is juror number eight. He is the first one to question all of the others and “Just isn't sure’ on how he should vote and he also is sure how to question others. Juror number eight says “ I just want to talk” and in response, Juror number seven says “What's there to talk about? Eleven of us think he's guilty. No one had to think about it twice except you.”(Rose ) With this exchange of views, the arguments start. If there wasn't an individual who had an open mind, than the boy would have been sent straight to the chair. As the movie went on, all of the jurors experienced open minds. Although they all had different backgrounds and had their minds set toward guilt, they all changed their views with open minds. As Roth says,”Because we are writing our own life stories in the first person, we need to realize that we give ourselves and all the other characters their meaning. ” With that, ity explains how the jurors were thinking and trying to explain the boy from the slums in the only way they \know how to. With them all thinking this way they all are different thinkers and have different views, but, number eight changes their mind and they all end up voting not

Open Document