Justice in 'Twelve Angry Men': Analysis for Literary Studies

This essay provides a detailed analysis of Reginald Rose's play 'Twelve Angry Men,' focusing on the portrayal of justice and the impact of 'reasonable doubt.' It examines how the jurors' initial prejudices and biases influence their perception of justice, highlighting the contrast between true fairness and the superficial application of the law. The setting of the play, a hot and uncomfortable jury room, metaphorically represents the challenges and compromises made in the pursuit of justice. The essay also explores how the characters embody different perspectives on justice, with Juror 8 representing fairness and the other jurors representing various aspects of the American judicial and moral system. Furthermore, the essay discusses John Frow's perspective on genre and how 'An Enemy of the People' resists genre controls by incorporating elements of personal emotions and polemics, while still adhering to the drama genre.

Running head: JUSTICE ADDRESSED IN TWELVE ANGRY MEN
JUSTICE ADDRESSED IN TWELVE ANGRY MEN
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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PART A:
Introduction
The essay aims to provide an analysis of the play Twelve Angry Men written by Reginald
Rose during the mid-20th century. The courtroom drama became so popular that it was adapted
into different art forms including theatre, film, radio and television play. The film version was
the most popular (IMDb.com 2018). The play is about the twelve men of a jury who are
responsible for deciding the fate of a teenage Puerto Rican boy accused of murdering his father.
In this essay, the focus would mainly be on the way justice has been portrayed in the text and the
power of the two words “reasonable doubt”.
Discussion
The play revolves around the fate of a teenager in the hands of twelve jurors who are
locked in a room to give their verdict. The play has several key points that relate to justice and
the way people mold it to satisfy their own grudges. The play begins with the judge’s
instructions for the jury and then turns its focus towards the teenage boy. While the jurors enter
the room for discussion, it becomes clear initially from their body language that they are least
interested in debating the issue. They seem to be in a hurry to finish the proceedings and get back
to their usual works. One of the jurors is in a hurry to attend a bowl game while another is
convinced that the boy is guilty since he comes from a lower class. One juror stands out amongst
others, as he is the only one (Juror 8) who votes ‘not guilty’ in favor of the boy because he
believes such a huge decision needs some discussion.
The dialogues between the characters of the play help in establishing the plot and its
development as well. The readers are made to feel uneasy at once through the introduction of

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each of the jurors. The demeanors of the jurors except for Juror 8, who votes in favor of the
convicted boy show that they take justice for granted. It is easily understood from the way the
jurors give their vote initially that they are not bothered about true justice but to save their time
and energy. When Juror 8 asks other jurors the reason they voted ‘guilty’ for the boy, many of
them had no valid explanation. The statements like, “I just think he is guilty because nobody
proved otherwise”, “can I pass?” when asked about why the jurors felt the boy was guilty
demonstrates the shallowness they have regarding justice (Rose 2016).
It is interesting to note that the play chose the courtroom as the setting to carry out the
drama and the tension. The setting plays a vital part in bringing out the effect desired by the
playwright or the filmmaker. In this play as well, the setting has played a significant part in
allowing the characters to develop and the concept of justice come out. The jurors were
provided a room that was very hot and the only fan in the room had stopped working. It was
summer and they were having a difficult time coping with the heat. Amidst these difficulties,
they had to make the tough decision of a young boy’s life. Most of the jurors found giving the
‘guilty’ verdict easier than coping with the heat. To them, giving justice to the individual was
less important than handling the heat. The setting bears a metaphorical meaning as well, because
it takes place within the building that stands for justice and fairness. In that same building, the
jurors make a mockery of justice by taking the all-important responsibility of saving or ending a
boy’s life so lightly.
In the course of the entire play, the readers and viewers are exposed to the two conflicting
views of justice as portrayed by the characters. The characters thus, played the most crucial role
of addressing the issue of justice and presenting different views of it. The eleven jurors, who had
the responsibility to convince the one juror that the boy is guilty, bring out many aspects of the

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American judicial and moral system. They help in letting the audiences and readers know about
the shallowness as well as the greatness about the American judicial system. They also bring
forth the stereotypes and prejudices that some people hold against a particular community and
are willing to compromise justice to come out superior. Juror 10 represents this class by openly
displaying his resentment against the boy’s social status before he ultimately changes his vote to
‘not guilty’ (Rose 2016). Juror 8 symbolizes fairness and true form of justice, as he is the only
one who is willing to invest an hour for a teenager who could be electrocuted within minutes
without being given a fair trial. On the other hand, Juror 6 brings up another important question
that if they vote in favor of the boy but he turns out to be guilty then justice would be denied.
This demonstrates that although each juror speaks of justice and wants it to be delivered, they are
not sure whether judging the boy guilty or not guilty would be justice.
The play has addressed justice through the opening scene itself, showing the judicial
building, the symbol of justice to the viewers and readers. The judge states clearly that the life a
young boy rests on the hands of the twelve jurors and introduces the readers to the “reasonable
doubt” term that would ultimately turn the table around (Rose 2016). The “reasonable doubt”
that Juror 8 had, allowed him to convince everyone to enter into a discussion and as the play
gradually advanced, the confusion regarding justice became clear.
Conclusion
The analysis of the play Twelve Angry Men revealed that justice has been addressed
powerfully in it with the help of the various elements. The play was able to intrigue the readers
and audiences while at the same time bring to light, the different perspectives of justice. This was
established through the argument and counter argument between Juror 8 and the rest of the

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jurors. It was found through the analysis that the play was able to demonstrate different
perspectives of justice and the prevalence of prejudice and stereotype that could overshadow
justice.
PART B:
According to John Frow, “genre is a set of conventional and highly organized constraints
on the production and interpretation of meaning” (Frow 2014). The statement could be
interpreted, as genre is something that restricts the production and meaning of a work of art. To
cite an example, Twelve Angry Men belongs to the genre of crime and drama and hence, it must
stick to this genre and must not deviate into other meanings. However, the author makes it clear
that by ‘constraints’ he does not mean restriction. It rather means that genre actually gives shape
and meaning to the work. the author further states that genre should mean the various ways of
truth and meaning by which any work of art – filming, acting, writing or painting – are produced.
Therefore, genre is extremely important form of literature and its nature keeps changing with the
change in era.
The play An Enemy of the People has clearly demonstrated a resistance to genre controls
by including elements of personal emotions and a pinch of comedy in the drama (McConnell
2009). The play did not confine itself to just the drama genre and provided an overall take on the
issue of justice and fairness. It touched upon other themes like morality, philosophy, personal
struggles and ignorance. However, it must be added that there are no glaring evidences of the
text resisting genre control. It revolves around the drama and the tensions that build within the
rivalry of the two brothers. The struggle between morality and power, between the interests of a
family and the society is aptly shown in the play. However, the play deviates from its inherent

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genre of drama and becomes somewhat polemical. The reason is that the play attempts to put
forward a point of view on the current system. The play, written by Henrik Ibsen, is a direct
assault on democracy as it brings forth the idea that one who stands alone is the strongest. In this
case, it resists the genre’s control and deviates into other realms of storytelling.
The genre control resistance is further demonstrated by the text when it becomes preachy
on certain occasions. Although there are no direct instances of this but it is clearly demonstrated
through the characters of Dr. Thomas Stockmann and his wife Katherine. Apart from that, the
play also delves into the genre of realism. The characters in the play although converse in natural
ways but they certainly indulge in some high-minded talks. It is often witnessed in the play that
Ibsen makes use of realist approaches to create a “forum for ideas on stage”.
In the end, it needs to be stated that Frow’s statement regarding the nature of genre to
restrict the meaning and production of a literary work could be perceived differently. The
primary text of An Enemy of the People clearly shows a resistance to genre controls as stated by
Frow. The resistance however, is not glaring but evident. While sticking to the genre of drama,
the play touches other genres such as realism and polemics as well.

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References:
Frow, J., 2014. Genre. Routledge.
IMDb.com 2018. 12 Angry Men (1957). [online] IMDb. Available at:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050083/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2018].
McConnell, T., 2009. Moral combat in an enemy of the people: Public health versus private
interests. Public health ethics, 3(1), pp.80-86.
Rose, R., 2016. Twelve Angry Men. Bloomsbury Publishing.