preview

Voting Wisely: Twelve Angry Men

Decent Essays

Bad days are the worst and when one has to wait in a room for an extended period of time to be placed in another room to decide the verdict of someone’s life; bad results are bound to happen. One unfortunate trait of a bad day is heat from either a loud argument or an excruciating hot day in a crowded city. Rational judgment must be based solely on facts and unbiased discussion for justice to prevail in any matter. The time and setting of Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Men” will be used to show how the conditions in the jury room correlate to the jurors’ attitudes but does not ultimately consequent to an irrational verdict.
The play opens to the courtroom scene where the jurors had just spent several hours hearing the case in a very hot room, that mixed with boredom can cause attitudes. It is a blazing hot day in downtown New York and the air conditioning is not working in the courthouse. The courthouse officials realize the problem and attempt to quench it with, “a watercooler, with paper cups and a wastebasket and an electric fan over the bench” (5). Hospitality is always a nice gesture but the uncomfortable weather makes for a sticky situation so off the bat everyone’s temper is agitated. The men try to open windows and take off their hefty suit jackets but only so much can be done without a cool breeze. Complaining begins as the jurors give their opinions of, “Y’know something? …This is the hottest day of the year. The 6th juror nods and gazes out the window. You’d think

Get Access