Decision Making In 12 Angry Men

Imagine mixing a hot room and a jury full of very different people. It can be thought that the outcome is not the most civilized, and neither are the people. The book Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose is a great example of this. And out of all jurors, the 7th is particularly interesting. Throughout the play, different factors influence a lot about what his decision is, and how he starts to act around the rest of the jury. The things he does impact the story, and reveal some interesting things about him.
First, there are are many things that play into what his actions, words, and decisions are. One of them is the heat of the room. It is mentioned more than once that the temperature is very hot, as the setting takes place in the summer. This small factor made many jurors frustrated and cranky, including Juror 7. For example, the text, …show more content…
For example, page 55 had him calling Juror 11 arrogant, simply because he was an immigrant. This means that he thinks of people differently depending on their place of birth. Also, on page 17, he defends the father, who had continuously beaten the kid throughout his childhood. This allows the reader to conclude that Juror 7 believes in corporal punishment. If the reader takes these events into account, they can resolve that this man is not a great guy.
Finally, the role Juror 7 serves in the play is an important one. The actions and things he says make an impact on how the people and their thoughts changed. Throughout the book, he makes jokes about things that annoy the other jurors, making it harder for him to be taken seriously. This makes it difficult for the juror to convince the other jurors that the boy is guilty when they had changed their minds. On page 62, when Juror 7 changes his vote to not guilty, it causes an uproar of people arguing that he does not really think that way, and he only made his decision that way because he wants to get