Examples Of Biases In 12 Angry Men

The justice system of America is constantly criticized for being unfair. The establishment of an unfair justice system is due to bias and bigotry. The play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose shows the prejudices of the system as twelve different men, from different past, must concur and make a verdict on a murder case. The author indicates that the justice system is unfair through biases portrayed in the juror’s dialogue, past history, and attitude in making a verdict.
The greatest biases that create the conflicts of the play are due to the juror’s past history. Everyone has their own story. Therefore, when one can relate to a story, their understanding will be greater than others. This may create a positive or negative opinion, such as Juror Three. Juror Three, a failed father not in contact with his son, is the main holdout against voting not guilty. After voting for the first time, Juror Three proclaims, “When he was sixteen we had a battle. He hit me in the face. He's big, y'know. I haven't seen him in two years. Rotten kid” (Rose 18). Fighting with his son has left himself with a sour thought of all kids. Seeing a kid fighting with his father reminded him of his story blaming the kid for the …show more content…
In the play, many of the jurors were “angry” not wanting to be there. Many jurors did not look at both sides of the story, and automatically voted guilty, which would send the boy to death. Juror Twelve, the Stat Man remarks, “I'll tell you we were lucky to get a murder case” (Rose 8). Here we have a someone who is glad to have a life at risk because it is more entertaining. If he was glad there was a murder case, he wouldn’t care if he died. This shows how someone who doesn’t want to be there wouldn’t take the case seriously, not putting full thought into the decision. If a jury were to be made, they should all want to be there and take the case