Reginald Rose's In The Teleplay Twelve Angry Men

In the Teleplay Twelve Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose, a group of male jurors deliberate upon sentencing an eighteen year old to death for the supposed murder of his father; Similarly, in the story Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, the women play the de facto jurors of their pier. Upon taking their preliminary vote regarding the boys innocence the overwhelming majority of the male jurors voted guilty; however, as the jurors continue their deliberation the verdict begins to shift. This is because of juror number Eight, who is not satisfied with the guilty verdict because he does not know whether or not the boy is guilty. In Trifles, the male detectives seek out a criminal to punish and the women seek for insight as to what truly took place. While an ideal just verdict is wrought by truth, fairness, and reason, the men of this jury had settled for a false certainty. In both stories the writers cast a light upon the many flaws of a jury as it reflects American society, also …show more content…
In the story Twelve Angry Men the jurors initially cast their ballots based upon prejudice, pressure, and manipulation. As juror number Eight begins to force these eleven men of the jury to reason we come closer to a verdict that more closely resembles justice. When being asked why he believes the boys story number Eight responds “I don’t know whether I believe it or not. Maybe I don’t”. this line of thinking is akin to Socrates whom is quoted saying “True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing”. In addition, by remaining a skeptic number Eight had effectively caused the entire room to question whether or not the evidence was substantiated. Moreover, after all of this deliberation the men arrive upon uncertainty forcing them to acquit. While this is not often the scenario we would associate justice the inaction of these men to prosecute was found through truth and