The play is around the jurors who are summoned to deliberate the fate of a young man who is accused of murdering his father. Reginald Rose’s dramatic play Twelve Angry Men is set in the summer of 1957, when twelve men make the conversation taking place in a New York courtroom where the twelve jurors attempt to make a unanimous verdict as to whether or not the boy is in fact guilty. The 8th juror plays the most important role in the play and almost all events in the play are plotted around him. He is the role created by the playwright to demonstrate what “reasonable doubt” should be, and thus this character has a significant impact on all the events in the play. The 8th juror, a brave, responsible and logically thinking man, eventually convinces other jurors that the testimonies of this case are both “too certain”.
Firstly, the 8th juror becomes a voice for Rose, reinforcing the need for reason and rationality during deliberations that take place in the jury room. He is the only one who votes “not guilt” at the start of jury discussions. This shows that the 8th juror has been standing alone against other jurors at the beginning of the play. It takes great courage to do this when he is one against eleven others who believe the suspect is “guilty”. But because of his courage, calmness, and wisdom against the ridicule of others, the 9th juror changes his vote. When the 8th juror doubts that the old man, who is one of the witnesses, cannot hear the voice, he receives the 3rd juror’s strong opposition. But he still keeps calm and in fights back by saying: “ you are a sadist.” and points out that when people say things like “i going to kill you”it does not mean that people are going to actually do it. Because of his analysis, the 5th juror changes his vote. Through these events, Rose has established the 8th juror as a heroic figure who influences the direction of the deliberations.
Again, when the 8th juror is questioned by other jurors, he demonstrates that...