Fua Pututau

Freestone
B4
2/16/16
Twelve Angry Men Essay
In society today we have the justice system. Things people know and are the obvious is the right
to have a fair trial and etc. Some things people dont know is sometimes the justice system is more
complicated than it really seems. In Reginald Roses play Twelve Angry Men it portrays the flaws of the
American justice system. There are three main topics. First the topic of race is present a lot in the play.
Second the topic of bias. The last topic is Anger.
When we think about race we think about racism. Is there racism in America today? The answer
is simple yes. Turning on the T.V seeing all these police brutality cases most of the victims race is of
African American decent. That brings us to the topic of race in Twelve Angry /Men. The suspect may not
have been African American but he is colored and not Caucasian. JUROR #10: Most of 'em, it's like they
have no feelings! They can do anything! In a final flurry of madness, Juror #10 starts shouting about
how much he hates people of color. This can be compared to the modern day justice system of how many
people in jury cases decide the fate of a person based on their personal opinion on the color of their skin.
The second topic that pops up is bias. It may sound the same as race but is a little different. While
juror number 10 is going off because he just hates the color of his skin. The other jurors who voted guilty
had a bias. One bias was from the old angry man he states JUROR #4: It's no secret that slums are
breeding grounds for criminals. There bias was that everything the evidence sated was true because they
assumed based on their bias toward kids in the slums. This can be common in the justice system today.
The bias against African American men is that they all are hoodlums and are gangster thugs.

The last topic that popped up was anger. The play has the word anger in it. So its not surprising
why it is a topic to talk about. The topic of bias ties in with this one. Throughout the play especially after
the first vote is where anger tends to take a huge toll. The juries emotion of anger make it hard for them to
decide whether the boy was guilty or innocent. It states, Juror #3: What's the *matter* with you guys?
You all *know* he's guilty! He's *got* to burn! You're letting him slip through our fingers! Juror #8:
[brow furrowing] "Slip through our fingers"? Are you his executioner? Juror #3: I'm one of 'em!. This is
a scene where the fact that everyone is now starting to have a reasonable doubt anger kicks in and juror 3
is having a huge fuss yelling and screaming. The American justice system today can see having anger in
courtrooms such as when big cases such as the one in the play have had protests and riots due to the jurys
decision.
In conclusion, the play twelve angry men have a lot in common with todays justice system. One
way is race because many people judge or accuse people based on their race. The second is bias. Personal
bias have determined so many peoples fate and their sentences. The last is anger. Though its mostly
emotion the play portrays real life jury experiences and what its like to determine someones fate. The
word that should be used to overcome these topics is having a reasonable doubt when it comes to cases
like this that involve some ones life.