Twelve Angry Men: Reasonable Doubt

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the general public. The Senate voted 67-22 that condemned Senator McCarthy. Another issue that the United States was facing in 1954 was racism. The people dwelling the slums were poorer and had a lower status in the society. So many people looked down upon them and thought that they were all criminals. In Act one Juror four says “…slums are breeding grounds for criminals; they are. I know it. So do you. The children who come out of the slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society” (Rose 21). The issue was brought up repeatedly throughout the text. In Act II, Juror three says about the boy “Bright! He’s a common ignorant slob. He don’t even speak good English” (Rose 36). Juror three is basing his ideas of the boy on his prejudices against the people from the Slums. Due to the prejudice towards the slums and the hearing that was occurring at the time it was written. The play portrays a scene that would have been similar to the time that it was written.

“Twelve Angry Men” is ...

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with the idea that the boy was guilty before discussing the case. He continues to say, “The man’s a dangerous killer. You could see it” (Rose 14). The fact that he does not bring up any evidence when asked why the boy was guilty shows that he did not thoughtfully come to his decision. He just wanted the boy to be punished. Later in act one, Juror three admits “I hate tough kids” referring to his kid who punched him in the face and ran away at the age of fifteen (Rose 30). He is bringing his past into the case.

An idea that is prevalent in the play is “reasonable doubt.” The judge at the beginning of the play says “If there is reasonable doubt in your minds as to the guilt of the ...

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