Twelve Angry Jurors

Twelve Angry Jurors
“Twelve Angry Men” is a production that opens your eyes to the respect and importance of everyone’s opinion. The audience is taken to the scene of a jury that is responsible for the life of a young man. They must decide whether or not they believe he is guilty of murdering his own father. In the beginning of the play, all but one juror votes guilty. Throughout the play, the one juror who voted not guilty does not necessarily believes the young man is not guilty, yet she reminds the jury that they decide the fate of man’s life.
The juror, who votes not guilty, proceeds to support his choice by enlightening other jurors. As an audience member, I too, was easily swayed by the jury’s arguments. During the play, many themes were expressed. Racial prejudice was highlighted throughout the play. It was understood that several members of the jury had prejudice views and they let that affect their vote. This theme revealed how judgmental we can be sometime. Eleven jurors automatically voted this young man guilty partly because he was from the slums of the city and was recognized as an “up to no good” type of kid. In one of the scenes, some of the jury members even admit to their judgmental ways. I can say that this play was a good lesson and reminder of how it is so important to not be so quick to stereotype someone. As the play concludes; the entire jury votes “not guilty” by listening and respecting an opinion of one juror.
I also believe that confidence can be seen as a theme for this play. One juror decides to vote not guilty against eleven others. Throughout the entire play, he stays secure with his decision and presents an explanation with much thought and meaning behind it. It is so important that in everything you do; you do it because you believe in it. Also, that you do not let the majority affect what you do. It could have been very easy for the opposing juror to let the eleven other tell him that he was wrong and crazy, but she decided to follow her beliefs and instincts. She truly believed in herself and her thoughts. In the end, it was her who affected the rest of thr jury and decided that young man was innocent.
I feel like I walked out of the performance practically inspired. I truly believe in all that I received from the production. We should take in to consideration the meaning of life and the general respect that everyone in life deserves. One can never truly understand the life of another person because we travel different paths of life.