"You have to lead people gently toward what they already know is right".
-Philip
In the short story/play Twelve angry men by Reginald Rose there is a crime committed that deals with a murder of a middle aged man. The mans son is labeled a suspect and the story follows his trial and the jurors who deal with finding him guilty or not guilty, they are gambling on his life because if the jurors find him guilty he will be sentenced to be executed. This young man is African American and lives on the "bad" side of town and is a categorized as a "troubled young man". People give false testimonies and fake evidence is pointed towards the young man. Justice is the main theme in this short story and it is shown through out the jurors contemplation over the case and how they will find him guilty or not guilty. Justice is shown in this story because the young man is troubled and he is the minority in society at the time, yet all but one of the jurors vote against him. The play goes on to show how this one juror uses evidence and stereo types to show the rest of the racist jurors that this young man was possibly framed just because he was an easy target. In the play they do not actually state that this Young man is African American, but by judging by the context used in the play, i figured he was. which makes this a very controversial play because right away these jurors assume he is guilty just because he is black and in the "wrong side of town" it just goes to show how someones image can persuade people into thinking something in a snap decision. In the end of the play the jurors finally agree they had been to hasty in the way they had first voted and they eventually agree to vote not guilty. This play is a great example of the racism and prejudice in our society and how we are so quick to judge even though we know we are doing the wrong thing, we just need to be constantly reminded of what is right, that is what justice is.
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