Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

 

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly."

Author: Reginald Rose

Editor: Penguin Classics

Publication date: 1964

Number of pages: 96

This book is not a novel but a play. Many movies are based on it.

Summary: This play takes place on a very hot summer afternoon in a jury room where twelve men are assembled to discuss a murder trial of a 16 year old boy who is accused of murdering his father. If all jurors think and decide that he is guilty, the boy will face the death penalty and will be therefore sent to the electric chair.

At the beginning of the play, all jurors except juror 8 vote guilty, thinking that the boy was the murderer. Juror 8 (the main character of the story) gave different reasons why he didn't vote guilty and said that they couldn't decide a first degree murder trial without having spoken about it.

My opinion: At first, since Twelve Angry Men is a play I wasn't attracted by the structure of the book because I had never really read a play like a normal novel. But as I advanced in my reading, I found the book more and more interesting and I enjoyed it very much!

In the book, the two jurors that make up the most important relationship are the protagonist, juror 8, and his antagonist, juror 3. The whole play revolves around

their two opposite views and I think it's a very important fact that creates all the suspense of the story.

These two jurors have a very different approach to the case and different personalities. While juror 8 is an open-minded character, juror 3 refuses to consider the other jurors' ideas and suggestions because of his personal experience (he had a big argument with his son). Juror 3 is also very aggressive with his words and movements.

The other jurors are influenced by the questions, comments and ideas of juror 8 and they will little by little change their vote to "not guilty".

Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose, is a short play written in a clear style: it's very well structured, it contains good implied questions and it's an engaging text.

I recommend it to all kinds of readers.

Bonus: Like the book, the movie is also excellent! I really recommend you to watch it (the original movie of 1957 in which Henry Fonda plays juror 8).