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Twelve Angry Men

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‘Twelve angry men’ shows that personal experience is the strongest factor influencing human decision-making processes.’ Discuss
Twelve angry men by Reginald Rose is an intriguing play that explores the idea of personal experience affecting ones decision. Indeed Rose shows that decision-making is based on personal experiences. This is evident in the play when the 3rd Juror’s personal experience with his own son influences his decision and as a result he votes for guilty, the 9th Jurors old age becomes one of the greatest factors which influences his judgement of the boy ; when the 5th Jurors personal experience in a slum causes further doubts to form in his mind It is clear throughout the play that personal experience is a means of making the right decision.
The 3rd Juror’s painful memory of his own son inspires his decision and as a result he votes for guilty. His son who left him when he had an argument similar to the one the defendant has with his father which causes him to assume that all teenagers are the same. His generalisation of teenagers as a whole and empathy dismisses the possibility that the boy may not be guilty. This is apparent when the 3rd juror says:” jeez, I can feel that knife goin’ in.”(Act 2 page 59) His anger for the boy grows as the play progresses and several times he makes reference to his own son. This is proven when he says:” when he was sixteen we had a battle…”(Act 1 page 12)Perhaps it is for this very reason that the 3rd Juror is so determined to vote for not guilty no matter how convincing the facts were. He says: “well what d’ya want? I say he’s not guilty.”(Act 2 page 58).He remains stubborn to the very end until the 8th Juror reminds him that the defendant is not his son. Hence the 3rd juror’s past experience with his son prevents him from making a logical decision.
The 9th Juror’s old age is one of the many factors that influence

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