12 Angry Men Change in Responsibility Paragraph

In the play, 12 Angry Men, by Reginald Rose, juror four’s sense of responsibility changes throughout the play. In the beginning, he was snobby and thought he was a little above the others. “Why do we all have to talk at once?” (Act One) This shows that he thought everyone was hooligans and unmannered unlike him. He was also appalled by the behaviors of the other jurors. “I think we ought to behave like gentlemen.” (Act One) This shows that juror four thought everyone was a kid while he was a gentleman. He thought his duty was to keep everyone controlled and make them behave like him. Juror four’s sense of responsibility changed when juror ten started to state things that made him a bigot. “Human life don’t mean as much as it does to us.” (Act Three) “…they get drunk, and bang, someone’s lying in the gutter.” (Act Three) The quotes prove that he was only guilty because he was racist against class. Juror four’s sense of responsibility changed to having to convince the other jurors that the boy was guilty. “…she saw the boy stab his father. As far as I can see, this is unshakable testimony.” (Act Three) “I still believe the boy is guilty of murder.” (Act Three) These two quotes shows that he wanted to prove that he was right. At the end, juror four changes his vote to not guilty after being convinced by juror nine. Therefore, juror four’s sense of responsibility changed throughout the play.