Essay on anger in 12 Angry Men

Essay about anger in 12 Angry Men

Have you ever felt a frustration so intense it made you want to burn everything you see? This is rage, but more generally anger, a strong feeling of being annoyed or upset because of something bad or wrong. Everyone has been angry at least once in their lives. It is a very well-known emotion that everyone can relate to. It can be expressed in many ways and can be the result of a lot of things such as frustration because of unmet expectations, a feeling of injustice, and many others. In the film 12 Angry Men, directed by Sydney Lumet and released in 1957, anger is constantly represented throughout the story, as the title informs us. This film tells the story of twelve jurors that have to decide of the fate of a young man accused of stabbing his father. How is anger portrayed in this movie? To answer this question, we’ll study the two characters that represent the best anger, Juror n°10 and Juror n°3. We will first analyze how the characters embody anger, then how they manage it through the end of the film.

Juror n°10 is a bigot and a racist and definitely the cruelest character in the play, he has a complex of “us versus them” concerning the rich and poor. He speaks of the accused and people like him, from poor backgrounds, as “them.” He believes that none of “them” are trustworthy or good people. His anger toward “them” spills over repeatedly in the play.

He is xenophobic, has a very hot temper, and is constantly aggressive during the film. He’s violent from the beginning.

Juror n°8 asks Ten’s opinion on whether the suspect lied about losing his knife in the street. Juror n°10 violently replies, “Now that’s a stupid question. Sure he lied!” Eight is a calm man, and there was really no reason for Ten to “violently” reply. The only explanation is that he has a hot temper.

"You’re not gonna tell me we’re supposed to believe this kid, knowing what he is"

"I’ve lived among them all my life. You can’t believe a word they say. You know that. I mean, they’re born liars."

In those two quotes, Ten is referring to the defendant’s race to judge whether he’s lying or not which shows that he is a very prejudiced person even from the beginning. He says that you can’t trust "them" based on their ethnicity, which is racist and wrong because each individual is different from another and you can’t make generalizations based on race.

Juror n°3 is referred to as the bully, he is angry, and bitter and has most likely spent his whole life imposing his opinions and ideologies on everyone with success until now. He speaks loudly and aggressively, and contests every single argument that doesn’t match his. To help his arguments, he uses the phrase "know what I mean" at the end of almost everything he says, putting any juror with an opposing argument in an awkward position.

"Some unprivileged kid just couldn’t help becoming a murderer and you change your vote,"

Ten is accusing juror n°5 of changing his vote to not guilty, making assumptions about him and the kid. He talks to him as if he had any sort of hierarchical superiority over him.

"I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him!"

Ten says that to juror n°8 because he called him a sadist for wanting the boy to die as an act of revenge on his son, involving personal matters. Eight responds with “You don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you?" which makes Ten realize how far he went, so he went to pout alone to cope with his rage.

Towards