Characters Flashcards
Foreman
-Leadership role.
-Reasonable
-Levelheaded and calm despite having voted guilty in first parts of movie.
-Is still reasonable in his decision and shows now harsh feeling toward juror 8.
Quotes:
-‘Well, I figured we might want to vote by ballots.’ (Page 7)
-‘All right. Now you gentleman can handle this in any way you want to. I mean, I’m not going to have it any rules. If we want to discuss it first and vote, that’s one way. Or we can vote right now and see how we stand.’ - (Page 10)
-‘Im assistant head football couch at the Andrew J. McCorkle High School.’ - (Page 53)
2nd Juror
-Indecisive, timid.
-Opinions sometimes easily swayed. Changes vote based on 8th Juror’s calm conduct.
-Reasonable.
Quotes:
-“Oh. Well… [he pauses nervously] Well, it’s hard to put into words. I just- think he’s guilty. I thought it was obvious from the word go. I mean nobody proved otherwise.” – (Page 14)
-[flustered]: “Well, sure I’ve heard of it. I know what it is. I- what I meant- well, the man is guilty. I mean, somebody saw him do it.” [he looks around helplessly] – (Page 14)
3rd Juror
-Main antagonist
-Biased and ageist.
-Narrow-minded and unsympathetic won’t even consider discussing something.
-Strained relationship with his son immediately caused him to vote guilty and remain so out of pure emotion.
-However still holds some integrity and gets angry at juror 7 for changing his vote out of a bad reason.
Quotes:
-“Yeah, well I’ve got one. He’s twenty. We did everything for that boy, and what happened?….” “He hit me in the face. He’s big, y’know. I haven’t seen him in two years. Rotten kid. You work your heart out…” (Page 19)
-“That’s idiotic! Sure he could have heard it.” (Page 35)
-“The old man said the boy yelled it out. That’s enough for me.” (Page 35)
-“You keep coming up with these bright sayings. Why don’t you send one in to the newspaper? They pay three dollars” (To juror 9, page 35)
-“It’s the kids, the way they are nowadays. Angry! Hostile! You can’t do a damn thing with them. Just the way they talk to you. Listen. When I was his age I used to call my father “Sir”. That’s right, “Sir”! You ever hear a boy call his father that anymore?” – Page 17
-“You come in here with your sanctimonious talk about slum kids and injustice, and you make up some wild stories, and all of the sudden you start getting through to some of these old ladies. Well you’re not getting through to me” – Juror 3 (Page 47)
4th Juror
-Close to detail, level-headed, emotionless, attenuative, logical. Counterpart of 8th Juror.
-Represents turnover in story – not persuaded by any emotions. Just logic and rationality.
Quotes:
-“No… I’m convinced. Not guilty.” – (Page 71)
-“I have a reasonable doubt now.” – (Page 71)
-“The woman saw the killing through the windows of a moving elevated train. The train had six cars and she saw it through the windows of the last two cars. She remembered the most insignificant details. I don’t see how you can argue with that.” (Page 32)
-“If we’re going to discuss this case, let’s stick to the facts.” – Page 13
5th Juror
-Timid young man as he wasn’t first inclined to vote but however did later once eight and nine had risen their hand for not-guilty.
-Is sympathetic for the defendant as he had also grew up in a slum – Gives you perspective on what it is like as how it can still have an impact on you as he shown to be sensitive of his his past.
-Knew what to do with the switchblade, giving insight and pursuing the doubt in the other jurors.
Quotes:
-“I lived in a slum all my life,…” (Page 18)
-“I used to play in a backyard that was filled with garbage. Maybe it still smells on me” (Page 18)
-“There is something personal!” (To foreman – page 18)
-“I hate these things. I grew up with them” – To switch knife - Page 61
-“Have you seen them used in fights?” – Juror 8 – “Too many of them. On my stoop. In my back-yard. In the lot across the street. Switch knives came with the neighbourhood where I lived. Funny, I wasn’t thinking of it. I guess you try to forget those things. You don’t use this kind of knife that way. You have to hold it like this to release the blade. In order to stab downward you have to change your grip.” – Page 61
6th Juror
-House Painter
-Stood up for old man.
Quotes:
-I’m a house painter y’know…”
- (Juror 6 to Juror 3) “Hey! What’re ya talking to him like that for?…” “A guy who talks like that to old man oughta really get stepped on y’know.” (Page 35)
7th Juror
- Unable to take the case seriously, constantly making insensitive jokes, and an overall ignorant attitude towards the case and a lack of care for others.
- Ignorant – values his time and entertainment more than the value of someone’s life.
- He votes guilty because he thinks it’s the fastest way to get the proceedings to end.
- Prejudice – towards that of juror 11.
- Similarly narrow-minded to juror 3, won’t even consider some aspects of the case – most likely again due to his inability to take the case seriously and wanting it to end quickly.
Quotes:
-“Listen, I’ll tell you something. I’m a little sick of this whole thing already. All this yakkin’s gettin’ us nowehere so I’m going to break it up here. I’m changing my vote to not guilty.” – Page 62 – “What d’you mean – you’ve had enough? That’s no answer.” – Juror 3 – (see juror 11 quotes)
-“What d’ya mean I don’t understand it? Who the hell are you to talk to me like that? [to the others] How d’ya like this guy? I’m tellin’ ya they’re all alike. He comes over to this country running for his life and before he can even take a big breath he’s telling us how to run the show. The arrogance of this guy!” – Juror 7 – (see juror 5 quotes)
-“Look, sonny, nobody around here’s gonna tell me what words I understand and what words I don’t. [He points to juror 11]. Especially him. Because I’ll knock his goddamn Middle European head off.” – Page 56
-“Suppose we’re wrong. Suppose this whole building fell on my head! You can suppose anything.” – Page 12
8th Juror
-Closest to a protagonist. Willing to stand up and go against the majority of the group – or possibly representative of society as a whole and the corruptness in that of the justice system. - You need to take risks to be bold and make a change.
-Architect, father of two. – Reflects his high and strong morals, and stands by what he believes in.
-Charismatic, compassionate, courteous, reasonable, patient, shows integrity and open-mindedness, wants to give due consideration to all aspects of the case (could represent an ideal way to question one’s certainty and when approaching doubt)
-Can never conclusively say the defendant is innocent. He just purely thinks there isn’t enough evidence to say guilty. Wants to look at all parts of a case (could represent an ideal way to question one’s certainty and when approaching doubt.)
Quotes:
-“You want to see this boy die because you personally want it, not because of the facts.” – To juror 3 – page 47.* “He’s had a pretty terrible sixteen years. I think we maybe owe him a few words. That’s all.” – Page 13
-“You don’t believe the boy. How come you believe the woman? She’s one of “them”, too, isn’t she?” – To juror 10 – page 16
-“I’m an architect.” – Page 29
-“Look, this boy’s been kicked around all his life.”
-“It’s not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.” (Page 12)
-“I kept putting myself in the boy’s place.” (Page 14)
-“It’s always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And where you run into it, prejudice always obsecures the truth.” (Page 66)
-“Well I don’t think any real damage has been done here. Because I don’t really know what the truth is. Non one ever will, I suppose. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we’re gambling on probabilities. We may be wrong. We may be trying to return a guilty man to the community. No one can really know. But we have a reasonable doubt, and this is a safeguard that has enormous value in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless it’s sure.” – Juror 8 (Page 66)
-“It’s just that we’re talking about somebody’s life here. I mean, we can’t decide in five minutes.” – Page 12.
9th Juror
- An elderly, good-natured and overall compassionate man.
- First one to change vote from guilty to not-guilty.
- Believes and likes the courage that juror 8 has to stand up against the crowd. Votes for juror 8 because of his stand and to have the chance to see the case fully discussed.
Quotes:
* “Do you think you have a monopoly on the truth?” Page 13
* “It suddenly occurs to me that you must be an ignorant man” – To juror 10 – page 13
* “This gentleman chose to stand against us. That’s his right. He doesn’t say the boy isn’t guilty. He just isn’t sure. Well, it’s not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others. He gambled for support and I gave it to him. I respect his motives. The boy on trial is probably guilty. But I want to hear more.” – Page 27 - 28
10th Juror
- Overall a racist old man, full of prejudice, bias and racist thoughts. Causing him to outwardly vote guilty throughout the case, even though he eventually votes not-guilty he does not do it because he has seen his wrongdoings and or genuinely believes of the defendant’s innocence, but because he is still stuck in his own ways and refuses to improve as a person.
- Reflective of American society at the time with all the other events going on at the time the play took place, such as the prominent racism.
Quotes:
* “Great idea! Maybe we can get him elected senator!”
* “They’re born liars.”
* ‘You know what they’re like!… These people are born to lie.” – Juror 10 (Page 64)
* “We don’t owe him a thing. He got a fair trial, didn’t he?” – To juror 8 – page 13
* Look we’re all grown-ups here. We heard the facts didn’t we? Now, you’re not going to tell us what we’re supposed to believe that kid, knowing what he is. Listen, I’ve lived among ‘em all my life. You can’t believe a word they say. I mean, they’re born liars.” – Page 13
* “Well for instance, they don’t need any big excuse to kill someone.” – (Page 64)
* “They breed like animals.” – Juror 10 (Page 64)
* “We’re facing a danger here. Don’t you know it? These people are multiplying.” – Juror 10 (Page 64)
* “They’re gonna breed us out of existence.” – (Page 64)
* “Those people are in there suddenly like it’s some kind of mission or something. Look, they’re not gonna switch..”
11th Juror
- German – he is an immigrant from Europe which in return gives an important perspective of democracy in court between the contrast of other countries. It is not specified why he had a reasonable doubt but he did often point out to others who were not taking the court case seriously. His quote “What kind of man are you? Helps to emphasise the important role the jurors have.
- Has a lot of faith and pride in the American justice system and seems to be extremely knowledgeable. He rightfully get angry at juror 7 for changing his vote to not-guilty for the wrong reasons.
- Similar to that of juror 8, standing up for what’s right.
- Watchmaker
Quotes:
* “Facts may be coloured by the personalities of the people who present them” – Page 36* -
“That is not an answer. What kind of man are you? You have sat here and voted guilty with everyone else because there are some baseball tickets burning a hole in your pocket. Now you have changed your vote because you say you’re sick of all the talking here.” – To juror 7 – page 62-63
* “You have no right to play like this with a man’s life. This is terrible and ugly thing to do. Don’t you care….?” - Page 63
* “I can talk like that to you. If you want to vote not guilty, then do it because you’re convinced the man is not guilty- not because you’ve had enough. And if you think he’s guilty, then vote that way, or don’t you have the guts to do what you think is right?” – To juror 7 – page 63.
* “Please. I would like to say something here. I have always thought that a man was entitled to have unpopular opinions in this country. This is the reason I came here. I wanted to have the right to disagree. In my own country, I am ashamed to say that.” – Juror 11 (Page 27)
12th Juror
- Unbelieving
- Works in advertisting – reflects in his indecisiveness and easiness to be swayed by those more in power. How he goes from non-guilty to guilty multiple times throughout the film.
- Analytical, strategic, emotionless and sometimes unbelieving – however opinions are easily swayed.
Quotes:
* “…there’s always some character ready with an idea”.
* “Well- I don’t know….”- Page 62 – “What d’ya mean- you don’t know.” – Juror 3 – “I don’t know.” – Page 62
* The 12th juror’s face is a mask of indecision, then he suddenly raises his hand.
