12 Angry Men Quotes Analysis

Laws are made with the intent of establishing justice, but that is not always the case. According to Johnnie Cochran, “If it doesn’t make sense, you should find the defense.” This quote means that when if something does not seem right then it should not be ignored. Skipping over small details that may seem insignificant may decide whether someone goes to jail or not. When making a decision that will determine someone’s future, one cannot ignore something that does not feel correct. One would agree with this quote because one misleading detail can alter the decision that will change someone’s life. Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose supports this quote when the jurors conclude that the old man could not have heard or seen the boy, the wound could …show more content…
One of the witnesses, an old man, lived below the boy and his father in their apartment building. He claims that he heard loud noises in the upstairs apartment and it sounded like a fight. Allegedly, he heard the boy yell that he was going to kill his father and a second later he heard the body fall. As they go over this piece of evidence, Juror Eight points out the flaw in that testimony because it would not have been possible for the old man to hear the boy yelling with the el train passing by. Juror Eight says, “An el takes ten seconds to pass a given point or two seconds per car. That el had been going by an old man’s window for at least six seconds, and maybe more, before the body fell, according to the woman. The old man would have had to hear the boy say, “I’m going to kill you,” while the front of the el was roaring past his nose. It’s not possible that he could have heard it” (Page 11). It would not have been possible for an old man who did not have the best hearing to have been able to hear the boy yelling. Even if the old man did hear the boy scream out that he was going to kill his father, that is a very common phrase used daily that does not necessarily mean anything. Along with the old man’s testimony, he claims that he ran to the door of his apartment where he saw the boy running down the stairs and out of the house. He says that he walked to …show more content…
After going over the evidence, the jurors figure out that the evidence is not completely accurate and they find the truth. With a train roaring by at the time of the murder, it is not possible the man could have heard the boy yell that he was going to kill his father. It would not have even been possible for the old man to have seen the boy running down the stairs. It is likely the man just wanted some recognition and importance and gave a false testimony. Also, the way the knife was stabbed into the boy’s father itself was a questionable piece of evidence. The boy was an experienced knife fighter who would not have held the knife-switch that way. It is more likely that someone else with a similar knife killed the boy’s father. Also, the woman living across the street could not have witnessed the murder itself. In order for her testimony to be true, she would have had to gotten out of bed and put on her glasses and look out the window when exactly the last two cars of the train were passing by. All these pieces of evidence had some flaw to them. Although they may not have been concerning before, the jurors found the suspicion in some of the testimonies. If the jurors had not analyzed the evidence and found the truth, an innocent boy may have been sent to jail. According

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