As Thomas A. Kempis says, “Such as every man is inwardly so he judgeth
outwardly."” In other words, how someone feels inside reflects his or her
thoughts and opinions. This is true in the play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald
Rose. In Twelve Angry Men, a boy is accused of murdering his father, and it is
the job of the twelve members of the jury to decide his fate. Jurors eight and
ten have strong feelings towards the boy that affect their votes. Juror eight is
a calm, thoughtful man who fights to see that justice is carried out. Eight is
the first to state that they should at least review the facts of the case before
they send him off to die. He also points out holes in the old man’s testimony,
and proves that they cannot put all their trust in what the old man has to say.
One of the last pieces of evidence that juror eight brings to attention is the
way the boy’s father was stabbed. Juror eight gets it into the other jurors
minds that there is reasonable doubt, and saves the boy’s life because he opts
to review the facts of the case with the jury. Unlike juror eight, ten is a
boisterous, angry bigot who is not fond of they boy, and this affects his vote.
Ten believes that he’s guilty up until the end of the play, and is constantly
referring to the boy’s racial group as “them,” and “those people.” He
also thinks of the boy as being ignorant, and a slob. Ten is not a fair man, and
is very prejudice towards the boy and says that he does not value human life.
The negative feelings that ten has against the boy cause him to vote guilty for
the majority of the play. As a result of the feelings of jurors eight and ten,
their votes are affected. How the jurors feel inside reflects their thoughts and
opinions, and as Kempis says, “Such as every man is inwardly so he judgeth
outwardly.”