Throughout the play, the exposed biases and flaws of the jurors along with the facts and evidence of the defendant take the audience on a journey of what it is like to be on a jury. The play revolves around the defendant even though he does not appear on stage because Rose wanted the audience to be concerned about the jury rather than the boy. This sixteen year old boy from the slums is the reason the jury is brought together. ‘One man is dead. The life of another is at stake.’ The boy’s life in rested in the jury’s hands.
The 10th Juror is prejudiced and racist against the boy and his race as well as his background. The 10th Juror ignores the evidence which results in him continually fighting against those who are voting not guilty, for no particular reason but his prejudice. Juror 11 disagreed with Juror 3, 7 and 10 as Juror 11 talked based on facts and he is strictly looking for justice rather than the people who just voted guilty for no real reason. The playwright indicates that the facts and truth is of outstanding importance when deliberating a judicial trial. Rose explores the idea that extreme prejudice can blind people to the truth.
Social background, personalities and beliefs influence the way individuals think. The 3rd Juror was a vengeful and aggressive man who is the last juror to change his vote to not guilty. At the end of ACT I, when he yells angrily at the 8th Juror ‘I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him’, the 8th Juror says ‘you don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you?’ This conflict contributes to a major turning point because it brings closer to a unanimous ‘just verdict’ as other jurors learnt about flaws from strongly prejudiced people, like the 3rd juror. He contradicts himself by saying ‘Anybody says a thing like that…they mean it’ earlier in ACT 1 because he struggles to detach his personal feelings from the boy as he sees his own estranged son in the 16 years old defendant. Furthermore, the 10th Juror’s angry monologue at the end of ACT II, he demonizes people who are ‘different’.
Whether Mayella knew it or not, her accusations against Mr. Robinson were like picking a fight with a man who is not capable of fighting back. His skin color and lack of education kept him from a fair trial. The Ewells knowingly took advantage of Tom’s innocence and this is why Atticus Finch refers to them as white trash. He says”there are folks like us, then the Cunningham’s, and absolute trash
Bob, a very ignorant, poor man, feels like he must get some sort of revenge on Atticus for going against him in court, so he spits in Atticus’s face. Atticus simply tells his children “if spitting in my face and threatening me save Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’d gladly take” (Lee 292). Atticus allows himself to be put in danger by letting Bob take his anger out on him rather than him going home and abusing his daughter, Mayella Ewell even more. In the novel, Walter Cunningham, a poor white man, who lives in Maycomb and serves on the jury, believes Tom is innocent, but he does not have the integrity to act upon his beliefs. Atticus’s self-reliant characteristics make him stand firm in his beliefs and follow what his conscience tells him.
Fonda is constantly in a conflict between jurors three and ten. Both of these jurors had stereotypes and were close-minded to the possibly of the defendant not being guilty. Juror number three was the hardest to convince, he was very aggressive and argumentative to his case, but was also stereotyping the boy because it reminded him of his son. Jurors, three and ten, had a controlling style of conflict, they use bullying when other members gave input against their opinion. However, members like the old man, juror nine, were more open minded and interested in what Fonda had to say.
He thinks that he is the only one that opposes the corrupt authority, but does not reach out to other people because he is afraid. The Party's manipulation causes each member of society to feel isolated, and causes many to accept the Party's words as the truth. When members of society feel isolated, they turn to INGSOC for answers, even if they know it is false. The personification in the passage illustrates how INGSOC controls thought by changing history. Winston personifies the past, saying that it, "was dead" (25).
Three characters openly state their prejudice against the accused boy because of his background. The 3rd Juror is prejudiced against him because of the antagonism between himself and his own son: “I think we’d be better off if we took these tough kids and slapped ‘em down before they make trouble, you know?” The 10th Juror believes, “These people are born to lie. Now, it’s the way they are and no intelligent man is gonna tell me otherwise. They don’t know what the truth is…They are different. They act different.” The 4th Juror has similar beliefs to the 10th Juror: “This boy, let’s say he’s a product of a filthy neighbourhood and a broken home.
Society In Inherit the Wind, Cates challenges the law and, with it, the norms of Hillsboro society. Facing disfavor from the townspeople, he nonetheless decides to persevere in his cause. Describing his feelings of isolation, Cates explains to Drummond, “People look at me as if I was a murderer. Worse than a murderer!” Drummond, who has learned from his years as a criminal-defense attorney, along with his own struggles as an agnostic and an advocate for unpopular causes, empathizes with Cates. As Drummond says, “It’s the loneliest feeling in the world—to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down.” Both Cates and Drummond experience a struggle against mainstream society.
They would first help the man of their own skin color than help someone who is different than every one of them. When the decision on whether or not he was guilty was being made up by a biased jury he was sure to be charged as guilty. Racism plays a huge role in the fairness of this trial. Majority of the town wanted Tom Robinson to be found guilty simply because of the color of his skin even if they had never met him. With a judge and jury and audience all watching and participating in the trial with the mindset that he is worse than them just because of his skin if unfair.