Reflection: Twelve Angry Men

In Twelve Angry Men, I observed the traits of an undisciplined mind when two of the jurors started to play tic-tac-toe, or some sort of game, while Mr. Davis was speaking about the trial. They were displaying poor thinking because instead of being open-minded about the things Mr. Davis had to say, they completely shut him out and ignored him. By doing that, they portrayed intellectual arrogance. They should have tried to put themselves in his shoes and try to figure out the reason for Mr. Davis being sympathetic towards the defendant. Another example of an undisciplined mind is when juror #3 got very angered and he blurted out that the old man, the witness, was old and confused, so he did not know what was he was saying. With that statement, he contradicted himself because he was one of the ones that believed the boy was guilty. He just assumed that the man was senile because he was old; he used the stereotype that old people are senile and do not know what they are saying.

When the jurors that believed the boy was guilty changed their decision, that was an example of intellectual fair-mindedness, courage, and humility. They believed that the boy was guilty but they were willing to reexamine the evidence and critically think about the innocence of the boy. They had to have used some intellectual standards to be able to change their decision of the verdict. When jurors #11 stood up and disprove his belief with the new rationalization of the murder that was intellectual courage. Even though he believed that the boy was guilty, he was willing to look at the evidence against his decision and point it out to his fellow jury members.

The scene when one of the jurors was confronted...