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"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."
This quote from the 9th Juror takes place in the beginning of Act I, after the 8th Juror said that if no one votes “not guilty” with him, he’ll allow the others to convict the boy. Here, the 9th Juror encapsulates how brave it is for the 8th Juror to be the lone voice of dissent in a room full of men who intensely disagree with him. He has to weather not only his own doubt but also the ridicule, dissent, frustration, and rage of the other jurors. This quote also illustrates the incredible difference a single juror is able to make in the course of the case. This is the first moment that the 8th Juror causes a change in another juror, as he convinced the 9th Juror to change his vote to “not guilty.” By the end of the play, he will have had a hand in convincing every other juror to see his perspective.
"It’s happened before that someone’s been convicted of murder and executed, and years later someone else has confessed of the crime. Sometimes . . . sometimes the facts that are staring you in the face are wrong!”
This quote, said by the 8th Juror, takes place towards the end of Act I after the 7th Juror argues that the facts couldn’t be clearer and that to him, it’s been obvious from the beginning that the boy is guilty. The 8th Juror asks the 7th Juror to broaden his perspective, emphasizing both the impossibility of knowing what happened and the danger of being too certain of one’s own interpretation of events. The 8th Juror urges everyone to think about the fact that making the wrong decision could make them responsible for a boy’s wrongful death, too. This quote encapsulates the work that the 8th Juror does throughout the play, persuading men who are fierce in their convictions and their own perspective to consider that they may be wrong. It also emphasizes the slippery nature of the perceived facts, as repeatedly throughout the play what seems to be certain is upended under closer inspection.
"They have many uses, of course. In this case they added to the general impression the prosecution was trying to create. Perhaps we would find that if we twelve men took the same tests, one or two of us might be discovered to have unconscious desires to kill, and the potentiality of carrying them out. Yet none of us has. To say that a man is capable of murder does not mean that he has committed murder."
This quote takes place in Act II after the Foreman brings up the testimony of the psychiatrist, who stated that the boy had strong homicidal tendencies. Here, the 11th Juror argues that this testimony doesn’t make the boy guilty. The 11th Juror holds a mirror up to the jury, who has been increasingly angry and hostile toward each other, suggesting that they too could have the capacity to kill. What’s more, it highlights a theme in the play that many jurors share traits with the accused. For example, the 3rd Juror yells that he’s going to kill the 8th Juror, just as the boy is said to have done. Like the boy, the 4th Juror forgets the details of the film he saw, and the 5th Juror also grew up in a slum. They are not so different from the boy, and this suggests that their tempers, forgetfulness, or background could lead them to the same situation. This underscores the need for compassion in their deliberation.
