And then there was one...
The American system of justice is an absolute travesty...it
is wretched, skewed and at times extremely unfair...but it is the best system
the World has ever seen...
What is it that makes this piece of literature
relevant? What makes it worthy of being
a piece of classic literature...and what makes it worth reading? Perhaps the answer to all three is this...it
is useful. It has the air of a parable,
something we can digest and use an example to remind us what frame of mind we
should be in when and if we are called to judge another.
Twelve Angry Men,
written by Reginald Rose, is not a book at all...it's a television
screenplay. It was broadcast over the
airwaves, live, in September of 1954.
From there, it was re-written to make it suitable for the stage
and published in book form.
Thereafter, it made its way onto the silver screen, and debuted as a
movie in 1957...starring Henry Fonda.
In a sense, this work of literature is akin to Arthur
Miller's Death of a Salesman, but has
more in the way of political commentary and an "in your face" theme of racial
injustice. This little tome shows just
how our imperfect justice system can work, should work and what the outcome
should be...Black or White.
If you want to read the 1955 first edition of Twelve Angry Men, abebooks.com or amazon.com have copies available at a reasonable price, or you can read it online... Twelve Angry Men. The original 1954 Westinghouse Studio One airing of the play can be found on youtube.
If you want to read the 1955 first edition of Twelve Angry Men, abebooks.com or amazon.com have copies available at a reasonable price, or you can read it online... Twelve Angry Men. The original 1954 Westinghouse Studio One airing of the play can be found on youtube.