What is Juror Number Eight's background in Twelve Angry Men?

In Reginald Rose's awesome play Twelve Angry Men the character of "Juror No. Eight" corresponds to an amiable, analytical, and intelligent man who is actually the only one who gives the accused the benefit of the doubt. He demonstrates the actual need for true justice by considering a person innocent until proved guilty. Moreover, he is the first juror to show humanity throughout the play.

The stage synopsis describes the character of Juror 8:

He is a quiet, thoughtful gentleman who sees all sides of every question and constantly seeks the truth. He is a man of strength, tempered with compassion. Above all, he is a man who wants justice to be done, and will fight to see that it is.

This being mentioned, the play by Reginald Rose does not directly appoint a specific background, at least not for Juror Number Eight. This is because this character is meant to act upon the mandates of his conscience and his idiosyncratic respect for human life as opposed to the rest of the jurors, whose votes are a direct consequence of their immediate backgrounds. This is significant indeed, because it sets Juror Number Eight aside from the rest in that he is the only one that uses his brain and common sense, and not his schema, to emit a vote.

The evidence of this lays in that every other juror's background is defined in the play. For example: Juror Number Seven is a brash salesman, Juror Number Eleven is a refugee from Europe who has suffered injustice, and then Juror Number Twelve works in advertisement and is a snob.

Similarly, Rose points out how Juror Number Nine is a defeated man awaiting his death while Juror Number Ten is a passive-aggressive type man who just enjoys aggravating people. As for the rest, Jurors Five and Six are described as not very bright men, while Juror Number Four is a rich man of flashy disposition. The Foreman and Juror Two are weak and feeble men whereas Juror Number Three is the one who Eight calls a "sadist" because of his forceful ways and his brash behavior. Therefore, Juror Number Eight, with the description given above, calls for a man of deep character and enormous depth of thought and humanity. 

This depth of character and humanity should be the result of the character's direct background. Although the play does not indicate the specific vocation of Juror No. Eight, the classical and truest-to-script film adaptation of the play  (1957) adds more specific information that is actually allegorical. In this alternative adaptation of the play, Juror No. Eight's profession is that of an architect. This is significant because it would explain why Juror No. Eight is so analytical, organized and compartmentalized in his thinking. The film alternate version also points that this juror is actually a father of three which also would help explain why Eight, out of all the jurors, seems to have the most compassion for a nineteen year old defendant.

However, the fact that the film version, which is also a classic, adds information about Juror Eight does not take away from the validity of the play's description. If anything it helps to connect the missing dots that we may find in the script.

What are some characteristics of Juror Eight in Twelve Angry Men?

Juror Eight is very methodical, wanting to carefully examine all the information that has been presented in the trial before making any decision. If found guilty, the defendant in this case would quite possibly receive the death penalty and be executed. Juror Eight takes that possibility very seriously. He does not want to risk killing the boy by mistake.

It's just that... we're talking about somebody's life here. We can't decide it in five minutes. Supposing we're wrong?

Juror Eight believes in the trial-by-jury system and intends to do his best to hold himself and other jurors to the procedures necessary for a fair and impartial outcome. He is striving to find the objective truth in the case, struggling to keep his own feelings and prejudices in check and urging the other jurors to do the same.

It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth. 

He speaks eloquently of the way in which the minority of jurors needs to explain their understanding of the events before he will change his vote from innocent to guilty.

Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we're just gambling on probabilities - we may be wrong. We may be trying to let a guilty man go free, I don't know...We nine can't understand how you three are still so sure. Maybe you can tell us.

What is Juror 8's personality in Twelve Angry Men?

The twelve jurors in Twelve Angry Men have unique backgrounds and personalities. As the only one who initially votes "not guilty" and the one whose thoughtful consideration of the evidence and persuasive skills bring the entire jury over to his side, Juror 8 is an especially powerful character. If I had to guess his personality type in terms of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I would say he is an INTJ. You can read more about this type at the links below.

Juror 8 seems to be an introvert. As jurors enter the jury room, some are making conversation, but Juror 8 goes to stand at the window and seems lost in thought. He has to be specifically called over to join the group at the table as deliberations begin. Introverts need time alone to recharge their energy, and that is what he seems to be doing here.

The "N" means he is intuitive--he focuses on visions and possibilities. We can see that he relies not only on the face value of what he has heard, not just on his five senses, but he looks beneath the surface to imagine what might have occurred that wasn't said. That leads him to consider how long it might have taken the old man to get to the door and whether other knives like the murder weapon might be easily obtainable. Imagining the murder scene in his head allows him to join two pieces of evidence together, the passing el train and the boy shouting, to prove that the old man could not have heard the boy shout those words.

"T" means that he is a thinker--he makes decisions based on objective, logical principles. He asks to see the diagram of the room, and he re-enacts the old man's steps to show that the timing could not have worked as the man testified. Putting the two pieces of evidence together as noted in the previous paragraph shows logic as well.

"J" means he likes to have things settled and decided, which may be why he keeps working for the unanimous verdict rather than accepting suggestions that they are a hung jury.

INTJs are visionary, insightful, and like to work in a logical, orderly way. They can be obsessed with a goal. Although somewhat reserved and aloof, they are very loyal. They like to engage in intellectual discussions rather than small talk. All these characteristics seem to fit Juror 8. Interestingly, one typical occupation for INTJs is an architect, which we learn is Juror 4's profession. One of the personality sites below even nicknames this personality type "the architect." 

How does Juror #8 in Twelve Angry Men respond to others' attempts to sway his opinion?

After the jurors take their initial vote and Juror #8 is the only one to vote "not guilty," he tells the others, "I don't believe that it is as simple as A, B, C." He also challenges Juror #3, who thinks that the defendant looks guilty, by asking him, "Are we to vote on his face?"

Juror #8 also tells the others that "it's not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first." Even though all the other jurors are initially against him, he withstands the pressure to conform because of the seriousness of the punishment the young man will face. He has the intelligence and strength of character to challenge the others who initially want a guilty verdict for a variety of reasons: a desire to go home, prejudice, anger issues, and personal weakness. He insists on the application of reason and, in doing so, leads his colleagues to think more deeply, especially about the unreliability of the eyewitness testimony. A major turning point comes when Juror#3 lashes out at Juror #8, who calls into question the seriousness of the often spurious threat, "I'll kill you."