Secret ballot Symbol Analysis

This play deals with the idealistic principles behind the American legal system and the ways in which real people must struggle to meet these principles and interpret them in their own ways. The legal system attempts to achieve a fair trail through the use of unbiased citizens on a jury. Most of the jurors are far from unbiased, though, and they struggle against a variety of prejudices while attempting to interpret the language of “reasonable doubt.” Clearly, the ideal of the American legal system is difficult to achieve in reality. But many of the characters, particularly those who have suffered from prejudice, such as Eleven and Five, feel the pull of these standards of justice. The vote by secret ballot that Eight proposes symbolizes an ideal principle of justice that is unbiased. The initial vote by hand, and the following discussion among the jurors, shows that many are swayed by the opinions of others, by the pressures of conformity, and by other concerns. A secret ballot vote is the best attempt at unbiased, idealized justice. Eight, a rational and sympathetic man, proposes this approach to gain a true assessment of the jurors’ opinions.