Major Themes
Postgate’s premise is that of Marx, that “it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but on the contrary their social existence determines their consciousness”. Accordingly, he begins the novel by giving short biographies of each juror in which he describes their individual experiences, their social and financial background, the outlook on life which each of them has acquired over time, and also any possible predisposition to judge others harshly. Postgate presents all these factors to show that they prevent the jurors from considering evidence objectively, and that they will respond to the case emotionally rather than realistically.
Read more about this topic: Verdict Of Twelve
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