Character Analysis: 'And Then There Were None' By Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and ¨The Masque of the Red Death¨ by Poe feature several elements of Gothic literature. In And Then There Were None, Christie creates a mystery that is almost unsolvable. Most of the characters become suspects at some point in the story and the detectives can't solve the case. In contrast, Poe's ¨The Masque of the Red Death¨ there is a disease known as the Red Death, which they consider to be a murderer. Everybody knows who the murderer is. Similarly, there is one character who believes they are untouchable by death. Tony Marston in And Then There Were None, believes he is immortal but is proved wrong when he is the first to die. Prince Prospero in ¨The Masque of the Red Death,¨ although there is a widespread disease, throws a masquerade ball and believes his wealth will protect him from dying. He is wrong in his assumptions because the Red Death enters the castle and soon, everybody, including Prince Prospero, is dead. Both literary works feature similar messages however, the elements that convey those messages are not all the same. …show more content…
And Then There Were None takes place on a remote island, meanwhile ¨The Masque of the Red Death¨ takes place in an old castle. Another Gothic element presented in both works is death. In And Then There Were None several murders and a suicide take place, just as several deaths happen in ¨The Masque of the Red Death.” Although the deaths are in one story, murders, and the other story, caused by disease, there are symbols in both And Then There Were None and ¨The Masque of the Red Death¨ that represent death. In And Then There Were None there are ten little soldiers and every time someone died, one would disappear which represented the death of a character. The Red Death in ¨The Masque of the Red Death¨ represented