Murder is never justified. Or is it? In Agatha Christie’s most popular murder-mystery novel, And Then There Were None, Christie explores the thin line between retribution and justice. She does this by twisting the typical murder situation to make the usually innocent victims, killers themselves. This makes the audience question the morality of the murders if the murder is bringing the other killers too justice. This use of moral ambiguity and character behavior, allows Christie to develop the novel's three crucial themes: distortion of justice, effect of guilt, and use of concealment.
The majority of murder mystery novels examine the act of a murderer who, because of the main detective, is brought to justice for their crimes. In And Then There …show more content…
Christie does not use symbolism often with regards to concealment, but the one time she does use it has a major impact on the outcome of the story. The symbolism she uses is the island itself. Indian Island as it is called, is secluded from the rest of society, making it a geographical manifestation of concealment. To make matters worse, a large storm is going on preventing them from getting help or escaping. On page, 113 it says “No fishing boats out. There's a storm coming. Damned nuisance you can't see the village from here… we're to be marooned here, no attention is to be paid to signals” (Christie 113). This shows how completely concealed and trapped the people are on the island. Concealment also operates on other levels. Regarding the behavioral aspect, initially the guests hide the details about their lives and involvement in their crimes from each other. Concealing their guilt, and deceit behind an impregnable wall. Obviously, all the guests invited to the island have been able to conceal their involvement in their crimes from the authorities, but each guest has a different method in doing so. For example, Wargrave uses his position of power and authority as a judge to hide his involvement in the death of an innocent man. Lombard relies on the fact that he was at war the time of his actions occurred, and Vera uses the classification of “accidental” to avoid punishment for her crime. However, because the murder has discovered the truth about each individual, it is clear Christie is trying to suggest that it does not matter if you try to hide your crimes, the truth can never really be
The majority of murder mystery novels examine the act of a murderer who, because of the main detective, is brought to justice for their crimes. In And Then There …show more content…
Christie does not use symbolism often with regards to concealment, but the one time she does use it has a major impact on the outcome of the story. The symbolism she uses is the island itself. Indian Island as it is called, is secluded from the rest of society, making it a geographical manifestation of concealment. To make matters worse, a large storm is going on preventing them from getting help or escaping. On page, 113 it says “No fishing boats out. There's a storm coming. Damned nuisance you can't see the village from here… we're to be marooned here, no attention is to be paid to signals” (Christie 113). This shows how completely concealed and trapped the people are on the island. Concealment also operates on other levels. Regarding the behavioral aspect, initially the guests hide the details about their lives and involvement in their crimes from each other. Concealing their guilt, and deceit behind an impregnable wall. Obviously, all the guests invited to the island have been able to conceal their involvement in their crimes from the authorities, but each guest has a different method in doing so. For example, Wargrave uses his position of power and authority as a judge to hide his involvement in the death of an innocent man. Lombard relies on the fact that he was at war the time of his actions occurred, and Vera uses the classification of “accidental” to avoid punishment for her crime. However, because the murder has discovered the truth about each individual, it is clear Christie is trying to suggest that it does not matter if you try to hide your crimes, the truth can never really be