Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None

Ingeniously brilliant, absolutely thrilling, and mind-bewildering, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None takes a grave turn on mystery and murder. Christie’s elegant writing mingles with the pleasing aura of a suspense and thriller together that gives this mystery the power to rack every bone in your body. Written in 1939, the novel takes place on Soldier Island, a fictional island near the coast of Devon, England. Lured by the enigmatic U.N. Owen, 10 strangers greet Death himself, left with only the fear and knowledge that the murderer lurks among the great halls of the extravagant mansion they all dwell in. Associated with a nursery rhyme counting down from ten to one, every death creates hysteria and angst on this island. Trapped

As Wargrave grew older into a young man, he began to grow “... A strong sense of justice.” (Christie, 286). Wargrave adopted the law as his profession, becoming a decisive hanging judge. He found entertainment in watching criminals squirming in the dock and trying murderers guilty in his court. As years past, his lust for action rather than judging became an immense appetite. “I have wanted—let me admit it frankly—to commit a murder myself… And I determined to commit not one murder, but murder on a grand scale,” wrote Wargrave on his manuscript to Scotland Yard after the deaths on the island (Christie, 287 & 288). His voracious hunger to kill sparked an appalling idea that awakened his sadism once again, lighting a seething flame that rekindled his wants. He wanted to create murder like art on a clean canvass, in the form of a murder mystery that no one could solve nor smear. Wargrave did not want to murder an innocent man, so he chose cases that could not stand in court. Wargrave finds nine “soldier boys” who committed awful crimes—Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, Emily Brent, William Blore, Anthony Marston, Edward Armstrong, John MacArthur, and Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. The Ten Little Indians nursery rhyme from Wargrave’s infancy served as a foundation for how he conducted and executed the murders. After a great time of thinking and scheming, Mr. Justice

Wargrave does not deserve the title of a logical vigilante, but instead a psychotic murderer who enjoys playing out a God-like role on Soldier Island. There is no justice in killing nine people for entertainment or for pleasure. It is the work of a sadist, who has no justice or vigilante inscribed in their title. It was Wargrave’s ambition “to invent a murder mystery that no one could solve.” (Christie, 298). His intentions met his desires to kill and to bring so-called justice. Some secrets do not seem as bad as they appear. Emily Brent did not necessarily try to kill Beatrice Taylor. Emily’s strictness and how she fired Beatrice caused her to commit suicide, not Emily physically killing her. Armstrong, under the influence of alcohol while operating on a women, did not intentionally try to kill the women on the table. Although the murder each guest committed have no good in them, it does not meet the needs for a death penalty. They have no trial to this hanging judge and are subject to his tongue and gavel. Pawns of Wargrave’s madness, the guests get an unfair death without them knowing their killer’s