An Analysis Of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None

Imagine being in a house on an isolated island with nine strangers; slowly, one by one, the strangers around you begin to die, are you next? In the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, the plot revolves around a group of strangers all accused of murder who will soon meet their death. The story is filled with suspense, a progressive mission to discover who the murderer is, and an interactive plot for readers. Christie’s style of writing is such that it breaks all the conventional rules of a murder mystery. Not only is the culprit a detective, the reader is also allowed to follow the murderers thoughts and could not have solved the mystery on his or her own. When Christie does decide to follow the rules she aims for subtlety with

As character after character perishes, suspense increases because the reader’s prior suspicions are progressively cut short. The final rule that Christie breaks is that which the detective cannot be the criminal. Each character plays a role of detective in this novel for each character is seemingly equally as confused about the situation as the next. The thoughts of all ten strangers are spelled out on the pages cross-accusing every single character - even those of Justice Wargrave. He himself is the one to state, “it is perfectly clear. Mr Owen is one of us…” (150). As characters begin to dwindle in numbers, readers are left piecing together a very complicated puzzle that ultimately leaves one wondering who in the world could have committed the crimes. Christie’s choice to use one of the ten original characters as the murder adds a startling ending that followed an extreme buildup of suspense. Wargrave had appeared to be just another victim to an unfortunate series of events, yet instead he was the mastermind behind the whole massacre. In allowing Wargrave to play criminal and detective, Christie provides a suspenseful and jaw dropping ending that the reader could not have seen

As a reader follows along the thoughts of each of the ten characters, he or she is forced to decide for himself which character is the culprit. Christie’s choice to follow the rules builds important foundation for her decision to break them as well. In breaking the rules, Christie challenges minds of her readers and creates an ever so suspenseful ending to a brilliant story. The psychological games that Christie employs within her novel causes the reader to question oneself almost encouraging the reader to go back and read the book again attempting to find the