“Killings”, Andre Dubus’ short story, revolves around a father who seeks vengeance against his son’s killer. The story is about the murders committed by Richard Strout and Matt Fowler in their attempt to get retribution and ease the pain in their hearts. The circle of killings is first caused by the murder of Matt Fowler’s son, Frank, by Richard, which leads to the retaliatory killing of Richard, by Matt. This infinite, unforgiving circle of killings and attempts at retribution is what Dubus portrays in a nonjudgmental view. The readers are left to see how the act of killing affects Richard and Matt and decide how much their retribution costs them.
Suspense is a mental uncertainty or anxiety. It can also be defined as the state of being undecided or doubtful. Authors of mysteries include elements such as foreshadowing, red herrings, and closed settings to help create suspense. The short stories “This Way Nobody Gets the Blame,” “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” and “Invitation to a Murder,” include these elements and are examples of well-balanced and well-defined mystery stories. The authors of these stories write interesting and suspenseful stories/mysteries.
“From now on, it is our task to suspect each and every one amongst us.” In Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None, ten unsuspecting individuals are invited to Soldier Island by the anonymous U.N. Owens. Not long after arriving, the characters have learned two things, everyone is guilty of murder, and someone there has already died. Throughout the story, one of the island visitors Vera Claythorne reveals herself to be not just a virtuous girl, but a hysterical, genuine murderer.
In the book And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, Mr. Wargrave’s actions affect other people in the story when he made false accusations, played the role of an innocent judge, and faked his own death. Mr. Wargrave was a very smart man and he found a way to accuse everybody on the island of murder, false or accurate.
However, I think this is completely false. In a situation where the fate of an individual is decided by a person who obtains immense amounts of power, it ignites a new type of fear: uncertainty. American lawyer and social justice activist, Bryan Stevenson, shares similar values, as he believes mercy is one of the most empowering, transformative qualities for people who are undeserving of forgiveness. Stevenson is a well apprised public interest lawyer, as he is widely acclaimed for his organization, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) were he dedicates his work to help “the poor, incarcerated, and the condemned” (). In addition, he has also won five cases at the United States Supreme Court, and has won over 135 wrongfully condemned prisoners who were on death row.
In the second paragraph, he introduces a metaphor for corrupt justice to highlight an irony when he states, “the inevitable force of circumstances should occasionally make him do one questionable deed, among a thousand praiseworthy, or, at least, blameless ones - would you characterize the Judge by that one necessary deed, and that half-forgotten act, and let it overshadow the fair aspect of a lifetime”. This metaphor mocks the belief that one little action of evil does not outweigh the action of good in a lifetime. The irony of the situation is that Pyncheon is a man of the law himself. Thus, society expects him, of all people, to be following the law. Furthermore, the specific details of Pyncheon’s actions reveal the corrupt nature within his character in which he uses a “scale and balance system” where “a thumb’s bigness of it should outweigh the mass of things evil, which were heaped into the other scale” for his “brotherhood”.
To begin with, hidden evidence, many possible suspects, and clues accumulated create suspense in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, by Sur Conan Doyle. Hidden evidence are missing piece of a mystery that seems unimportant. detectives went into Julias room and hunt for clues to how Julia died. There were
In Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None there are at least two of the twenty rules from “Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories” by Van Dine used. These two rules being “The culprit must turn out to be a person who has played a more or less prominent part in the story — that is, a person with whom the reader is familiar and in whom he takes an interest” (Van Dine) and “No willful tricks or deceptions may be placed on the reader other than those played legitimately by the criminal on the detective himself” (Van Dine) In And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie One of the many rules from “Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories” by Van Dine shown is “The culprit must turn out to be a person who has played a more or less prominent part in the story. . .” (Van Dine).
Justice Wargrave represents the theme of Justice, as he carefully decides on punishment and orders each of the characters to die. The two characters whose death was deliberate and given careful consideration were Vera Claythorn and Phillip Lombard. In the novel, “And then there were none.” Agatha Christie uses the literary technique of flashbacks and symbolism to demonstrate the theme of Justice.
Attempting to solve the mystery on who is killing them; characters try and work together to solve and stop who is murdering them. Surely, Agatha Christie uses mood, foreshadowing, dramatic Irony, locked-room mystery, and conflict throughout the novel to capture the reader into wanting more. Several conflicts arise during the announcements playing while people are
The setting of “And then there were none” is Soldier Island a fictional island that is based off of a real place, Burgh Island on the Southern coast of the United Kingdom. Not only does Burgh Island contain a fittingly large mansion, but the whole place is away from the mainland, making for a rather ominous setting. Perfect for someone looking for a mystery novel inspiration. Now let’s change the setting to a large abandon warehouse.
By doing this each character’s thoughts are revealed as they travel to the island which can reveal some of their thoughts and guilt. This is strange because it can reveal who the true murderer is, but it works out well due to there being many different characters all with guilt, and any of them could be the murderer. The earliest part of And Then There Were None supports the theme of justice
In the novel “And Then There Were None,” a mystery story by Agatha Christie, the element of suspense is used a lot. Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty about future events that keep you interested in a story’s plot. There are multiple different methods of suspense, and one used in the story is adding more complications to the plot. The text says, “‘Ulick Norman Owen--Una Nacy Own--each time, that is to say U.N. Owen. Or by a slight stretch of fancy, UNKNOWN!”’(61).
In Darrow’s closing argument he gives his famed “A Plea for Mercy” to the judge. This plea not only acted as a conclusion to his defense, but it also acted as an introduction the eradication of the death penalty. Darrow uses a mix of ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices to impose a merciful effect on his audience in hopes to reduce his clients punishment and the use of capital punishment. Darrow gracefully uses all three appeals when referring to the rise of crime after war “I know that it has followed every war; and I know it has influenced these boys so that life was not the same to them as it would have been if the world had not been made red with blood.
These mystery stories are apart from the reality. The Realists, unlike the Intuitionists, presents the text as realistic as possible, Dorothy L. Sayers, an English author is one of the most famous writers of this sub-genre and wrote ‘Lord Peter Wimsey’ and another eleven novels and two sets of the short stories. The Realist works with the physical evidence such as footprints, bullet holes, and other forensic or measurable evidence, however, the Intuitionists with the exercise of minds. Therefore, Crime Fiction is not static, each of these sub-genres within The Golden Age holds its basic conventions of the establishment.
