And Then There Were None Analysis

Ten Little Indians

And Then There Were None is a book by Agatha Christie, a mystery about ten strangers who were invited to Indian Island where they will meet their death. The story takes place in a secluded mansion with minimal help. The invitees soon realize they were misinformed and lured to this mysterious island. This entire story takes place in only a few days with no survivors in the end. Justice Wargrave, one of the ten people invited to the island, is actually the sole person who invited all the others. His main reason for having them come to the island is to bring justice for the unpunished crimes they all committed. Justice Wargrave geniously writes a hauntingly, eerie poem representing each person's guilt and their demise.

Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, who allowed a young boy to swim out to sea, even though she knew he would drown. She ‘attempted’ to save him but reluctantly so she could marry his Uncle Hugo who would then inherit the family fortunes. She did not think that Hugo would leave her after finding out what she did and from that day on, she has been haunted by her selfish actions. When she arrived at the island, she thought that her new job opportunity would change her life and she could escape from her guilt. Through the stress of being on the island, her guilt overwhelmed her as she heard voices of her past lover and hung herself from a noose. “How very quiet the house was. And yet –it didn't seem like an empty house… Hugo, upstairs, waiting for her…”(244) shows that she was hearing things and being paranoid and fearful of being alone. Her punishment does fit her crime perfectly because she sent a young boy to swim at sea to die alone and without any saving him. Her guilt overwhelmed her and she, too, was alone on the island without anyone to help her. “The sea . . .So peaceful today – sometimes so cruel…The sea that dragged you down to its depth. Drowned…Found drowned…Drowned at sea…Drowned – drowned – drowned…”(PAGE). Vera Claythorne, in the end, drowned her her own loneliness and suffocated in her own guilt as she hung herself in her

He was an outspoken man who enjoys voicing his opinion on believing that Wargrave is the mastermind and the killer.“I mean – it explains Indian Island. There are crimes that cannot be brought home to their perpetrators. Instance the Rogerses'. Another instance, old Wargrave, who committed his murder strictly within the law.”(PAGE). He came to Indian Island thinking that he was hired by Isaac Morris, owner of the island, because he was a “good man in a tight spot” (PAGE). Philip Lumbard always carried a loaded revolver with him, the weapon that will later cause his fatal death. The reason why he is on Indian Island is because he killed twenty-one men from an East African tribe by leaving them to rot without any food or supplies. "Story's quite true! I left 'em! Matter of self-preservation. We were lost in the bush. I and a couple of other fellows took what food there was and cleared out ... Not quite the act of a pukka sahib, I’m afraid. But self-preservation's a man's first duty. And natives don't mind dying, you know. They don't feel about it as Europeans do.”(61).His punishment does fit his crime because he was a heartless man who left almost a dozen tribal members to die, and because of this heartless act he was shot in the heart with his own revolver by Vera Claythorn because she thought he was the killer and wanted to save herself. She did