And Then There Were None Guilt Essay

And Then There Were None is a novel written by Agatha Christie. In the novel, the ten main characters are sent to an island by someone under the name U.N. Owen. Throughout the course of their stay, the characters are killed off one at a time by someone among the original ten, following the words of a nursery rhyme. Two of these characters are Vera Claythorne and Dr. Armstrong. Both characters feel constant guilt throughout the course of the novel, one becoming frantic and emotional, and the other beginning to become unsure of their memory and themselves. Through Vera’s reactions towards the deaths and to the seaweed in her room, along with Dr. Armstrong’s thoughts while recalling his drunken operation, it is seen that guilt can cause people

Following Mr. Roger's death, Vera seemingly has a mental breakdown, which is described, “... as though the sane well-balanced girl had gone mad before their eyes” (Christie 113). To the others, Vera has always been seen as, as the quote says, well-balanced, sane, and all in all normal, making her outburst odd for how she presents herself. The stress of the deaths and of the situation in general has driven her to practically the brink of madness, with the additional effects of her guilt making the situation feel unescapable, and maybe even deserved. Additionally, as Vera reflects on Cyril and his murder, she feels the seaweed planted in her room touch her neck. “She screamed and screamed - screams of the utmost terror - wild desperate cries for help … It was that which she had taken for a clammy hand, a drowned hand come back from the dead to squeeze the life out of her!” (Christie 130-131). Although the reaction to the seaweed could be seen as acceptable due to the situation, because she was thinking of Cyril, her fear is more amplified due to her guilt. Moreover, the way Vera describes the seaweed gives the impression that she has always feared the drowned Cyril somehow coming back from the dead to take revenge, a fear she has never shown, even in her thoughts, up until this point. Through this, Vera’s change in character from a

Armstrong also acts out of character by becoming unsure of himself due to both the fear of the killer and the stress of being accused as the killer. After defending himself following the playing of the gramophone record revealing their past deeds he thinks to himself, “Drunk - that’s what it was - drunk … And I operated! Nerves all to pieces - hands shaking … But who could have known about it—after all these years?” (Christie 48). Despite normally being a self-assured person, in this specific portion of his thoughts, Armstrong questions not only the events of the operation, but also how well-kept the secret of his actions were for someone to have found out. Armstrong is second-guessing himself, not trusting his own memory and attempting to convince himself he was just drunk due to the pressure of his actions being revealed so publicly, and due to the guilt that his reputation as a doctor may be damaged because of this revelation. On top of this, when Justice Wargrave declares that the killer must be among one of them, Armstrong becomes increasingly apprehensive. “He twitched and his hands shook. He lighted cigarette after cigarette and stubbed them out almost immediately. The forced inaction of their position seemed to gall him more than the others” (Christie 127). As a doctor, Armstrong has a history of having to deal with nerves during operations, yet the current situation, his past actions out in the open, a killer on the loose, and guilt from operating drunk, has