Characterization And Conflicts In Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None

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placed in their rooms and it was all meant to tie into the idea that the name of the island is Soldier Island. While the guests were relaxing in the drawing room after dinner The Voice came on accusing each of the guests of a crime but when they looked to see who was talking, they found nothing but a gramophone playing a record. After this, Mrs. Rogers, the butler’s wife, fainted but Tony Marston was the first to die. The Dr. Armstrong determined the cause of death was asphyxiation from drinking potassium cyanide. The first thought was that it was suicide, they didn’t consider murder. They all go to bed but a few of them were either being kept awake thinking about the things they were accused of or having nightmares. While Vera was suffering from sleeplessness, she noticed the nursery rhyme …show more content…

Agatha Christie uses characterization and conflicts in the story to teach the theme. Of course the major conflict, guests vs. killer is what is the main thing used to portray theme and is the most effective but the smaller, minor conflicts also help out. The internal conflict Vera has with her guilt is also meant to show that punishment is inevitable. when Vera kills Lombard her guilt over her past crime overwhelms her and Hugo drives her to commit suicide. Christie also uses characterization to enhance the theme. Vera suffers from paranoia due to the guilt of her crime and never owning up to it. Because she never took responsibility for her actions, she has to try to deal with it and carry on a normal life with that hanging over her head. Wargrave’s desire to serve justice is what causes him to commit suicide. Guilt is not what motivates him, the fact that he has committed a crime and must do the right thing in his eyes is why he shoots himself. He planned the murders and had the desire to carry them out, but after it was done with, it would have gone against his