Examples Of Sympathy In And Then There Were None

The word sympathy is defined in the Oxford dictionary as “feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune.” Many people feel sympathy for their friends and family when they are going through hard times. Sympathy can also be felt for people you don't know personally, such as characters in a book or movie. While sympathy comes easily to most, some people may find it difficult to harbor these emotions for other people. A reason for this may be that they weren’t, or aren’t, shown much sympathy at home, and it has hardened their hearts. While it may prove to be tough for some, it seems impossible not to feel sorry for certain characters in the book And Then There Were None. The character that I have the most sympathy for is General MacArthur because his wife cheated on him, he was lonely, and he wanted to die.

Following the despair he felt after finding out about his wife’s affair came rage and bitterness. Macarthur sent Richmond into an impossible battle, resulting in his death. The general had believed that nobody knew he had sent Richmond to his death, excluding one soldier, Armitage, who may have suspected something. After he left the Army, MacArthur moved to a nice neighborhood in Devon. The general recalled how Leslie “hadn’t seemed very real anymore” after learning of Richmond’s death. Leslie later died from double pneumonia. Then, Macarthur began to notice how his neighbors seemed to look at him strangely. He started to think that someone had spread a rumor about Richmond’s death. This led to Macarthur avoiding all of his old Army friends and other peers, fearing that they might know his secret. The general's loss of his wife made him feel utterly alone. Once he withdrew from the community, he had no friends or peers left to talk with. He was left alone to think of his beloved Leslie and worry that everyone despised him. General MacArthur’s loneliness makes me sympathize with