Symbolism In And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie

ways, and, finally, establish a sense of overriding order and destiny. The patterns are repeated too often and insistently to be coincidental. (Ardolino)
The subtleness of this symbolism is an excellent display of Christie’s murky clues given throughout the novel. They are so discreet that most readers would not even pick up on them at all. However, as previously stated, the mystery is only solvable through the usage of these cryptic yet considerate symbolisms. Ardolino found that the introduction of the story follows this symbolism, since “August is the eighth month and on its eighth day we have eight people arriving. Dinner on the first evening is set for eight and the boatman, Fred Narracott, is expected to return the next morning shortly

There are five islanders remaining when suddenly, Wargrave goes missing. He is then found sitting in a judge’s robe and wig with a gunshot wound through the head. The old nursery rhyme, which had predicted each of the previous murders, read “Five little Indian boys going in for law; one got in Chancery and then there were four” (Christie 203). The suspicion then flips from Wargrave to Armstrong, who proceeded to disappear that night. The disappearance brought together the remaining guests; Blore, Lombard, and Vera Claythorn. At this point, all the characters assume that Armstrong is the murder. This seems like the most logical solution to the events that had just transpired, however, Armstrong was the only one who examined Wargrave body. He acted overdramatic about the death, laughing an unusual laugh and saying “‘That's the end of Mr. Bloody Justice Wargrave. No more pronouncing sentence for him! No more summing up and sending innocent men to death. How Edward Seton would laugh if he were here! God, how he'd laugh!’ His outburst shocked and startled the others” (Christie 203). This could be taken as proof of Armstrong’s guilt, but that would make it too obvious to the other islanders. Why would he reveal himself with three victims left? Furthermore, the next portion of the nursery rhyme read “Four little Indian boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three" (Christie 225). Armstrong’s disappearance was a red herring. Webster’s dictionary defines Red Herring as “something that distracts attention from the real issue.” This means that the removal of Armstrong was used as a distraction, which was hugely