Term Paper on "And Then There Were None"

Term Paper 4 pages (1308 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Agatha Christie is a one of this mystery author's most classic works, where ten people come together on a deserted island and are routinely murdered. The novel is a slightly bizarre look at justice in society and how that justice plays out.

Fred Narracott sat by the engine thinking to himself that this was a queer lot. Not at all his idea of what Mr. Owen's guests were likely to be. He'd expected something altogether more classy. Togged-up women and gentlemen in yachting consume and all very rich and important looking" (Christie 18). This passage introduces another key element of the novel besides Christie's ideas on justice. It introduces the strict caste system in Great Britain, and how society adheres to that caste system above all else. Fred, the ferry operator, seems to think the guests he is shuttling to Indian Island are beneath the Island's owner and host, because they do not dress and act like aristocrats. In effect, he is acting like a snob because the guests are not snobs! Christie seems to be commenting on the social injustice of the caste system in England, but also on how it is so ingrained in society that everyone adheres to it, no matter what.

The author also shows this in Vera's seemingly compulsive need to let everyone know she is an employee, rather than a guest. She immediately indicates she is a "lesser" being than the guests, and there to serve them, although she does not even know how at the beginning of the story. England's society is based on societal levels and the book helps the reader understand how important they are to English people. Americans may not understand their need to categorize people into societal levels, but at least they will understand how it works a little better by reading this book. It also shows there is something decidedly different about all the guests, which makes the reader want to continue on and discover just what it is.

It was a cruel mouth now, cruel and predatory. Hooding his eyes, the judge smiled to himself. He'd cooked Seton's goose all right!" (Christie 53). This passage is significant because it gives insight into Judge Wargrave and what motivates him. After reading the book and discovering he is the killer, it makes more sense to see him like this, an old and very vindictive man who resorts to using his own form of "frontier justice" on people he thinks deserve it. It is interesting because he has followed the law throughout his life and career, and yet now shuns it to mete out his own form of justice. Supposedly, his whole life has been about upholding justice, and now, he thumbs his nose at it because he believes all these people are guilty. What if they are not? That is what his career has been about, and yet he turns his back on it at the end of his own life. Christie seems to be commenting on the criminal justice system and its technicalities and quirks that can allow innocent people to be punished and guilty people to go free. Indirectly she is also commenting on the class system in British society, where some of the wealthy guests have been able to buy their freedom and pay their way out of a murder verdict. Thus, the book is a look at class, but it is also a look at justice, especially alternative forms of justice that seem at least partially justified.

Vera Claythorne was standing in the yard. She cried out in a high, shrill voice, shaken with wild bursts of laughter, 'Do they keep bees on this island? Tell me that. Where do we go for honey? Ha! Ha!'" (Christie 118). This passage is significant to the overall book because it illustrates something important about all the characters. Some of them feel extremely guilty about the murders they were accused… READ MORE

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