Ivory Private Schools

English Language - Grade 9

Reviews - Extended writing - page 104

And Then There Were None - Review of Chapters 3 & 4

Brief Summary

And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie, set in the
1930s. It is told through a third-person narrator, which allows the readers to
enter each character’s conscience as they wrestle with guilt, blame, and fear.

The novel opens with eight strangers unknown to each other on their way to
Soldier Island. Each of the eight people on their way to the island believe they
were invited by Mr. Owen for different reasons. The guests are greeted on the
island by the housekeepers, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers only
arrived on the island two days earlier and like the rest of the guests, have not
met Mr. Owen, the owner of the island.

Chapters 3 & 4 Analysis

After the guests have dinner, the group hears a disembodied,

mechanical-sounding voice, seemingly coming from nowhere. It accuses each

of them of murder, naming the victim and the date of each guest’s alleged

crime.

The truth about the party on the island is now partially revealed, since the
recorded voice clarifies the hints that Christie has dropped so far about her
characters’ shady pasts. Now we know that they not only all have secrets, but
that they have all committed murder in one form or another. We also learn that

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their host, whoever he or she may be, has a dark sense of humour and delights
in tricks and word games. The name “U. N. Owen,” or, as Wargrave translates
it, “unknown,” is a play on words. The host’s central and most twisted word
game involves the “Ten Little Soldiers” poem, which becomes apparent after a
few murders have taken place.

Most of the guests deny the accusations made against them. Most of the guests

deny the charges, but the ones who do so the loudest, we realise, are actually

the people most wracked with guilt. We see earlier how Vera, Macarthur, and

Armstrong, for example, are haunted by memories of their crimes but now

claim to be innocent.

Meanwhile, the people who seem to feel no guilt over their alleged crimes

manifest different reactions. Lombard, who throughout the novel never

displays remorse for anything, willingly admits to leaving men to die in the

wilderness. He sees no problem with having self-preservation as his highest

value. Similarly, Tony Marston readily owns up to running down the children.

He seems to regard the incident mainly as an inconvenience for himself, since

his licence was suspended. Emily Brent, for her part, refuses even to speak

about her incident, which displays her strong sense of correctness as well as

her firm belief in her own goodness. She is not a criminal, her mind tells her,

but virtuous and pure, and so there is no reason to even bother denying the

charges, which she finds too ridiculous to trouble her.