Character Analysis: And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie

He,(Dimmesdale), is “a rare case…I must search this matter to the bottom” (Hawthorne, 158). When Chillingworth overheard Dimmesdale having a bad dream, he entered his quarters and “laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment, that, … had always covered it even from the professional eye” (Hawthorne, 159). What Chillingworth saw there, no one knows, but we know that he saw Dimmesdale’s sin on his chest. “… With a wild look of wonder, joy, and horror … (with) the extravagant gestures with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor” (Hawthorne, 159). When Chillingworth becomes the Devil, he is doing many strange things. Chillingworth is keeping himself secluded, and is seen lurking around town in a creepy manner. Roger secluded himself from everyday life to keep his plot for revenge focused. His plot is working too, Dimmesdale’s “… soul shivers … at the sight of the man” (Hawthorne, 240). Chillingworth is also spending a great deal of time in the “forest trees … searching for roots and twigs, for his strange medicines” (Hawthorne, 145). The townspeople even see that Roger Chillingworth is pure evil. When the town first meets Chillingworth, they think he is a kind old doctor that would not harm a soul. “ At first, his expression had been meditative, scholar like” (Hawthorne,

Even tho his actions are quite subtle, they make a big impact in the story. The first big action he makes is when he starts hanging around Dimmesdale. Hawthorne states that, “After a time, at a hint from Roger Chillingworth, the friends of Mr. Dimmesdale effected an arrangement by which the two were lodged in the same house; so that every ebb and flow of the minister’s life-tide might pass under the eye of this anxious and attached physician” (Hawthorne 70). In this quote the reader learns that Chillingworth found a way to get closer to Dimmesdale. Through this action Chillingworth is capable of destroying Dimmesdale's soul. All of the evil actions Chillingworth commits make his appearance

He finds out it was Dimmesdale and then set out to torture him. “[Chillingworth] never set him free again until he has done all it’s bidding. He now dug into the poor clergyman’s heart” (Hawthorne 117). Hester tells Chillingworth to stop, but Chillingworth does not. He wants to get revenge on Dimmesdale. Because of this revenge, he loses Hester forever. Chillingworth tortures him in his own best interest. He is selfish. He wants Hester, even though Hester no longer loves him. Even after he has the chance to learn his lesson, Chillingworth still acts in his own interest. He learns that Dimmesdale and Hester are going to leave on a boat, and he books a ticket on the same boat, causing more problems for Hester and Dimmesdale. Chillingworth wants only what was in his own best interest, not what is better for others.

Not only does Christie intertwine characterization in her novel to show the evil side of human nature in Vera and Lombard, but also in Justice Wargrave. Wargraves character in this novel is portrayed as a flat personality. In this novel Christie does not speak much about Wargrave, she only reveals one or two personality traits. “In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times.” This passage shows only a few characteristics about the identity of Wargrave, it shows that he is a wealthy man being able to ride in a first-class carriage, and it also shows that he is an ex officio (1). “Only Mr. Justice Wargrave and Miss Brent seemed comparatively unmoved.” This passage also enlightens the fact that Christie made Wargrave is a flat character. In this novel it does not show Wargrave to participate in many group discussion nor does it show his fear in this situation. In applying this characterization to Wargrave it allows the other characters to take no account of Wargrave to be responsible for the

Justice Lawrence Wargrave had a dark desire of seeing or causing death but he also had a strong sense of justice so seeing innocents die brought him no pleasure, although as time passed he started loosing control and wanting to kill, which was a constant inner battle for him. Ultimately he succumbed to his desire and began forming his plan, which targeted people who deliberately killed but where untouchable by the law becoming a sort of “criminal artist” shown by the way he committed all the murders by following the old nursery rhyme the ten little Indian Boys. “From my earlier youth I realized that my nature was a mass of contradictions.” (p. 261). This quote shows us that Wargrave always new that he liked the idea of murder but because of sense of justice he would have to plan an amazing murder that would both bring people to justice but also satisfy his hunger for

The author Agatha Christie who wrote the novel And Then There Were None set the theme of a powerful journey leading the main characters in a decision of survival and fate, the way the author Agatha Christie goes into different elements to show how this theme came about is irony. She uses this technique to get the audiences full attention on how the mystery in this novel bring about missing characters and will be the lost standing Agatha Christie is not one of your ordinary authors; she brings a point in the novel which is a very suspenseful view that will catch your attention.

Though an argument can be made that an action’s results, or consequences, not motives, determine a man’s guilt, Wieland can still be shown guilty. In describing how he murdered Catharine, Wieland says, “‘Thrice I slackened my grip, and life kept its hold, though in the midst of pangs. Her eye-balls started from their sockets. Grimness and distortion took place of all that used to bewitch me into transport…’”, thus showing that Catharine’s brutal murder one of the consequences of Wieland following the voice’s instruction (195). Later, when Clara, Wieland’s sister, wants to visit Wieland, her uncle says, “‘…your brother’s frenzy is stupendous and frightful. The soul that formerly actuated his frame has disappeared….A fury that is rapacious of blood that lifts his strength to almost above that of mortals, that bends all his energies to the destruction of whatever was once dear to him, possesses him wholly.” This quote makes clear the unstable state of Wieland, yet another result of his

Hawthorne develops Dimmesdale’s character to exemplify the destructive power of guilt, which Chillingworth’s vengeful nature furthers. Hawthorne shows both the destruction that guilt causes and the intensity of Chillingworth’s revenge through diction and setting.

Chillingworth’s plot for vengeance continues when Arthur Dimmesdale falls ill and the doctor takes up residence with the priest. He has his suspicions of the true nature of Dimmesdale

Written by Mystery’s number one best selling author, this book is promised to keep you on the edge of your seat. Ten people are brave enough to venture out to an island, invited by a unknown host that is nowhere to be found. The guests have nothing in common except a wicked past. Their fate is sealed by a murder that kills each of the guests off one by one, and only the dead are above suspicion. In the novel And Then There Were None written by Agatha Christie, the mystery elements that were used were: main conflict, setting, characterization, and the author’s techniques of giving clues.

            Later on during the story while Hester and Chillingworth are in the woods talking about Dimmesdale, Hester shouts at Chillingworth, "You search his thoughts. You burrow and rankle in his heart! Your clutch is on his life and you cause him to die daily a living death!" (Pg. 156) Hester knows Chillingworth has more evil in his blood than ever before in his life; he feeds off the pain he causes Dimmesdale and enjoys every minute of it. Chillingworth doesn't realize in the slightest how much more evil flows through his veins now, than did before in his life. It

Imagine knowing how you would die. Paranoia? Schizophrenia? Insomnia? All of these feelings would set in as you sat waiting to be the next victim. Ten Little Indians, published as And Then There Were None when it débuted in America, brought a wonderful sense of mystery into the life of the American. Written by Agatha Christie, it was published in 1939 as a fiction murder mystery. The story is set on an island off the coast of Devon, England during the thirties. Ten Little Indians is a classic murder mystery, which involves ten unsuspecting average people. While it seems that one of these people would be the main character, everyone is equally important in shaping the story.

“Outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap” (“Homepage”). The New Historicism Lens is a way for readers to speculate deeper understandings of texts by relating the text to the historical era in which it was set or written. Another aspect of this lens involves looking specifically at how the author’s life impacts their writing. Published in 1939, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, continues to be one of Christie's most successful books, and with the use of this lens, readers can observe historical happenings at the time it was written and how events in Christie’s life influenced her writing of this text.

Murder is often an occurrence in the novels of Agatha Christie and have plots that change the views of the characters as well as the reader. But how does she do it? In two of her most famous novels And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express compare to each other through an overpowering psychoanalytic possession of many people at once. Psychoanalytic possession creates the characters to do what they though they would never do. It comes to them in a mindless way through their egos and super-egos knowing what they want to do through inner most desires and making them come to life. Due to the careful wording of Christie, common illnesses of

The book And Then There Were None was written by Agatha Christie in 1939. The