Paranoia In Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None

Hitchcock also uses the detective as part of both stories. In “Shadow of a Doubt,” he is present to help Young Charlie discover the truth about her Uncle and in “Vertigo,” he is in the story to discover the truth for himself. However, the detective is also involved in the romance aspect of both films. The detective is a character used to create a bridge between the actions in the movie and the audience. Throughout the film, the audience, like the detective, is trying to unveil what has happened and what is going to happen.

An excerpt from the book, “Dandelion Wine”, was written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1957. The story takes place in the small town of Green Town where a serial killer, The Lonely One, remains at large. The main character, Lavinia Nebbs and her friends try to cope with the discovery of Elizabeth Ramsell’s body on their way to see a Charlie Chaplin film. Lavinia appears to be the only one not shaken up by the horrible news, and after finding out that a conspicuous man is inquisitive about Lavinia, the ladies appear to be on edge. Lavinia struggles to control her fear at the very end of the story when she suspects that she is being followed by a figure, and the story ends when she arrives home only to find that there is a man in her house. In stressful situations, fear naturally changes the entire perspective of the situation, and is ultimately inevitable. “Dandelion Wine” is best analyzed from the psychological approach because of how fear altered the character's perspective which enhanced the setting of the story.

Gothic literature contains many thematic elements such as horror, death, and even at times romanticism. This type of literature incorporates various different elements, in order to evoke the emotions of terror. There are many authors who are extremely talented and are still remembered and read in classrooms today. These are authors like Edgar Allan Poe, best known for his mysterious poems and short stories, Richard Matheson and Horacio Quiroga, who have all incorporated psychological problems and violence themes in their short stories in order to fascinate the readers and add suspense to the story. These three gothic authors correlate the themes of violence and the psychological/ mental issues in order to depict anticipation and terror

Horacio Quiroga's gothic romantic story “The Feather Pillow,” and other works such as Richard Matheson’s “Prey” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” all encompass the reoccurring theme of psychological issues. In “The Feather Pillow,” Quiroga illustrates the balance between life and death and a healthy versus tainted relationship. Alicia is mentally and physically destroyed by her marriage to Jordan. When Alicia is bedridden with an incurable disease, the nightmares and hallucinations slowly begin. One night while she was sleeping she was suddenly awoke and “her staring she was suddenly transfixed. After a while she opens her mouth to scream and her nostrils and lips were headed with sweat” (Quiroga 1). This continued to happen to Alicia. The parasite was sucking the life out of her. After being sick for some time, “Alicia began to hallucinate. The visions were confused and floating to start with and then came to ground level” (Quiroga 1). The psychological issues and hallucinations suddenly became worse.

The spookiest experience of my life was when i saw my grandmother sitting in her old chair after she died. This scenario is related to Gothic Literature and Magical Realism because it contains supernatural things like a ghost, a strange or scary plot, and a gloomy mood. Those two genres are similar because they both show dull and odd events throughout the stories. However, Oates’ “Where is Here”is an example of Gothic Literature because it contains a spooky and egear plot, an ambiguous ending, and tortured characters.While Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of Magical Realism because it uses weird, strange plots that seem regular as if it were a part of daily life.

The moral of using psychological problems and mind games teaches the reading audience that people only like to see what they want to see, or what they are told to see. In reality, it is important for people to just face the music, and come face to face with their problems. Conquering personal problems is a great asset to life, and Gothic Literature exhibits the consequences of not doing

Andrea Schaumlöffel argues that the story’s rhetorical structure gives it a new structural technique. That is, Poe experiments with the latent structural elements of the story to describe the psychological features of the narrator (24). The narrator suffers from anxious behaviors which make him deeply anxious. Then, the narrator becomes more anxious because of the “hallucinations” made by his sin to commit a crime (26). Yet, the story rhetorical structure provides the reader with a suspense quality by which the reader does not understand the true murderer

In modern society, people tend to enjoy terrifying and horrific films and novels because of the anticipation and thrill of the character’s fear, in which they are not aware of. One of these common and popular genres is known as Gothic Horror. Although this entertainment is common in our society today, in past time periods, it was written during a mass transition. The age’s in which there are religious, cultural, and technological advances and changes, is a particular time when novels in this genre come to light. People are typically not comfortable with change, which is why these transitional times can cause anxiety, in which causes novels in this genre to be written. The short story, The Judges House, written by Bram Stoker is properly categorized

When Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Black Cat” in 1843, the word “paranoia” was not in existence. The mental illness of paranoia was not given its name until the twentieth century. What the narrator is suffering from would be called paranoia today. The definition of paranoia is psychosis marked by delusions and irrational decisions. This definition could best be described in the nineteenth century as being superstitious and believing that supernatural powers are affecting our decisions. Superstition and being taken over by the supernatural is a recurring metaphor for paranoia in Poe’s story.

One of the spookiest experiences in Harley’s life was on a cold, dark Halloween night when Harley and her friends, Lauryn and Heidi, got chased by a clown for 3 blocks on a gloomy narrow road. This scenario relates to traits  of Gothic Literature and Magical Realism because, that experience was in a dark setting and contained weird incidents and a disturbing plot. Those two genres are similar because they both usually have unrealistic characters and scary plots. However, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher” is an example of Gothic Literature because, the story’s setting is in an isolated, creepy, and large house with odd characters and a frightening plot line, while Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of  Magical Realism because the realistic characters are accepting the unimpressed narrative tone in an ordinary way of life. Gothic Literature is a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom. Settings are usually in a isolated and haunted location in a big house or castle with trap doors, dark rooms, and secret passages. Characters are usually supernatural beings or monsters.

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.

The short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar are two well known works of literature that encompass unique literary styles. Poe utilizes Gothic literature in his story, a style of writing that incorporates elements of darkness, gloom, drama, and intense descriptions. On the other hand, Cortazar uses Magical Realism and its realistic characters, setting, and fantastic and unusual events to tell his tale. Despite the two being completely different genres, they share many similar traits, specifically relating to fear.

Gothic tales are known for being mysterious and gloomy. Certain elements are integrated throughout the narrative to create the desired effect, and simultaneously suggest other ideas. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane and “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Stetson are significantly similar, by the way both settings highlight the idea of madness. The relationship between setting and madness is induced by the display of physical isolation, disturbing elements, and hallucinatory incidents.

The plausibility of the two creatures affects the terror the reader experiences. The narrator of “The Horla” and William Harker both note

Since a psychological thriller is not only supposed to manipulate the character's mind but the audience's as well, these tactics concerning setting have deep meaning and hidden messages which amplify and twists plots to confuse the audience and keeps them on the edge of their seat. Setting should be treated and cautioned in order to not deliver the wrong messages to the audience. connotes