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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Administration of Justice
“I wanted to kill….Yes, I wanted to kill…. But-- incongruous as it may see to some- I was restrained and hampered by my innate sense of justice. The innocent must not suffer,” states Justice Wargrave on page 288. Wargrave decides to murder those who have committed crimes but are virtually untouchable by the law. Wargrave feels that each individual deserves punishment for the crimes and he has a duty to carry them out. Each of the ten victims did not commit murder but he feels they all deserve the same punishment. For example Emily Brent did not kill Beatrice Taylor, she only kicked her out for being pregnant, then the girl committed suicide. As heartless as Brent is this is not technically murder. Wargrave
The Effects of Guilt on one’s Conscience
We see the startling effects of guilt. Those who do not own up to their crimes are haunted by the guilt they carry around. Dr. Armstrong denies the accusations made against him. Later Dr. Armstrong has horrifying nightmare about the murder he had committed. “Easy to do a murder with a knife like that. And of course he was doing a murder….” (Chapter Six) Armstrong knows he committed a crime and carries the guilt around. Lombard on the other hand shows no remorse for his crime and openly admits to having left twenty one villagers to die with no food or water. Guilt does not follow him around. Vera Claythorne is so ridden with guilt in that in the end of the novel she winds up committing suicide. She drove away the only person who mattered to her, Hugo, and she murdered two people, Cyril and Lombard. Guilt proves just as lethal as the murder.
The Danger of Relying on Class
Throughout the novel we see the divide in class distinction. In the beginning we see that most of the men believe that the women were not suspects. They also referred to the killer as he or him never she or her. Armstrong continuously denies that himself or Justice Wargrave is the murder because of their high ranking in society. Armstrong teams up with Wargrave even after he is “dead.” This proves dangerous to Armstrong because he winds up dying at the hands of the Judge. As the murders continue everyday life continues. Rogers gets up the earliest and prepares breakfast. He is alone making him the perfect target for the murder. Wargrave single handedly dismantled the social class of Soldier Island.
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