AND THEN THERE WAS NONE
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan , (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was born in Devon,
was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Since 1971, she was made a Dame her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Structure of the novel
- The plot is structured around the ten lines of the children's counting rhyme "Ten Little Niggers” ("Ten Little Indians" or "Ten Little Soldiers" in later editions). Each of the ten victims – eight guests plus the island's two caretakers – is killed in a manner which reflects one of the lines of the rhyme. Also killed, but off the island, is the island's recent owner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui-8m6MTfZM
- Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were seven. Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six. Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little Soldier boys going in for law; One got into Chancery and then there were four. Four little Soldier boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little Soldier boys playing with a gun; One shot the other and then there was One. One little Soldier boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
Characters
Anthony James Marston (Tony Marston) , an amoral and irresponsible young man
Knocked over and killed two young children while recklessly speeding
Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;One choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Ethel Rogers, the cook/housekeeper and Thomas Rogers' wife
Allowed herself to be persuaded by her husband into withholding a former employer's medicine in order to collect an inheritance
Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;One overslept himself and then there were Eight.
General John Gordon MacArthur, a retired World War I war hero
Ordered a younger officer to undertake a mission where he was almost guaranteed to be killed when MacArthur accidentally found out the man was having an affair with his wife
Eight little nigger boys travelling in Devon; One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.
Thomas Rogers, the butler and Ethel Rogers' domineering husband
Induced his wife to withhold a former employer's medicine in order to collect an inheritance
Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Emily Caroline Brent, an elderly, pious spinster
Dismissed her teenage maid for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, the dismissal causing the maid to drown herself
Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;A bumble-bee stung one and then there were Five.
Lawrence John Wargrave (Mr Justice Wargrave), a retired criminal judge
Improperly influenced a jury to bring in a guilty verdict against a man many thought to be innocent; and sentencing him to death
Five little nigger boys going in for law;One got in Chancery and then there were Four.
Edward George Armstrong, a Harley Street doctor
Responsible for the death of a patient whom he had operated on while drunk
Four little nigger boys going out to sea;A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
William Henry Blore, a former police inspector, now a private investigator
Gave perjured evidence in court resulting in an innocent man being convicted, sentenced to life imprisonment, and dying shortly afterwards
Three little nigger boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.
Philip Lombard, a soldier of fortune
a soldier of Fortune, caused the deaths of a number of East African tribesmen, after stealing their food and abandoning them to their fate
Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was One.
Vera Elizabeth Claythorne, a young woman a sports mistress at a girls' school
As a governess, allowed her young charge to drown so that his uncle could inherit the family estate and marry her
One little nigger boy left all alone;He went and hanged himself and then there were None.
Isaac Morris, the island's owner, a sleazy lawyer and drug trafficker
- Recent owner of the island. Sold illegal drugs to a woman who became an addict and later committed suicide
Accepts a lethal cocktail of drugs to treat his imagined ailments