Agatha Christie Essay Example For Students

Agatha Christie Essay The Characters and short about their backgrounds: Mr Justice Wargrave Had worked as a Judge for many years and had a fine reputation all over the country. He had killed several people by giving them the death sentence one of them is Edward Seton. Seton was probably innocent. Vera Claythorne Worked as a Schoolmistress. Her crime was killing Cyril Ogilvie Hamilton, by not trying to help him by while he was about to drown. She was his nanny. Philip Lombard Explorer, that has travelled all around the world. Was known as a man that you can rely on in stressful situations. He killed 21 men of an East African tribe by leaving them when mercenaries attacked their village. Miss Emily Brent Was an old cynical lady. Because of her a girl named Beatrice Taylor killed herself by jumping from a bridge. She was working with Emily as a maid. And when she got pregnant Emily froze her out. General Macarthur An old General who sent a man named Arthur Richmond to a certain death when he found out that he was having an affair with his wife. Dr Armstrong He owned a practice and was very popular in the upper class of England. He accidentally killed Louisa Mary Clees. He operated her while he was drunk and she died because of that. Tony Marston A man in his mid twenties, very handsome and popular around women. He drives very carelessly and ran over John and Lucy Combes. They both died. Mr Blore A former inspector at Scotland yard. Because of him James Stephen Landor died. He killed himself after being sent to prison innocent. Blore planted the evidence against Landor. Mr and Mrs Rogers They worked as servants. Were married. They worked for Jennifer Brady. Jennifer was a sick old Lady and giving her, her medicine, was a part of their job. One time they didnt give it to her and they inherited a lot of money. One day in August, eight people got a mysterious letter. Eight strangers, all carry a well-hidden secret. They are all invited to Nigger Island, an island that was very famous for people who like to read gossip magazines. The Island is located right outside the Devon coast, and is called Nigger Island cause the island is shaped like a head with the lips of a Negro. They all arrive on time but the weather is terrible and the women are a bit anxious about being on the Island since theres a storm coming. When they get to the Island, they find out that their host and hostess are delayed. They arent alone on the Island. The Owens has hired two servants, Mr and Mrs Rogers. Including them, they are ten people. Mr and Mrs Rogers serve a fantastic dinner, and serve them drinks afterwards. While Mr Rogers serves them the drinks, they hear a mysterious voice. The voice accuses every one of them of a terrible crime: MURDER! Mrs Rogers fainted of the shock. They tried to find out where the voice came from, and discovered that its a gramophone put up against the wall in the adjoining room. They are all very upset, and thats why no one thinks its a murder when Anthony Marston dies just a few minutes later. He choked of his drink, said the doctor, then he gave Mrs Roger a sleeping drug and sent her to bed. Thats how the terrible story began. The others sat up late discussing the mystery about all this. First the very vague invitation, then the voice and their missing host and hostess. They also discuss the letters, and discover that there are different senders. The sender is always a U. N. Owen = unknown. And why the shower curtains were missing. Early next morning Dr Armstrong woke up by someone knocking on his door. It was Mr Rogers, something was wrong with his wife. He couldnt wake her. When Dr Armstrong takes a look at her, he sees that shes dead. Probably heart failure, he cant know for sure without his medical instruments. Thats why nobody thinks the second death is a murder. But when General Macarthur dies from a hard hit in the back of his head while hes sitting on the beach, they start to wonder. After discussing the evidence, as Judge Wargrave calls it they come to the conclusion, that Mr unknown is one of them. The weather is so bad that no one could be able to get out to the island. Not even the daily boat with groceries came. The next on the list was Mr Rogers. He was out chopping wood for the fireplace when someone almost cut his head of with an axe. The men found him a few hours later, when they wondered why he hadnt woken them up. Suddenly Vera remembered something: The old nursery jingle. Ten little nigger boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little nigger boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little nigger boys travelling in Devon; One said hed stay there and then there were seven. Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six. Six little nigger boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little nigger boys going in for law; One got into Chancery and then there were four. Four little nigger boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little nigger boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Song of Solomon Paper EssayShe climbed up the chair a put the noose around her neck like she was in a trance. Then she kicked the chair away. People on shore had been told that there was going to be a test on the island, to see how people react when they are marooned on an island for a week. Thats why the boat didnt come. But after a few days they started to wonder. When the boat got there, all they found were dead bodies and the worst crime mystery England ever seen. They knew the order of the crimes, cause Vera had written a diary and they knew the time of death of Lombard. The rest they could figure out. Vera hanged herself, but normally the chair would lie on the floor, but it was neatly put upright in a corner. And the gun lying in the hallway. The police were puzzled but everything solved when a fisherman found a message in a bottle. The Judge, Mr Justice Wargrave, had written the message. This is the content of the letter: He was the murderer, and the reason that he killed all those people was because ha had always felt a need for killing. But he also had a strong sense of whats right and whats wrong. And one day when he was talking to his colleagues they discussed that there must be a lot of crimes that the law cant touch. Crimes like death help and car accidents often cant be proved. In his mind he came up with a plan. A plan that would help him convict murderers. He loured nine people to the island including him they would be ten. Finding the people wasnt very hard. He asked people hed met a few questions, and without knowing it people told him exactly what he wanted to know. He chose the Nigger Island cause the name fitted with the old nursery jingle he had learned at school as a child. Slipping cyanide in Tony Marstons drink wasnt difficult, cause at that time no one suspected murder, same thing with Mrs Rogers. General Macarthur was also an easy target while he was sitting alone on the beach. Everyone was asleep when he killed Mr Rogers and Miss Brent wasnt suspecting anything when he put sugar in her coffee. And by the time he gave her the lethal dose of cyanide, she was to affected by the drug to notice him. He engineered his own death with the help of Dr Armstrong. He told him that he knew a way to find out who the murder was. They would convince the others that he was dead so he could snoop around without anyone knowing. All the doctor had to do was to say that he was dead, and ketchup did the trick with the bullet hole. He told the Doctor that he wanted to meet him on the cliffs later. When the good doctor came, he was pushed into the ocean. No one could she him when he threw the bear of stone at Blore. Vera took care of Lombard and herself. All he had to do was to put the chair back, and then take his own life. And he built some kind of catapult to throw the gun into the hallway after he had taken his own life. But first, he wrote this letter. My notes: Theres really not much to write about the characters, because Agatha hasnt written much about them. Just their actions and reactions, not much about their appearances. I think that her main reason about the book was just to entertain people, to give us something scary to read. The book is realistic but it in the same time its not. I wouldnt be surprised if some maniac really did something like his, not in Sweden though. Agatha Christie has written the book from an observers point of view. But she also get individual sometimes, you know what Veras thinking when she writes in her diary and so on. The book is written in old-fashioned everyday English speech. For example: Fancy a drink ehh? My thoughts about the book: I liked the book but I dont think its one of her best. Ive read quite a few but I liked the other ones better. I cant say that the novel has effected me, not like On the beach. After that book I started o think about world peace and things like that, but as I said this isnt likely to happen in Sweden. I dont know what else to say, I liked the book, it didnt affect me in any special way and I cant recognise their feelings in my own life. Agatha Christie Agatha Christie is famous throughout the world. She has written 78 crime novels, 19 plays and 6 novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott. Her books have sold billions of copies in English and another billion in 44 other languages. Her last published book, sleeping murder, was published in 1976. Staring: Miss Marple, one of two persons that she often used in her books. The other one is Hercule Poirot. Hercule was a detective and Miss Marple was an old lady who kept her eyes open and had a sense for details. They always solved their murders. She was born in Torquay, and were married to Sir Max Mallowan, archaeologist.