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Key Facts
full title · And Then There Were None (originally
published as
Ten Little Indians)
author · Agatha Christie
type of work · Novel
genre · Murder mystery
language · English
time and place written · 1939,
England
date of first publication · 1939
publisher · G. P. Putnam’s Sons
narrator · The narrator is an unnamed omniscient individual.
point of view · The point of view constantly shifts back and forth
between each of the ten characters.
tone · The narrator relates the story in a dark, foreboding,
and sinister tone, and often reacts dramatically (or melodramatically)
to the events of the story.
tense · Past
setting (time) · 1930s
setting (place) · Indian Island, a fictional island off the English
coast
protagonist · Although no clear protagonist exists, Vera Claythorne
and Philip Lombard are the most fully developed characters, and
they outlive almost everyone else.
major conflict · An anonymous killer gathers a collection of strangers
on Indian Island to murder them as punishment for their past crimes.
rising action · The accusations made by the recorded voice turn the
island getaway into a scene of paranoia; the murders of Tony Marston, Mrs.
Rogers, General Macarthur, Mr. Rogers, and Emily Brent indicate
that no one will be able to escape the “Ten Little Indians” rhyme.
climax · The apparent death of Judge Wargrave and the disappearance
of Dr. Armstrong strip away any sense of order.
falling action · The murders of Blore, Lombard, and Vera, combined
with Wargrave’s confession, restore some sense of order to the chaos of
the story.
themes · The administration of justice; the effects of guilt
on one’s conscience; the danger of reliance on class distinctions
motifs · The “Ten Little Indians” poem; dreams and hallucinations
symbols · The storm; the mark on Judge Wargrave’s forehead;
food
foreshadowing · Vera’s first sight of Indian Island, which
she thinks looks sinister, hints at the trouble to come; the old
man’s warning to Blore on the train that the day of judgment is
approaching hints that Blore will soon die; the “Ten Little Indians”
poem lays out the pattern for the imminent murders; Vera’s fascination
with both the poem and the hook on her ceiling presage her eventual
decision to hang herself. |
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