Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
The Storm
For most of the novel, a fierce storm cuts the island
off from the outside world. This storm works as a plot device, for
it both prevents anyone from escaping the island and allows the
murderer free rein. At the same time, the violence of the weather
symbolizes the violent acts taking place on Indian Island. The storm
first breaks when the men carry the corpse of General Macarthur
into the dining room, symbolizing the guests’ dawning realization
that a murderer is loose on the island.
The Mark on Judge Wargrave’s Forehead
When Wargrave fakes his own death and then kills himself
at the end of the novel, he leaves a red gunshot wound on his forehead—first
a fake wound, then a real wound. This wound, as he points out in
his confession, mirrors the brand that God placed upon the forehead
of Cain, the first murderer in the Bible. It symbolizes Wargrave’s
self-admitted links to Cain: both are evil men and murderers.
Food
When the characters arrive on the island, they are treated
to an excellent dinner. Soon, however, they are reduced to eating
cold tongue meat out of cans. At the end of the novel, both Lombard
and Vera refuse to eat at all, since eating would require returning
to the house and risking death. The shift from a fancy dinner to
canned meat to no food at all symbolizes the larger pattern of events
on the island, as the trappings of civilization gradually fall away
and the characters are reduced to mere self-preservation.
