And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie | Teen Ink

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

February 15, 2018
By KJ2016 BRONZE, Colfax, Iowa
KJ2016 BRONZE, Colfax, Iowa
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

 In And Then There Were None, ten strangers are called to Soldier Island off the coast of Devon for different circumstances. Soon they all arrive, thinking that the others must be joint guests to their unique circumstance. As it turns out, each of them has been told a different story to lure them to the island by a man referred to as U.N. Owen. Despite having different circumstances upon arriving, each of the ten is connected. At dinner, a gramophone recording accuses each of them of murder. Each of the ten people had committed murder in a way that could not be persecuted by the law. The ten come to the conclusion that Owen has called them to the island to evoke his own form of justice. This becomes especially apparent when they find ten glass soldier boys on the dining table and a copy of the nursery rhyme ¨Ten Little Soldier Boys¨ framed in each of their rooms. Owen appears to be planning to kill each of them as each of the soldier boys is killed in the story. This is fulfilled when the first of them dies by choking. Soon, the remaining residents of the island come to yet another conclusion. One of them must be both U.N. Owen and the murderer. As people continue to die as foreshadowed by the nursery rhyme, the remaining become suspicious of each other, creating tension that will have overwhelming results.


 Agatha Christie yet again owns up to her title as the queen of mystery in And Then There Were None. The novel is classic Christie complete with an ending that none of its readers will see coming. It remains extremely apparent the intricacy it took to weave each of the murders together in a way that would make the end of the conclusion of the novel possible. Christie also does a great job with character development. The way she manages to develop backstories and personalities for each of the ten characters in such a short period of time is truly mind-blowing. The individual tension and mental instability brought on by the unknown identity of the murder is also extremely well-written. This novel, much like the rest of Christie´s works, withstands the test of time and remains relevant for various generations of readers. The only downfall that I could see in the novel was that the general storyline has been done by Christie before, but she writes these types of novels so well that this can be quickly overlooked. Overall, And Then There Were None is easily deserving of a five out of five-star rating. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has read Christie before or enjoys mystery stories. 



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