Independent+Novel+Study

December 3rd And Then There Were None By: Agatha Christie Pages 1-25


 * Plot Outline -** Justice Wargrave, a recently retired judge, is taking a train to the seaside town of Sticklehaven, where he is to catch a boat to Indian Island. He recalls the rumors that have swirled around the island: since a mysterious Mr. Owen purchased the place, people have suggested that a film star or a member of the royal family really owns the island. Wargrave takes a letter from his pocket and glances over its contents. The letter invites him to spend some time on the island and is signed by an old friend of his, Constance Culmington, whom he has not seen for eight years. He reflects that Constance is exactly the kind of woman who would buy a place like Indian Island.On the same train, Vera Claythorne ponders her invitation to the island. She has been hired as a secretary by Una Nancy Owen, apparently the wife of the island’s owner. Vera reflects how lucky she is to get this job, especially after her involvement in a coroner’s inquest into someone’s death. She was cleared of all blame for the death, we learn, but Hugo Hamilton, the man she loved, thought her guilty. She thinks of the sea and of swimming after someone in particular, knowing she would not reach him in time to save him. She forces her mind away from those memories and glances at the man across from her, thinking he looks well traveled.

The man, Philip Lombard, gazes at Vera and finds her attractive and capable-looking. He has been hired for a mysterious job on Indian Island and is being paid well for it, because he has a reputation as a “good man in a tight place.” He has never met his employer; someone named Isaac Morris hired him. Lombard looks forward to whatever he will find on the island. In another part of the train, Emily Brent sits up straight; she disapproves of slouching. She approves of very little, in fact. She is a very conservative, religious woman who holds most of the world in contempt. She has been invited to Indian Island for a holiday by someone who claims to have once shared a guesthouse with her. Emily Brent has decided to accept the invitation, even though she cannot quite read the name on the signature. General Macarthur is taking a slower train to Sticklehaven. He has been invited to the island and promised that some of his friends will be there to talk over old times. He is glad to have the invitation; he has worried that people avoid him because of a thirty-year-old rumor. He does not explain the nature of the rumor. Dr. Armstrong is driving to the island, having been asked to report on the condition of Mr. Owen’s ailing wife. He is a wealthy and successful medical man, but, as he drives, he reflects on the good luck that enabled his career to survive an incident that happened some years before, when he drank heavily. A sports car roars past Armstrong, driven by Tony Marston, a rich, handsome, and carefree young man on his way to Indian Island.Mr. Blore, a former detective and another guest, is taking a different train from the one the others are taking. He has a list of the names of all the other guests, and he reads it over, reflecting that this job will probably be easy. His only company on the train is an old man who warns him that a storm is coming and that the day of judgment is near. As the man gets off the train, Blore reflects that the old man is closer to death and judgment than he himself is. The narrator warns us that “there, as it happens, he was wrong. . . .”

Two taxis wait at the Sticklehaven train station to drive the guests to the dock. Justice Wargrave and Emily Brent share a cab, while Philip Lombard and Vera Claythorne wait together for the second taxi, which cannot leave until General Macarthur arrives on the slower train. The two make small talk until Macarthur’s train appears, and then the three of them drive to the dock, where Wargrave and Emily are waiting with a man who introduces himself as “Davis.” Just before they set out in the boat, Tony Marston’s car appears. In the twilight, he looks like a “a young god” as he drives toward them.A man named Fred Narracott ferries the group from Sticklehaven to Indian Island. He reflects on what an odd party these guests constitute, since they do not seem to know each other at all and do not seem like friends of a millionaire, which Mr. Owen must be. When the guests arrive at the island, they go up to the house, a large, modern-style building, and are greeted by the butler, Mr. Rogers, and his wife, Mrs. Rogers, who serves as cook and housekeeper. Mr. Rogers tells them that Mr. Owen has been delayed but that they should make themselves at home. Their rooms are prepared, drinks are made, and dinner is on its way. Each of the guests goes to his or her room. Vera finds her room well appointed. A statue of a bear sits on the mantelpiece, and a nursery rhyme hangs on the wall. Vera recognizes the nursery rhyme from her childhood. In the rhyme, “Ten Little Indians” get killed one by one: the first chokes, the second never wakes up, and so forth until none is left alive. Vera reflects that the poem is appropriate since they are staying on Indian Island. She then looks out at the sea, which makes her think of drowning. Dr. Armstrong arrives in the evening, passing Wargrave as he goes into the house. He remembers giving medical testimony in front of the judge once or twice, and recalls that Wargrave had a reputation for convincing juries to convict. The two men speak to one another, and Wargrave asks Armstrong about Constance Culmington, who supposedly invited him to the island. He learns that no one by that name is expected. He remarks on the oddity of the host’s absence.

**Upstairs, Marston takes a bath. Blore ties his tie and notices the “Ten Little Indians” rhyme over his mantelpiece. He resolves not to bungle his job. Macarthur has misgivings about the weekend. He wishes he could leave, but the motorboat has already left. Lombard, coming down for dinner, decides to enjoy the weekend. Upstairs, Emily reads a Bible passage about sinners being judged and cast into hell, and then goes down to dinner. **

**Why did you select this novel?** I selected this novel because when I the summary I thought that I would be able to read this book and get really interested, this book also makes me want to read more because I want to know what's going to happen next. Also some of the other books that I wanted were not in the school library but I am glad that they were not in the library because i am really enjoying this book right now.

**What's going on as the story begins?** As the story begins Mr. Justice Wargrave is in his carriage on the train smoking his cigar and reading the newspaper waiting for the train to get to his stop, Devon, when he got there he met a man in raged clothes that would take him over to Indian island but he was told that he was going to get a car ride over to the boat with a man who would pick him up at the train stop, but that man wasn't there yet so he decide to walk over and talk the boat over with this man.

**Who is telling the story? How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told?**The person who is telling the story is Mr. Justice Wargrave who is the reptilian old man know as the press. It effects the way the story is told because the reader only gets to see the story from his point of view so we don't get to know about what other people think about him and the reader don't get to see a lot of what is happening outside the area that he is in. But since he is telling us about his journey he knows everything that happened so sometimes he will throw in some foreshadowing that will make the reader what to read more.

10/10


 * December 10th **
 * And Then There Were None **
 * By: Agatha Christie **
 * Pages 26-50 **


 * Plot summary -** The guests enjoy a delicious dinner and begin to relax in spite of the odd circumstances. They notice a set of ten china figures of Indians sitting in the center of the table and immediately associate the figures with the rhyme that hangs framed in all of their rooms. When dinner is over, the whole company moves into the drawing room. Everyone except Mrs. Rogers is in the drawing room when suddenly the group hears a disembodied, mechanical-sounding voice, seemingly coming from nowhere. It accuses each of them of murder, naming the victim and the date of each guest’s purported crime. After listing the crimes, it asks if anyone at the bar has something to say in his or her defense.The voice falls silent, and almost everyone expresses shock and anger. Mrs. Rogers, who has been standing outside the room, faints. While Mr. Rogers goes to fetch her some brandy, everyone else searches for the source of the voice. Eventually, Lombard finds an old-fashioned record player in an adjoining room. Rogers returns and admits to turning it on in accordance with orders from his employer, but he denies knowing what it was going to play. The record is entitled “Swan Song.”

Mrs. Rogers revives, and her husband and Dr. Armstrong help her to bed. People pour themselves drinks. When Mr. Rogers returns, he explains that he and his wife have never met their employer, Mr. Owen. He says that an agency hired them, and they received instructions by mail. Everyone else takes turns explaining his or her invitation to the island, and they realize that “Mr. Owen” impersonated various old friends and specific acquaintances in the letters. Judge Wargrave, who has taken charge of the discussion, notes that the recorded message mentioned a Mr. Blore, but not a “Mr. Davis,” the name Blore has chosen as an alias. Blore then reveals his real name and admits that he was hired via post as a private detective to protect the jewels of Mrs. U. N. Owen. Wargrave suggests that U. N. Owen sounds like and stands for “unknown,” and that a homicidal maniac has invited them all here. The subject turns to the accusations made by the voice on the record, and the guests defend themselves. Wargrave, accused of killing a man named Edward Seton, says that Seton was an accused murderer on whom he passed sentence. Armstrong, remembering the case, privately recalls that everyone felt sure Seton would be acquitted, but Wargrave influenced the jury, which found Seton guilty. Vera, accused of killing Cyril Hamilton, tells the group that she was his governess, and he drowned while swimming to a rock. She says she tried her best to save him. Macarthur, accused of killing his wife’s lover, Arthur Richmond, says that Richmond was one of his officers who died on a routine reconnaissance mission; Macarthur denies that his wife ever had an affair. Lombard, accused of killing twenty-one members of an East African tribe, admits to taking their food and abandoning them in the wilderness, saying that he did so in order to save himself. Tony Marston, accused of killing John and Lucy Combes, remarks that they must have been two children he ran over by accident. Mr. Rogers says that he and his wife did not kill Jennifer Brady, their employer, an old, sickly woman who died one night when Mr. Rogers could not reach the doctor in time. He admits that they inherited some money after her death. Blore says that when he was a police inspector, he testified against a man named James Landor in a bank robbery case. Landor later died in jail, but Blore insists that Landor was guilty. Armstrong, accused of causing the death of a woman named Louisa Mary Clees, denies knowing the name but privately remembers the case. Clees was an elderly woman on whom he operated while drunk. Only the dignified Emily Brent will not speak to the accusation made against her. Wargrave suggests they leave in the morning as soon as the boat arrives; all the guests but one concur. Tony Marston suggests they ought to stay and solve the case. He then takes a drink, chokes on it, and dies.

**What information did you need to know before reading the novel?** You need to know that Mr. Justice Wargrave is the main character in the story and that he is on his journey to Indian Island because he has heard that a big millionaire has built a house on the island so he want to go and check out this place because everyone has been talking about it.

**How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest?** The author gets the reader interested by giving little hints of what's going to happen next but the reader doesn't know the whole thing that will happen so that the reader will read more. For example; when the book says that Vera Claythorne saw a modern sculpture with a nursery rhyme in side it. It was the same nursery rhyme that she red in her early childhood days. Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys Sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys traveling to Devon; One said he'd stay and there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indian boys ... (more to come later)

And now she is really freaked out and she want to get off this island.

**What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why?** The setting in the novel is on an island (supposedly owned by a millionaire) off the coast of Devon. The mood of this novel is misty and delirious. The setting is important because they can't get off of the island because the boat driver only drives to the island once a day. Also the storyteller make the island that there on seem kind of mysterious so we don;t know what's going to come at you next. 10/10


 * January 4th**
 * And Then There Were None**
 * By: Agatha Christie**
 * Pages 51-107**

As he prepares for bed, Wargrave thinks about Edward Seton, the man whom the voice earlier accused him of sentencing to death. The defense defended Seton well, and the prosecution presented a poor case. Everyone assumed the jury would acquit Seton. Wargrave smiles, remembering how during his summing up “[h]e’d cooked Seton’s goose.” Downstairs, Rogers notices that although ten little Indian statues originally sat on the table, now there are only nine. Macarthur lies awake in bed, recalling how during World War I he discovered that his young wife was having an affair with one of his officers. Furious, he ordered the officer, Richmond, on an impossible mission, effectively sending him to his death. No one suspected him at the time, except perhaps one of the other officers, a man named Armitage. His wife became distant and died of pneumonia a few years later. Macarthur retired and lived by the sea, but after a time he began to worry, suspecting that Armitage had spread the story around and that people knew his secret. Now, lying in his bedroom listening to the sound of the sea, a strange feeling of peace comes over him, and he realizes that he does not really want to leave the island. In her bedroom, Vera remembers her time as Cyril’s governess. She was in love with Cyril Hamilton’s cousin, Hugo, but Hugo was too poor to marry her and support both himself and her. Vera knew that if Cyril died, Hugo would inherit the family fortune. One day Cyril begged her again and again to be allowed to swim to a rock in the ocean. Vera pushes these recollections aside. As she passes the mantelpiece, she notices the similarity between Marston’s death and the first verse of the “Ten Little Indians” poem, which reads, “One choked his little self and then there were nine.” Armstrong has a nightmare in which he stands at his operating table, realizing he must kill the patient on the table. The patient looks like Emily Brent, then like Marston. Rogers, worried because he cannot rouse his wife, comes into the room and wakes Armstrong. Armstrong rises and goes to find that Mrs. Rogers has died in her sleep, perhaps of an overdose of sleeping pills. Rogers says she took only the pills Armstrong gave her. In the morning the guests rise, hoping to catch sight of the boat back to the mainland. Vera, Lombard, and Blore go to the summit of the island to watch for it, but it doesn’t appear. After breakfast, Armstrong announces Mrs. Rogers’s death to the group. The group is alarmed, and Macarthur gives Rogers his condolences when he returns to the room. When Rogers leaves the room, the group begins to speculate about the cause of his wife’s death. Emily Brent insists it was an act of God and that Mrs. Rogers died of a guilty conscience after hearing the recorded accusation of murder the previous night. Blore suggests that Rogers killed his wife in the hopes of covering up their secret. After the meal, Blore and Lombard discuss their situation on the terrace and decide that the boat will not come. Macarthur, passing them, expresses his agreement in a dazed voice and wanders off, saying that none of them will ever leave the island. Meanwhile, a baffled and frightened Rogers shows Armstrong that only eight Indian figures remain on the tableEmily and Vera take a walk together. Emily reiterates her conviction that Mrs. Rogers died of a guilty conscience. She tells Vera the story of Beatrice Taylor, the girl the recorded voice accused Emily of killing. Beatrice Taylor worked for Emily as a maid, but when Beatrice got pregnant, Emily immediately threw her out of the house. Friendless and despairing, Beatrice drowned herself. Emily insists that she has no reason to feel remorse, but the story horrifies Vera. Meanwhile, Lombard and Armstrong consult with each other. They discuss the possibility that Rogers killed his wife, and Armstrong expresses his conviction that the Rogers couple probably did kill the old woman in their care simply by withholding drugs that she needed. They also consider the possibility that Mrs. Rogers killed herself, but two deaths—hers and Marston’s—within twelve hours seems like an improbable coincidence. Armstrong tells Lombard that two Indian figures have disappeared. When Armstrong recites the first two verses of the poem, Lombard notices that they neatly correspond to the two murders. They decide that their host, Mr. Owen, committed the murders and is now hiding on the island, and they determine to search for him. Joined by Blore, Armstrong and Lombard make an exhaustive sweep of the small island. Since the island is mostly bare rock, few places for concealment exist. It turns out that Lombard has a revolver, which surprises Blore. As they make their search, the men come across a dazed Macarthur sitting by himself, staring off into the sea. He tells them that there is very little time and that they need to leave him alone. They decide that he must be crazy. Leaving him, they discuss how they might signal the mainland, and Lombard points out that a storm is brewing, which will isolate them. He adds that the fishermen and village people probably have been told (by Mr. Owen, presumably) to disregard all signals from the island. The men come to some cliffs they want to search for caves, but they need a rope. Blore returns to the house to get one, while Armstrong wonders about Macarthur’s apparent madness. Meanwhile, Vera goes out for a walk and comes across the Macarthur. She sits down, and he talks of the impending end of his life and of the relief he feels, given the guilt he has felt over the death of Richmond. Eventually, having seemingly become unaware of Vera’s presence, he begins to murmur the name of his dead wife as if he expects her to appear. When Blore returns with a rope, he finds only Armstrong, who is musing that Macarthur may be the killer. Lombard returns, having gone to check some unnamed theory, and climbs down the cliff to make his search for caves. As Armstrong and Blore hold the rope, Blore remarks that Lombard climbs extremely well. He says he does not trust Lombard and thinks it odd that he brought a revolver, saying, “It’s only in books that people carry revolvers around as a matter of course.” Lombard finds nothing on the cliff face, and the three men return to the house, where they make a thorough search for their missing host. The search goes quickly, since the modern house contains few potential hiding places. They hear someone moving about upstairs in Mrs. Rogers’ bedroom, where her body has been laid, but it turns out to be Mr. Rogers. Completing their search, they conclude there is no one on the island but the eight of them. Blore, Lombard, and Armstrong become argumentative. Blore suggests that Armstrong gave Mrs. Rogers an overdose of sleeping medication either by accident or on purpose. Lombard tells Blore not to be offensive, and Blore demands to know why Lombard carries a gun. Lombard explains that he was hired to do a job by Isaac Morris, who implied that he might find trouble of some sort on the island. The bell rings, announcing lunch. Everyone troops in for the midday meal except for Macarthur, whom Armstrong goes to fetch. Rogers serves a makeshift lunch of cold ham and tongue along with a few other items, anxiously expressing his hope that the food will satisfy the guests. People make small talk about the approaching storm and then hear the doctor returning at a run. He bursts into the dining room, and Vera immediately surmises aloud that Macarthur is dead. Armstrong confirms this fear, stating that Macarthur was killed by a blow to the head. Blore and Armstrong retrieve Macarthur’s body, and the storm breaks as they bear the corpse into the house and place it in Macarthur’s room. Vera and Rogers notice that only seven statues remain on the dining-room table. Everyone except Rogers gathers in the drawing room, and Wargrave takes charge of the meeting. He says he has come to the conclusion that the murderer is one of the guests. The others, except for Vera, agree with this theory. He then asks if anyone can be cleared of suspicion. After some initial objections, including discussions of whether women and professional men can possibly be suspected of such crimes, it is agreed that they must proceed as if any of them could be the murderer. The guests then review their movements of the past two days to see if anyone’s actions made it logistically impossible that he or she committed all three murders. No one has a foolproof alibi. Wargrave warns everyone to be on his or her guard, and dismisses them as if adjourning a court. ==== Vera and Lombard talk in the living room. They agree that they do not suspect one another. Lombard remarks that Vera seems very levelheaded for a woman. He then tells her that he suspects Wargrave; perhaps, Lombard suggests, years of playing God as a judge have driven him mad and made him want to be both judge and executioner. Vera says she suspects Armstrong, because two deaths by poison sounds like a doctor’s handiwork. She suggests that he might have killed Macarthur when he went down to fetch him for lunch. She also points out that since Armstrong is the only member of the group with medical knowledge, he can say what he likes about the manner of death and no one can contradict him. Rogers, polishing the silver, asks Blore if he has any suspicions. Blore says he suspects someone, but he will not say whom. Meanwhile, Wargrave and Armstrong talk. Wargrave strikes Armstrong as eager to hold on to his life. Armstrong worries that they will all be murdered in their beds, and Wargrave thinks to himself that Armstrong can think only in clichés and that he has a “thoroughly commonplace mind.” Wargrave then says that while he has no evidence that would stand up in a court of law, he thinks he knows the identity of the murderer. ==== Emily sits in her room, writing in her diary. She begins to feel groggy and writes in a shaky hand that the murderer is Beatrice Taylor (the pregnant maid she once employed who killed herself). She snaps to her senses and cannot believe she could have written such a thing. She thinks that she must be going mad. Later that afternoon, everyone gathers in the drawing room. The normalcy of teatime makes them relax a bit. Rogers rushes in to announce that a bathroom curtain made of scarlet oilsilk has gone missing. No one knows what this absence means, but everyone feels nervous again. The guests eat a dinner consisting mostly of canned food. They retire to bed soon after eating, locking their doors behind them. Only Rogers remains downstairs. Before he goes to bed, he locks the dining-room door so that no one can remove any of the remaining Indian figures during the night.
 * Plot Summary** - Armstrong examines the drink and finds it was poisoned, but since Marston poured it himself, the guests assume he committed suicide. Still, they find it hard to believe that such a high-spirited young man would want to take his own life. Marston’s body is carried to his bedroom and placed beneath a sheet. After a time, everyone goes upstairs to bed except for Rogers, who stays downstairs to clean up. As they enter their rooms, each guest locks his or her door. The house, so modern and gleaming, now seems horrifying in its blankness.


 * What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character? ** The first problem that the main character faces is the problem that Armstrong has died just like the Indian story has said (someone choking and dyeing) and so now everyone is scared that the next death in the Indian story is going to happen to someone one the island (someone oversleeping themselves and dyeing).


 * Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events? ** The novel so far has been pretty easy to follow but it is for sure not a kids book because little children wouldn't understand what the plot is it the story.


 * What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses? ** The new things that have been added to the story in this section are the death of Armstrong and the search around the island to look to see if anyone else was on the island and the fear of everyone that someone in the house is going to die tonight when everyone goes to bed because that is what the Indian story said in it and the first death has already happened like the story said.


 * January 7th **
 * And Then There Were None **
 * By: Agatha Christie **
 * Pages 108 - 141 **


 * Plot Summary -** Lombard sleeps late. Waking, he wonders why Rogers did not come to rouse him earlier. He finds the others, except for Emily. Blore and Wargrave have to be roused from sleep. Downstairs, they find no sign of Rogers. Emily comes in wearing a raincoat, saying that she has been walking around the island. Entering the dining room, Vera discovers, to everyone’s horror, that another statue is missing. They soon find Rogers’s body in the woodshed, with a hatchet wound in the back of his neck. Vera suffers a slight breakdown, raving about how the rhyme has been fulfilled—“One chopped himself in halves, and then there were six.” The next verse pertains to bees, and she asks hysterically if there are any hives on the island. Armstrong slaps her, and she comes to her senses. The group breaks up while Emily and Vera prepare breakfast. Blore tells Lombard that he thinks Emily is the killer. After some prodding, Blore admits to Lombard that he testified against an innocent man. As she cooks breakfast, Vera stares off into space, letting the bacon burn while she remembers Cyril disappearing into the water. Emily remains outwardly calm, but when Vera asks her if she is afraid to die, Emily begins to get nervous. She thinks to herself that she will not die because she has led an upright life. At breakfast, the remaining guests behave very politely, but frantic thoughts flood their minds. After breakfast, Wargrave suggests they convene in half an hour to discuss the situation. Emily feels woozy, so she remains at the table. Armstrong offers to give her a sedative, but she recoils at the idea. As the others go out and clean up in the kitchen, Emily sees a bee buzzing outside of the window and realizes that there is someone behind her. She seems drugged or delusional; she thinks sluggishly and calmly of bees and of how much she likes honey. She thinks the person in the room is Beatrice Taylor, dripping with water from the river. She then feels a prick on her neck.

In the drawing room, Blore says he thinks Emily is the killer. Vera tells them the story of Beatrice Taylor. Some seem to agree with Blore’s theory, but Wargrave points out that they have no evidence. They go to the dining room to get Emily and find her dead, her skin turning blue. They notice the bee buzzing outside and remember the rhyme: “A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.” Emily apparently died of an injection from a hypodermic syringe. Armstrong admits that he has a syringe in his medical bag. The remaining guests go together to search his room, and they find the syringe has vanished. Wargrave suggests they lock away any potential weapons, including Lombard’s gun and Armstrong’s medicine case. Lombard reluctantly agrees, but when they go to his bedroom they find that his revolver is missing. At Wargrave’s prompting, everyone strips (Vera puts on a bathing suit) and is searched for weapons. They store all potentially lethal drugs in a case that requires a key. The case is placed in a chest that requires a different key. Wargrave gives one key to Lombard and one to Blore. This way the two strong men would have to fight one another if one wanted the other’s key, and neither could break into the case or chest without making a great racket. The group searches for Lombard’s gun but cannot find it. They do find the doctor’s syringe, however; it was thrown out the dining-room window, along with the sixth Indian figure. The uneasy group sits in the drawing room. Armstrong seems particularly nervous; he lights cigarette after cigarette with shaky hands. The guests use candles, since Rogers is no longer around to operate the house’s generator. Vera offers to make tea, and the other four go with her to watch her make it. They tacitly agree that only one person will go anywhere at a time, while the other four stay together. Later, Vera gets up to take a shower. She enters her room and suddenly feels as if she were again at the seashore where Cyril drowned. She smells the salt of the sea, and the wind blows out her candle. She feels something wet and clammy touch her throat, and screams. The men rush to the rescue and find that it was a piece of seaweed hanging from the ceiling that scared her. Lombard thinks it was meant to frighten her to death. Blore fetches a glass of alcohol, and they feud over whether he might have poisoned it. Suddenly, they notice that Wargrave is not with them. They hurry downstairs, and find him sitting in a chair, dressed in the red curtain that was missing and a gray judge’s wig made from some wool that Emily had lost. Armstrong inspects Wargrave and says that he has been shot in the head. Wargrave’s body is carried to his room. Again, everyone notices the similarity to the “Ten Little Indians” poem: “Five little Indian boys going in for law; one got in Chancery [dressed like a judge] and then there were four.” The remaining four eat canned tongue for dinner and then go to bed. Everyone thinks he or she now knows the killer’s identity, although no one makes an accusation aloud. Entering his room, Lombard notes that his gun is back in its drawer. Vera lies awake, tormented by memories of Cyril’s drowning. She recalls telling him he could swim out to the rock, knowing that he would be unable to make it and would drown. She wonders if Hugo knows what she did. Vera notices a hook in the ceiling and realizes that the seaweed must have hung from it. For some reason, the black hook fascinates her. Lying in bed, Blore tries to go over the facts of the case in his head, but his thoughts keep returning to his framing of Landor. He hears a noise outside. He listens at the door and hears it again. Slipping outside into the hall, he sees a figure going downstairs and out the front door. Blore checks the rooms and finds that Armstrong is not in his room. He wakes Lombard and Vera. The two men tell Vera to remain in her room, and they hurry outside to investigate. In her room, Vera thinks she hears the sound of breaking glass and then stealthy footsteps moving in the house. Blore and Lombard return without finding anyone: the island is empty, and Armstrong seems to have vanished. In the house they find a broken windowpane and only three Indian figurines in the dining room.


 * Is the novel believable? ** This novel isn't very believable but it would make a good movie because to think that ten people are going to die on a stranded island exactly as the old Indian nursury rhyme says is pretty hard to believe.

** How are the major and minor conflicts solved? **The major conflicts don't really get solved because what it sounds like is that everyone in the house is going to eventually die by the way it says in the nursury rhyme and its sounds like they can do nothing to stop it because they are stranded on Indian Island.

** Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? **I would recommend this novel to a friend because it is a interesting novel about death survival and the fear of you knowing that you will probably die and you don't know when. I think that so far this has been a very intriguing novel because you don't know who's going to die next or when.


 * January 11th **
 * And Then There Were None **
 * By: Agatha Christie **
 * Pages 142 - 173 (The End)**


 * Plot Outline -**The remaining three eat breakfast. The storm is gone, and they feel as though a nightmare has passed. Lombard begins to make plans to signal the mainland. They discuss Armstrong’s mysterious disappearance, and Lombard and Blore get into an argument: Blore finds it sinister that Lombard has his revolver again, but Lombard refuses to give it up. Blore suggests that Lombard may be the killer, and Lombard asks why he wouldn’t simply shoot Blore if he were the murderer. Vera scolds them for being distracted. She points out the verse in the rhyme that applies to Armstrong’s death: “A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.” A “red herring” is a term for a false lead or a decoy, and she thinks that Armstrong is not really dead and that he has tricked them somehow. Blore points out that the next line is about a zoo, which the murderer will have a difficult time enacting on their island, but Vera says impatiently that they are turning into animals.Vera, Blore, and Lombard spend the morning on the cliffs trying to signal a distress message to the coast using a mirror, but they get no answer. They decide to stay outside to avoid the danger of the house, but eventually Blore wants to fetch something to eat. He is nervous about going alone, but Lombard refuses to lend him the revolver. When Blore is gone, Lombard tries to convince Vera that Blore is probably the killer. Vera says she thinks Armstrong must still be alive. She then suggests that the killer could be alien or supernatural. Lombard thinks this mention of the supernatural indicates Vera’s troubled conscience and asks her if she did kill Cyril. She denies it at first, but when he asks if a man was involved, she feels exhausted and admits that there was a man involved. They hear a faint crash from the house and go to investigate. Blore has been crushed by something thrown from Vera’s window: the bear-shaped marble clock that stood on her mantle. Thinking that Armstrong must be inside the house somewhere, the two go to wait for help. On their way to the cliffs, they see something on the beach below. They climb down to look and there find Armstrong’s body. Vera and Lombard, dazed, stand over Armstrong’s body. Vera looks at Lombard and sees his wolflike face and sharp teeth. Lombard nastily says that the end has come. Vera suggests they move the body above the water line. Lombard sneers at her, but agrees. When they are finished, Lombard realizes something is wrong and wheels around to find Vera pointing his revolver at him. She has picked it from his pocket. He decides to gamble and lunges at her; she automatically pulls the trigger and Lombard falls to the ground, shot through the heart. Vera feels an enormous wave of relief and severe exhaustion. She heads back to the house to get some sleep before help arrives. As she enters the house, she sees the three statues on the table. She breaks two of them and picks the third up, trying to remember the last line of the poem. She thinks it is “He got married and then there were none.” She begins to think of Hugo, the man she loved but lost as a result of Cyril’s drowning. At the top of the stairs she drops the revolver without noticing what she does. She feels sure that Hugo is waiting for her upstairs. When she opens the door of her bedroom, she sees a noose hanging from the black hook that previously held the seaweed. She sees that Hugo wants her to hang herself, and then she remembers the real last line of the poem: “He went and hanged himself and then there were none.” Without a second thought she puts her head in the noose and kicks away the chair.


 * Why did (or didn't) the novel meet your expectations? ** This novel did meet and exceeded my expectations because when I first got this novel out from the library it was the one that I didn't want because the three other choices that I had in my head were not in the library, but after reading this exciting novel I am very happy that I chose this one. It met (and exceeded) my expectations because this novel was very excting and interesting in the way it chooses people to die off in the story.


 * Is there a message or main theme emerging in the book? How is it shown? ** The message in this book from my perspective is that you always need a back-up plan because what they didn't have was a back-up plan on how to get off the island in case something got bad and thats what happened and hey all eventually turned to none.


 * What were the major things that helped to resolve the plot?** The major things that helped resolve the plot is the old Indian nursery rhyme and also the title helped because it was foreshadowing what was really going to end up happening in the end because eventually everyone ended up dyeing and then there were none left on the Indian island.

= __ Focus Assignment __ =


 * Plot Summary - Part 1** (outline of the book) - Eight people, all strangers to each other,  are invited to Indian Island, off the English coast. Vera Claythorne, a former governess, thinks she has been hired as a secretary; Philip Lombard, an adventurer, and William Blore, an ex-detective, think they have been hired to look out for trouble over the weekend; Dr. Armstrong thinks he has been hired to look after the wife of the island’s owner. Emily Brent, General Macarthur, Tony Marston, and Judge Wargrave think they are going to visit old friends.

When they arrive on the island, the guests are greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, the butler and housekeeper, who report that the host, someone they call Mr. Owen, will not arrive until the next day. That evening, as all the guests gather in the drawing room after an excellent dinner, they hear a recorded voice accusing each of them of a specific murder committed in the past and never uncovered. They compare notes and realize that none of them, including the servants, knows “Mr. Owen,” which suggests that they were brought here according to someone’s strange plan. As they discuss what to do, Tony Marston chokes on poisoned whiskey and dies. Frightened, the party retreats to bed, where almost everyone is plagued by guilt and memories of their crimes. Vera Claythorne notices the similarity between the death of Marston and the first verse of a nursery rhyme, “Ten Little Indians,” that hangs in each bedroom. The next morning the guests find that Mrs. Rogers apparently died in her sleep. The guests hope to leave that morning, but the boat that regularly delivers supplies to the island does not show up. Blore, Lombard, and Armstrong decide that the deaths must have been murders and determine to scour the island in search of the mysterious Mr. Owen. They find no one, however. Meanwhile, the oldest guest, General Macarthur, feels sure he is going to die and goes to look out at the ocean. Before lunch, Dr. Armstrong finds the general dead of a blow to the head. The remaining guests meet to discuss their situation. They decide that one of them must be the killer. Many make vague accusations, but Judge Wargrave reminds them that the existing evidence suggests any of them could be the killer. Afternoon and dinner pass restlessly, and everyone goes to bed, locking his or her door before doing so. The next morning, they find that Rogers has been killed while chopping wood in preparation for breakfast. At this point, the guests feel sure the murders are being carried out according to the dictates of the nursery rhyme. Also, they realize that the dining-room table initially featured ten Indian figures, but with each death one of the figures disappears. After breakfast, Emily Brent feels slightly giddy, and she remains alone at the table for a while. She is soon found dead, her neck having been injected with poison. At this point, Wargrave initiates an organized search of everyone’s belongings, and anything that could be used as a weapon is locked away. The remaining guests sit together, passing time and casting suspicious looks at each other. Finally, Vera goes to take a bath, but she is startled by a piece of seaweed hanging from her ceiling and cries out. Blore, Lombard, and Armstrong run to help her, only to return downstairs to find Wargrave draped in a curtain that resembles courtroom robes and bearing a red mark on his forehead. Armstrong examines the body and reports that Wargrave has been shot in the head. That night, Blore hears footsteps in the hall; upon checking, he finds that Armstrong is not in his room. Blore and Lombard search for Armstrong, but they cannot find him anywhere in the house or on the island. When they return from searching, they discover another Indian figure missing from the table. Vera, Lombard, and Blore go outside, resolving to stay in the safety of the open land. Blore decides to go back into the house to get food. The other two hear a crash, and they find someone has pushed a statue out of a second-story window, killing Blore as he approached the house. Vera and Lombard retreat to the shore, where they find Armstrong’s drowned body on the beach. Convinced that Lombard is the killer, Vera steals Lombard’s gun and shoots him. She returns to her bedroom to rest, happy to have survived. But upon finding a noose waiting for her in her room, she feels a strange compulsion to enact the last line of the nursery rhyme, and hangs herself. The mystery baffles the police until a manuscript in a bottle is found. The late Judge Wargrave wrote the manuscript explaining that he planned the murders because he wanted to punish those whose crimes are not punishable under law. Wargrave frankly admits to his own lust for blood and pleasure in seeing the guilty punished. When a doctor told Wargrave he was dying, he decided to die in a blaze, instead of letting his life trickle away. He discusses how he chose his victims and how he did away with Marston, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Macarthur, and Emily Brent. Wargrave then describes how he tricked Dr. Armstrong into helping him fake his own death, promising to meet the doctor by the cliffs to discuss a plan. When Armstrong arrived, Wargrave pushed him over the edge into the sea, then returned to the house and pretended to be dead. His ruse enabled him to dispose of the rest of the guests without drawing their suspicion. Once Vera hanged herself on a noose that he prepared for her, Wargrave planned to shoot himself in such a way that his body would fall onto the bed as if it had been laid there. Thus, he hoped, the police would find ten dead bodies on an empty island. **Part 2 -** The questions - The title of the story has to do with what happens at the end which is that every one dies so then there were none. This story happens sometime in the late 1800's or early 1900's the author is telling the story because she knows everything about the characters. The central conflict of the story is how do the people find who the killer is. The climax of the story is when people start to die all until people stop dyeing which is the end, so this story is pretty much a cliff hanger since they don't tell you the killer. The climax doesn't get resolved because every one dies. i very much enjoyed this book because it didn't tell you a lot about what or who was going to die next and because I enjoy reading murder mysteries.