Recurring Themes in Christie's Work

HerculeAndAchille

Hello!
In a discussion with @taliavishay-arbel, she suggested I start a thread based on recurring themes (this can be characters, motives, settings, alibis, victims etc.) If anyone can think of any, feel free to post them here!

taliavishay-arbel

Since I suggested this, I'll start with a theme: young women who are expected to conform and fight it: Renisenb in "Death comes as the end", Nadine in "Appointment with death", Hillary/Olive in "Destination unknown". Anybody thinks of more characters that fit? or wants to discuss the similarities and differences between these three?

HerculeAndAchille

Very interesting pick there, Tali! Perhaps Tommy Tucker from The Pale Horse could be added to the list since, I remember, her parents seemed to want her to live respectably (owing to her significant fortune), but as soon as her father died, she lived in a regrettably 'artistic' community, much to her stepmother's chagrin. Patricia Lane, also, (from Hickory Dickory Dock) seems to break the bounds of conformity. The other women at Hickory Road are much more traditionally feminine - Sally Finch specialises in poetry, Valerie Hobhouse co-owns a beauty parlour, Celia chases after Nigel, so on and so forth. Pat, however, seems to lead a comparitively unique lifestyle in her fastidious conscientousness (though it should be noted she did love Nigel).

taliavishay-arbel

Interesting. I was thinking more specifically of women fighting against the cage of a "womanly" role, but Tommy Tucker rebels against the conventional, high class role - she acts as a woman, but as a woman of another class or society. I suppose both ways are ways to rebel. Cool!

GKCfan

•Generation gaps
•Living in the past vs. moving forward.
•Suspicion and mistrust

These are just a few– there are so many more!

taliavishay-arbel

GKCfan said:

•Generation gaps
•Living in the past vs. moving forward.
•Suspicion and mistrust

These are just a few– there are so many more!

The first two seem very interesting to me, GKCfan. Can you give a few examples of each?

HerculeAndAchille

I think generation gaps can clearly be seen in several novels. Miss Marple's interactions with Lettice Protheroe, for example, are clear indicators of the vastness of the generation gap. Jerry Burton in The Moving Finger also sees Miss Barton as a 'period piece', a view which suggests his perception of her as a Victorian stereotype.

Jacqueline de Bellefort in Death on the Nile also seems to be living in the past (i.e. following Mr and Mrs Doyle around when the relationship ended), though SPOILER this is revealed to be an act.

P_Lombard

For "young women who are expected to conform and fight it", you could add Anne Beddingfield from The Man in the Brown Suit. Anne conformed until her father died. Then, given the choice between continued conformity or adventure, she rebelled and chose adventure. Her rebellion enables the story to unfold.

You could also add Lynn Marchmont from Taken at the Flood. Once the war ends, she, like many women, were expected to return to their old roles. However, Lynn initially resists the return to conformity that marriage to Rowley embodied in her mind and instead, dabbled with rebellion and marrying David Hunter. In the end, she does what it is expected of her and marries Rowley, but only after she realizes that he is not as safe and boring as she thought he was. The marriage of Rowley and Lynn fits into another Christie theme, the danger hidden under the surface of everyday, normal life. It is only when Lynn discovers this secret danger that she can be content with conformity because, in a way, conformity gives her both the stability and the adventure that she longs for.

Under the theme of the "Generation Gap", you can add Norma and Poirot from Third Girl. When Norma Restarick first sees Poirot, she asserts that he is "too old" to help her. Poirot later interprets her comment as meaning that his generation is so different from her generation that he may be incapable of understanding her. The whole novel is full of discomfort at the increasing generation gap. However, Poirot is able to overcome the generation gap and understand Norma enough to save her.

Under the theme of "living in the past vs. moving forward", you can add Lynn Marchmont and the entire Cloade family from Taken at the Flood. The Cloades all want a return to the past and think that if they had just inherited Gordon Cloade's money, then they could continue their former lifestyles. None of them is ready to deal with the unpleasant new reality of post-war England.

You could also add Elinor Carlisle from Sad Cypress. Her relationship with Roddy represents the past, her long time love for him, and her eventual relationship with Dr. Lord represents moving forward, embracing her chance for renewal and happiness.

You could also add Renisenb from Death Comes as the End. Again, the past and moving forward are embodied in two different men. Marriage to Kameni would represent a return to the past, the life Renisenb had known with her husband before she became a widow. Marrying Hori, however, would allow Renisenb to move forward and to grow as a person.

Under the theme of "suspicion and mistrust", you could add And Then There Were None, Ordeal by Innocence, and Death Comes as the End. In all three of these novels, the characters live in fear of the people with whom they live because they do not know who the murderer is, but they know that it is someone under the same roof as them. In the case of Ordeal by Innocence, suspicion paralyzes them from moving forward in their lives.

The Moving Finger also fits under this theme. Although most of the poison pen letters are completely untrue, they create suspicion because the villagers believe that "there is no smoke without a fire." This has a tragic effect on Beatrice Baker when the letters accuse her of being in an improper relationship with Jerry Burton. Not only do the letters lead her to feel compelled to give up her job to dispel suspicion, but they also cause friction between Beatrice and her boyfriend George. Even without the slightest shred of truth, suspicion can destroy happiness, as it does to Beatrice.

HerculeAndAchille

I think we see quite a few examples of mistrust and suspicion in Agatha Christie's novels (excellent examples, @P_Lombard!). Some extent of this theme, along with that of the generation gap, is seen in Crooked House. All the members of the house, at one point, suspect one another of the murder. The generation gap is seen between Brenda and Aristide, and as a result of it, Aristide feels compelled to hire Laurence Brown to provide welcome entertainment to the weary young bride.

Tommy_A_Jones

Just to think of it a different way Characters be from the same kind of background, Military Men (Colonel Bantry, Colonel Melchett etc Doctors (Haydock ) sorry only one example comes to mind, Vicars (Rev Harmon, Rev Clement, Archdeacon Brabazon, Archdeacon Cowley, The Vicar in Evil Under The Sun, Knight's of The Realm, Sir Henry Clithering, Sir Carmichael Clark,  Pretty young Things, (Tommy and Tuppence,, Bundle Brent, Bill Eversleigh , Ronnie Devereaux, Lady Derwent, Bobby Jones etc,  Women who have been married many times (Bess Sedgewick and Carrie-Louise Serracold) and Women with Doubled Barrelled Names like Martha Price-Ridley, I wonder why there are no men who have been married many times?

tudes

About characters, I was thinking in old men that control their families and not only the money, but others aspects. In general, the family lives together in the same house. For instance, Mr. Fortescue (A Pocket Full of Rye); Aristide Leonides (Crooked House).

HerculeAndAchille

@Tommy_A_Jones, there are some men who marry more than once. Mr Badcock in The Mirror Crack'd was married twice, Greg Dyson from A Caribbean Mystery as well. Mark Easterbrook becomes engaged to Ginger Corrigan in The Pale Horse, and she will be his second wife. But I do agree that the two are disproportionate.

Tommy_A_Jones

I forgot about them but in each case they only married twice, Carrie-Louise and Bess marrie FIVE times ligitimately

HerculeAndAchille

Good point, Tommy_A_Jones. They are in great disproportion to each other, possibly because Christie herself had married twice.

taliavishay-arbel

I find the connection between Bess Sedgwick and Carrie-Louise interesting because, in addition to the similarity - both married at least 3 times - there is the difference - Bess marrying for adventure (certainly with Michael Gorman and Johnny Sedgwick) and Carrie-Louise marrying men with a mission (her first and third) or forcing them to become her mission (her second).

HerculeAndAchille

How interesting @taliavishay-arbel. Marina Gregg, another woman known to have married several times, married for the reason of happiness (or, to be more specific, for the incessant and unfulfilled hope of it). She didn't have a child for a long time, and even then, it was a disappointment to a woman used to perfection.

taliavishay-arbel

In all these cases, the reason for the repeated marriages is central to the book SPOILERS: Bess Sedgwick's craving for excitement leads her to the robberies, Carrie-Louise's need for meaning in her life pushes Johnny into the arms of another woman and finally enables her last husband to go crooked, and Marina Gregg's unquenchable longing for a healthy child of her own leads to crime in "The Mirror Cracked.

GKCfan

@taliavishay-arbel, other people have referenced similar points, but I wanted to say that I was thinking that generation gaps are central to the families in Crooked House and Taken at the Flood, and we see generational splits in One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.  Also, past vs. future living feature in Death on the Nile (Poirot's advice to Jacqueline), and it's mentioned in Hercule Poirot's Christmas and Sleeping Murder, Five Little Pigs, and Elephants Can Remember.

taliavishay-arbel

Also in Death comes as the end - as has been mentioned in another string, Renisenb has the choice of choosing Kameni (the past) or Hori (the future) for a husband.