post war poirot
JS88
Peterborough
Hello. I am reading the Poirot novels in order of publication and have just finished After the Funeral. I have noticed a lot more of what you might call social commentary in these post war novels, but it seems she puts opinions, both conservative and progressive, in the mouths of characters we are not supposed to particularly admire. Do we know if she was sitting on the fence for commercial reasons or did she have a healthy contempt for all politics, especially after WWII?
Comments
Warning: Spoilers for One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
I think the conclusion to One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is an important indicator of Christie's political beliefs. At the end of this novel, the Conservative politician is the murderer and appeals to Poirot on the grounds that if he is arrested, the country will be ruined. Poirot does not let him get away with his crime and instead, tells the young people that the world is theirs and to try to make it a kinder world. Poirot is not optimistic about the world these young people will create, but he recognizes that change will and must come. I think this conclusion sums up Christie's attitudes towards change. She recognizes that change is necessary, but she does not like many of the changes she is living through. So, her books express her ambivalence towards change. This ambivalence, I think, leads to the combination of progressive and conservative views that you observed in her post-World War II books.