MY ONE GRIPE WITH AC'S MASTERPIECE, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
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I am hesitant to criticize any element of And Then There Were None because it is probably my favorite book of all time, however, in the interest of opening up a discourse with fellow fans, here goes:
SPOILER
Of course, we learn from the epilogue that Judge Wargrave did it. He systematically killed (or arranged the death) of nine people who could not be punished for, what in his mind were, capital crimes. It is all very clever, especially how he inserts his own 'murder' into the middle of the action with the unwitting (or half-witted) assistance of the doctor. We then learn that when the 10th victim or 'Indian,' is dead, he rigs a shotgun in such a way as to make his suicide appear to be a murder. My one gripe is that as clever as his plan was and as good of a read as the book was, he really had no hope of 'getting away with it.' Yes, we know that he sentenced an innocent man to death and with his bizarre sense of justice he considered himself no more worthy than the rest to escape execution. However, in eliminating any expectation that he, himself, would survive, there was really no need for the deaths of those nine people to be so clever and suspenseful. Even if he was able to get a ferry back to the mainland, he still would have had to have explained how he survived and all other guests perished. There was no hope in accomplishing that. I first read this novel at age 11, and that aspect stuck out in my head then. Twenty-six years later it remains a gripe of mine. Don't get me wrong - it is probably the finest example of suspense ever put to paper, and the original film from 1945 is one of the most chilling films I have ever seen - even with the Hollywood ending. I just wonder why the mystery couldn't have been revealed to the reader in such a way as the judge got his vengeance got away with it, to boot.
SPOILER
Of course, we learn from the epilogue that Judge Wargrave did it. He systematically killed (or arranged the death) of nine people who could not be punished for, what in his mind were, capital crimes. It is all very clever, especially how he inserts his own 'murder' into the middle of the action with the unwitting (or half-witted) assistance of the doctor. We then learn that when the 10th victim or 'Indian,' is dead, he rigs a shotgun in such a way as to make his suicide appear to be a murder. My one gripe is that as clever as his plan was and as good of a read as the book was, he really had no hope of 'getting away with it.' Yes, we know that he sentenced an innocent man to death and with his bizarre sense of justice he considered himself no more worthy than the rest to escape execution. However, in eliminating any expectation that he, himself, would survive, there was really no need for the deaths of those nine people to be so clever and suspenseful. Even if he was able to get a ferry back to the mainland, he still would have had to have explained how he survived and all other guests perished. There was no hope in accomplishing that. I first read this novel at age 11, and that aspect stuck out in my head then. Twenty-six years later it remains a gripe of mine. Don't get me wrong - it is probably the finest example of suspense ever put to paper, and the original film from 1945 is one of the most chilling films I have ever seen - even with the Hollywood ending. I just wonder why the mystery couldn't have been revealed to the reader in such a way as the judge got his vengeance got away with it, to boot.
Comments
I thought you were partially right, Seton was guilty of Crimes just not the one where he came before the Judge (That is what I thought anyway.
The murderer would have known that he/she would't heve killed the judge. But I think, in this case, the murderer would have tried to murder the judge and they could have caught the culprit. At least, in the doctor's mind. We should not forget that all these people weren't in their best mental and physical condition (they were not sleeping nor eating well, they were in great mental strain- trapped in a island facing an known murderer). They were feeling powerless and in great danger. They were not thinking straight, so any suggestion to catch this guy would have been welcome.