Discussion Topic
Red herrings in And Then There Were None
Summary:
Red herrings in And Then There Were None include the false clues planted by the murderer to mislead the guests and the reader. Examples are the mysterious deaths that seem accidental, the misleading accusations among the guests, and the poem "Ten Little Soldiers," which suggests a pattern that diverts attention from the true sequence of events and the identity of the killer.
What are six red herrings in chapter 16 of And Then There Were None and why are they considered as such?
In And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, there are six red herrings in chapter 16. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of a red herring is “something that distracts attention from the real issue.” In literature, particularly in murder mysteries, red herrings are used to make the reader believe that one person is the killer when, in fact, the killer is someone else entirely.
The chapter opens with Vera and Philip “standing looking down on a dead man…” The presumption is that they are the last two left alive, so one of them must be the killer. This is the first red herring, because they are not alone on the island, and neither of them is the killer.
The second red herring is when Vera looks at Philip and thinks, "Why did I never see his face properly before. A wolf-that's what it is-a wolf's face....
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. . . Those horrible teeth.” This is a red herring because it is intended to make the reader believe that Philip Lombard is the killer. However, it soon becomes apparent that he is not.
The third red herring is when, after shooting Philip, Vera feels relief. Agatha Christie writes, “Relief possessed Vera—enormous exquisite relief.” In fact, as she approaches the house, Christie writes, “By her own quick-wittedness and adroitness she had turned the tables on her would-be destroyer. She began to walk up towards the house. The sun was setting, the sky to the west was streaked with red and orange. It was beautiful and peaceful.”
The reason that her feeling of security is a red herring is because it is intended to make the reader feel that the murders are over and that Vera has survived. The reader’s likely conclusion, therefore, is that Vera is the murderer. However, this is a red herring, because we learn shortly after that Vera is not the murderer, and she soon dies, too.
The fourth red herring occurs when Vera enters the house and sees the table with the china figures. The author writes,
There were still three little china figures in the middle of the table.
Vera laughed.
She said: "You're behind the times, my dears."
She picked up two of them and tossed them out through the window. She heard them crash on the stone of the terrace.
The third little figure she picked up and held in her hand.
She said:
"You can come with me. We've won, my dear! We've won!"
Vera erroneously believes that the three figures are a mistake. There are actually two red herrings here. First, there were not only two people left on the island when the chapter opened. There were three: Philip, Vera and the actual killer. Second, she takes one figure believing that she has "won," which is wrong. She dies shortly after.
Another red herring occurs when Vera “suddenly got the feeling again that Hugo was in the house… Very strong. Yes, Hugo was upstairs waiting for her.” This is a misdirect.
Finally, another red herring occurs when Inspector Maine and Sir Thomas Legge summarize what happened on the island and say, “Wargrave and Lombard were shot, the first through the head, the second through the heart.” This is a red herring because we learn in the Epilogue that Justice Wargrave faked his own death and was not shot through the head.
In And Then There Were None, what are three red herrings?
Red Herrings are a popular technique among writers of mystery novels, plays, television and film. They are meant to throw the reader off the trail of the killer purposely for a time. In other words, they keep the reader guessing along with the characters.
In this novel, several red herrings are evident. First of all, the idea that an unknown Mr. Owen being presented as a killer fools the reader into thinking someone outside the original party. Later, when only two characters remain, the readers assume that one of them is the killer, until they both show up dead. Finally, the third red herring occurs when Justice Wargrave, the actually killer, is supposedly murdered, eliminating him as a suspect in the minds of the readers.