Student Question
What is Mr. Morris' role in And Then There Were None and what becomes of him?
Quick answer:
In And Then There Were None, Mr. Morris is the go-between between Judge Wargrave and all of his victims. He makes all the arrangements to get the people to the island, to make the recording, and to deal with the townspeople so they don't interfere with what is going on. Because Morris sold drugs that led to the death of the daughter of a friend of Judge Wargrave, Wargrave poisons him.
Judge Wargrave hired Mr. Isaac Morris to make all the arrangements to get his victims to Indian Island, to get the recording done accusing them of guilt, and to inform the townspeople to ignore any SOS signals from the island, saying that the people who would be there were participating in a survival game. He was, in a word, the go-between between Wargrave and everyone else.
Mr. Morris was, therefore, a very important behind-the-scenes figure in the book. He was necessary to insure that Wargrave's plans succeeded.
Morris shows up early in the book as Philip Lombard is traveling to the island and remembering how he was lured there. He had met with Morris, who offered him 100 guineas, a substantial sum of money, to go the island to provide security. Morris said that Lombard that was being offered the job because his
reputation is that of a good man...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
in a tight place.
Lombard is broke, so he is glad for the work. He also shows his ugly anti-Semitism in the derogatory way he thinks about Mr. Morris. He calls him a "brute." His memory helps confirm that Mr. Morris was really involved in the proceedings.
In the epilogue, as the detectives are trying to piece together the case and figure out who murdered the ten people on the island, we learn more about Mr. Morris. He is likely a criminal involved in fraud and the drug trade, though the police have never been able to prove it.
In the letter Judge Wargrave leaves behind, he describes Mr. Morris as a drug dealer. He states that Mr. Morris got the daughter of his friends hooked on drugs, which caused her to commit suicide at age twenty-one. Wargrave decides that Mr. Morris deserves to die as well as his other victims.
Because Mr. Morris is a bit of hypochondriac and has indigestion, Judge Wargrave gives him a pill that he says might do him wonders—but in reality, it is poison. Morris takes it and dies on the night of August 8. Therefore, he is no longer alive to offer any evidence about the crimes or to implicate Judge Wargrave.