Themes: Appearances and Reality

The motif of appearance versus reality is a recurring element in the novel, primarily expressed through the theme of deception. Each character misleads others and sometimes even themselves about their authentic selves. While they all profess to be virtuous, they are in fact tainted by moral corruption born from intolerance, jealousy, greed, and desire. The narrative begins with deception when Judge Wargrave, masquerading as the mysterious Mr....

Themes: Fear of Death

As the deaths on the island mount, the remaining guests are overtaken by the terror of dying. Their instincts for survival lead them to distrust each other. As a result, their primal behaviors emerge: Wargrave's expression turns "cruel and predatory," Lombard's grin becomes wolf-like, and Blore seems "coarser and clumsier" with "a look of mingled ferocity and stupidity about him."

Themes: Guilt and Innocence

The novel intertwines the characters’ sense of guilt or innocence with the theme of appearance versus reality. When the guests first arrive on the island, each one professes their innocence. Some even claim their alleged crimes were simply accidents. Tony Marston refers to the deaths of John and Lucy Combes as “beastly bad luck.” Dr. Armstrong’s involvement in Louisa Clees’ death, resulting from his drunkenness during surgery, is also labeled as...

Themes: Justice and Injustice

Justice is served when those who are guilty receive punishment, whereas injustice arises when those who are innocent endure suffering. Wargrave defends his actions by claiming that the ten victims merited their deaths due to their wrongdoings against innocent individuals. He prompts us to question whether his victims were genuinely innocent. Assuming the roles of judge, jury, and executioner, he maintains that his punishments were fair.

Themes: Sanity and Insanity

Four people on the island exhibit different degrees of madness, primarily due to overwhelming guilt. Dr. Armstrong's guilt affects his decision-making, causing him to help Wargrave fake his own death. Afterward, his anxiety almost pushes him to his breaking point. Macarthur's guilt haunts him even before arriving on the island, showing up as paranoia. He thinks others are gossiping about his crime, which leads him to withdraw from social...

Themes: Guilt

Ten Little Indiansis primarily a psychological novel exploring deep, instinctual motivations. Like many crime novels, it centers on themes of guilt and paranoia. Christie's remarkable achievement in this book is the vivid psychological portrayal of her characters. By isolating these culpable individuals on an island with a killer among them, Christie not only investigates their mental conditions but also uses these states to drive the narrative...

Themes: Paranoia

As the number of bodies increases, Christie's characters grow more paranoid. She depicts this paranoia both seriously and humorously. Throughout much of the novel, characters only move around in pairs. They wedge chairs under doorknobs, and a simple encounter with seaweed sends Vera into a panic. This paranoia also creates comedic situations: when only four characters remain, they pretend to enter their rooms but quickly jump back into the...