hey it's me, AspiringAuthor101. I read 'And then there were none' by Agatha Christie a while ago, then someone asked me who the protagonist was. the question was intriguing to me because I am usually so sure of which character plays which role, but I found that i didn't know who the protagonist was. So like typical nerd fashion - I researched and wrote an essay on it. ^_^
by the way, here's a challenge; write an essay on who you think is the protagonist before reading this, and then compare your essay to mine!
The killer protagonist.
What is a protagonist? The question seems to have the answer in and of itself, meaning good. The fact of the matter is that you have to recognize the language that it came from to fully grasp the meaning. Good is not fact in these situations, its perspective and opinion. On another note: in literature we see time and time again that the protagonist is a very unlucky person, in that most of the other characters are in some way conspiring against them, and in the end only one character was worked so tirelessly against. Also, in books a main or pivotal character usually opens and closes the book. The character gives the reader a sense of what is happening, while at the same time not giving anything away. With this in mind, Mr. Justice Wargrave is the protagonist in Agatha Christie's And then there were none, because all the other characters were working against him, the book opens in his perspective and the protagonist isn't always doing the "right thing".
In the book, the characters are constantly commenting on the fact that the killer is probably "a dangerous homicidal lunatic."(Christie, page 61) while they do not know his motives, or that he is the killer throughout the book, all of the other nine people on the island have a common goal - to find and discontinue the killer's cruel escapades. The characters all had committed an undeniable crime, it's just that they were all clever enough to do it in a way that the law could not touch them for it. A fantastic example of this is Vera Claythorne. She was the caretaker of a young boy named Cyril. Her lover, Hugo, was supposed to receive an inheritance from Cyril's family. The family did not expect to have another child so the money would go to Hugo. When Cyril was born, the inheritance was automatically set for Cyril. One day, while Vera was at the ocean with Cyril and Hugo, she let him (Cyril) wade too deep in the water. She knew that he would be washed away and drowned, but allowed it to happen so that Hugo could get his inheritance. If the family had even taken the case to court (which they did not) they would not have won. Vera would most likely have pleaded ignorance of the situation, and gone away with little less than a slap on the wrist. At first, from her perspective the "good" she did for Hugo outweighed the seriousness of her crime against Cyril and his parents. Contrastably, Mr. Justice Wargrave's perspective told him that what she did was grossly unjust; thus his animosity towards her and the other characters.
As with this perspective of his being shown, Mr Justice Wargrave's perspective is shown profusely throughout the book. In fact he opens and closes the book. Creating intrigue and mystery at first and an astounding conclusion at the end. Giving the honour of opening the book is a big deal. The character you choose to entice the reader with shapes the atmosphere of the entire book. The character that closes the book has the power of finality or agonizing complexity and unbearable mystery if it has a sequel. The fact that Christie gave this honour to none other than Mr. Justice Wargrave speaks volumes about her respect for the devious character and the underlying importance she feels he has. Christie tells us herself: "Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions." in this she means that when you commit a crime, it shows who you are. You reveal yourself through deceit and criminal activity. All of the characters in and then there were none by Agatha Christie had committed a crime that revealed their character. Emily Brent, for example, fired and abandoned a young woman who had gotten "into trouble". This ultimately was the cause of the woman to take her own life. This crime tells us that Emily Brent was a strong believer in propriety, and would not tolerate mistakes. She felt that she was completely without blame because she was well within her "rights". another example is when you learn about Anthony (Tony) Marston's crime of carelessly trampling over two young children with his vehicle. This tells us that he has a low regard for human life and is selfish in that he did not hesitate to go on his way and, so to speak - step on anyone who dared to get in his way. In the same way Mr Justice Wargrave's crime also reveals his character. He states in the confession letter that, "I wanted to kill…Yes, I wanted to kill…But—incongruous as it may seem to some—I was restrained and hampered by my innate sense of justice. The innocent must not suffer." (Christie's epilogue) Mr Justice Wargrave was probably not of sound mind, but it was brewing deep within him, and it was subliminally being let out and even encouraged by his job. "It may be understood—I think a psychologist would understand—that with my mental make-up being what it was, I adopted the law as a profession. The legal profession satisfied nearly all my instincts."(Christie's epilogue) His history of complex ways of thinking speaks volumes about his importance in the book. Christie realizes that to be a protagonist you have to have layers.
The word protagonist in fact does not mean "the good guy". It means, "the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text, or the main figure or one of the most prominent figures in a real situation."Prōtos the greek word meaning, 'first in importance' and agōnistēs meaning, 'actor' combine to make the word prōtagōnistēs, which in turn in the late 17th century was adopted by the English language as protagonist. This information is from the oxford dictionary. It does not say anything about if the cause or goal is right or wrong. In the disney classic, Sleeping beauty, "The scriptwriters understood that their obvious protagonist choices just wouldn't work for the unique needs of the story. Sleeping Beauty had no arc. Prince Phillip has no arc. And, even more importantly, neither of them are present from start to finish in the story. Without the fairies to hold this thing together, the plot would have lacked any kind of impetus or cohesion. Most of time, if you have a hero type in your story, he's probably going to be your protagonist. But don't take this for granted. Analyze every character to discover which ones are actually the most important to your plot, which have the most dramatic character arcs, and which have the most at stake personally. The intersection of these three answers is where you'll find your protagonist. Just like the fairies are not the main focus of the story, Mr Justice Wargrave is not the most popular. He seems like the obvious choice of killer, which makes you question his real role in the book. With the historical knowledge of the true meaning of the word protagonist, you look at who the protagonist would be differently. The most well developed characters, Vera Claythorne and Fillip Lombard, are disqualified for the role of protagonist because the rest of the characters could carry on with the story without them. The only character that is so essential to the plot that the whole book would fall apart without them is Mr. Justice Wargrave. He is the one who orchestrated all of them coming to the island, the one who drove some of the characters to histeria and ultimately was the cause of their demise.
It does not matter that Mr Justice Wargrave was not the most vibrant character, nor the most loveable. The book is in fact all about the nine other characters trying to work against him. Mr Justice Wargrave has the personality of an annoying house cat - intelligent, cold and commanding. His unpleasant nature and desire for bloodshed is the cause of the story and the chilling childishness of his nursery rhyme. Christie wrote Mr. Justice Wargave to be so cold and commanding that his perspective was chilling yet humorous. He has so much weight and authority in the book that he opened and closed the book. His innate sense of justice drives him to do the undeniably unjust - murder. Although this is terrible, it is essential to the progression of the story. Mr Justice Wargrave is without a doubt the most conspired against character, the honour of opening and closing the book were bestowed apon him, and he is the most essential character; these points together prove that he is the truest protagonist in Agatha Christies, 'And Then There Were None'.
Works Cited
"Agatha Christie's Quotes." Sualci Quotes, . .
Christie, Agatha, and Sabine Deitmer. Und Dann Gabs Keines Mehr Roman. Hachette Collections, 2008.
Fowler, F. G., et al. American Oxford Dictionary. A C. Boni, 1931.
well i hope that made you think as much as it made me think! If you wrote your own essay like my challenge said, then I would for you to make some points in the comments( just don't let it turn into an argument)! As always constructive criticism is always welcome!