Creating Suspense Attwn

King 1 Ethan King Period 1 English 9H 14 November 2018 Creating Suspense Agatha Christie has written some of the most famous pieces of literature, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. In her bestselling novel, And Then There Were None, Christie uses various different methods to create suspense. Many times, Christe developed suspense by using rhetorical and literary devices. The most effective devices for creating suspense in Christie’s And Then There Were None are foreshadowing and symbolism. Agatha Christie uses foreshadowing in numerous occasions throughout her novel to create suspense. One example of this is when she anonymously writes out each of the guests thoughts. One thought that she revealed was “ Wake up--Judgement Day--no, not that! If only I could think… My head--something’s happening in my head--it’s going to burst--it’s going to split” (Christie 214). Judgement Day is a reference to the Bible, so when the anonymous guest thinks about Judgement Day, he or she foreshadows that another guest would be murdered on that day. This is later shown to be true when when Justice Wargrave is shot, killed, and then dressed as a judge by a murderer. Another example of foreshadowing used in the novel is when Mr. Blore prepared to investigate and attack the person walking around the house in the middle of the night. At this point in the novel, Christie writes “He tiptoed back to the bed, slipped matches into his pocket, detached the plug of the electric lamp next to his bed and pick it u, winding the flex cord round it. It was a chromium affair with a heavy ebonite base--a useful

King 2 weapon” (Christie 235). This foreshadows that furniture could later be used as a murder weapon, since all potential weapons have been locked up. This is also shown to be true later in the novel, when Blore is killed by a ceramic bear clock that was thrown from Vera’s window. Agatha Christie also uses symbolism many times throughout the novel the novel to create suspense one example of how symbolism is used to create suspense is when Vera told Lombard the story of two extraterrestrial judges that came to America to execute justice. This is found when Vera states “I read a story once--about two judges that came to a small American town--from the Supreme Court. They administered justice--Absolute Justice. Because--they didn't come from this world at all….” (Christie 253). The judges from Vera’s story symbolize Justice Wargrave, who administers absolute justice when he kills all of the other guests for the crimes that they commited. Another example of how Christie uses symbolism to create suspense in the novel is when she describes the increasing severity of the storm. In chapter 10, she writes “ Outside the rain poured down and the wind howled in great shuddering gusts against the window panes” (Christie 167). Throughout the novel, as the guests are murdered the storm becomes more severe. The severity of the storm symbolizes the approach of another death on the island. Christie’s novels are very popular due to her ability to successfully develop suspense using rhetorical and literary devices. These devices include foreshadowing and symbolism, which are primary elements in creating suspense. Christie’s ability to create suspense is what keeps the reader on the edge of their seats throughout the novel.

King 3 Works Cited Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. Fontana, 1963.