Question: Analyse how a conflict reinforced your understanding of human nature.
Guilt is a unique experience for each and every individual. Agatha Christie’s " And then there were none," dives into the conflict between ones self and gives a greater understanding of human nature. The characters in the murder mystery, set on a isolated island, all undergo some sort of self internal conflict. In particular, Vera, Armstrong and Wargrave. Conflict between Vera and herself, Armstrong and himself, Wargrave and his desire to uphold justice each highlight an idea of guilt- realisation of guilt, justification of guilt and punishment of guilt. These ideas help to understand different parts of human nature- all choices have consequences that will come back to us, humans try take the blame away from themselves and how human’s each have their own thoughts and opinions.
Firstly, the internal conflict between Vera and herself helps understand how as humans all choices have consequences that will come back to us. While Vera climbs onto the chair she thinks about Cyril and says to herself
“That was what a murder was, as easy as that! But then you went on remembering…” before grabbing the rope and hanging herself. The emotive language “murder,” purposely used by Agatha Christie highlights how Vera has finally understood that what she had done was wrong. During the exposition of the novel, Vera is seen to be the “most sane women” as depicted by Lombard. But, as the murders on the island began to take place, Vera’s sanity shatters.The conflict between Vera and herself beings to take place and can be seen particularly in the resolution phase of the novel. Vera begins to hallucinate, seeing her lover and Cyril. Her lover, Hugo, who is seen to be watching her whist she is climbing onto the chair and rope. It implies that Hugo finds disgust in Vera’s actions- murdering Cyril and Vera believes that hanging herself is what Hugo wants her to do. Agatha Christie utilises Vera’s internal conflict to highlight Vera’s realisation of her guilt. Once she understood the guilt that was lingering beneath the surface, it took a toll on her mental sanity; driving her mad. In the end of it all the guilt was too much for her to bear, leading her to hang herself. The guilt that Vera experiences is unique to herself as Vera has managed to try and hide her past as much as possible. Although It was inevitable that the consequences of her actions would come back to haunt her and her being on the island was a unique experience that made her suffer, causing the realisation of her guilt. The conflict between Vera and herself helps understand how all choices have consequences that come back to us. Every choice that we make has its benefits and consequences, as humans we tend to focus on the benefits when we make choices. In Vera’s case all she could think about was the family inheritance Hugo would receive if Cyril was dead and not about the guilt that she would bare in the future. It goes to show how when humans try to pursue the benefits, the consequences get hidden away in our minds. As time passes by, these consequences will eventually back to haunt you; changing the way you live your normal life.
Additionally, the internal conflict between Armstrong and himself helps understand how humans take the blame away from themselves. After hearing the crime he committed on the gramophone recording, he reflects on the moment and an internal monologue of Armstrong quotes " Poor devil- Elderly woman, simple job if I were sober." The conjunction “if” highlights how Armstrong tries to take the blame of killing the elderly woman off himself and rather to try and blame it on the alcohol instead. Agatha Christie utilises Armstrong’s internal the conflict to show justification of guilt that Armstrong tries to adhere to. Although what becomes apparent is that even by trying to justify his actions he is still affected by them. This can be highlighted in the novel when the participants are drinking alcohol. Unlike the rest of the participants on the island, Dr Armstrong is never seen to be drinking alcohol. It suggests that Dr Armstrong has since given up alcohol because he feels guilty about being the cause of the elderly woman’s death. In Armstrong’s case, guilt is unique as he himself did not own up to his mistake but, the consequence that lies within him forced him to make a change- stop drinking alcohol. The internal conflict between Armstrong and himself helps understand how humans take the blame away from themselves. When humans are blamed in doing something wrong it is how guilt begins to form. The constant feeling of guilt can make humans anxious and depressed; like Armstrong humans try to take the blame off themselves by blaming other aspects. It serves as a coping mechanism to try and hide away the pain.
Finally, the internal conflict between Wargrave and his desire to uphold justice helps understand how human’s each have their own thoughts and opinions. In the epilogue of the novel, Justice Wargrave writes a letter to explain why he chose to murder who he did. He’d written " There were, I considered, various amounts of guilt amongst my participants" The use of the verb by Agatha Christie “considered” highlights how Justice Wargrave must’ve had a ranking system that allowed him to decide the deaths of each of his participants. Justice Wargrave always had a desire to uphold justice in the society he believed that “the innocent must not suffer.” Therefore he became a judge and during his time serving, he had a mindset that justice should be upheld for those who have not been caught.
Wargrave ranked his participants based on guilt and remorse, guilt is a negative feeling that occurs when an individual does something that they believe is wrong. Whereas remorse is how an individual responds to the negative feeling. Therefore, Wargrave ranked the order of the deaths by the intention of each of the participants. This can be seen through the " Ten little solider Boys" poem, and foreshadows the deaths of each of the individuals in the novel. Wargrave purposely places the individuals who have the greatest intention and least remorse to be one of the last to die in order for the individual to suffer the consequences of their actions; bringing justice to the innocent who were killed. The actions of Wargrave reveal the punishment that the guilty who have escaped justice should receive. Guilt is unique for Wargrave as he believes that what he did was the right thing to do, others may believe that the punishment that each of the participants underwent was too harsh. Although in the end without Wargrave’s ideals the perpetrators would have escaped justice. The internal conflict between Wargrave and his desire for justice helps understand how human’s each have their own thoughts and opinions. Its these unique thoughts and opinions that allow for humans to create a society where the line between right and wrong can be drawn. It highlights the idea of morality and how each human has a different way of interpreting morality. Us as humans collectively gather to discuss what is right and wrong in our world which decides how we want to live in it. Without the uniqueness of each individual new projects and ideas cannot be developed; our ways would be forever stuck in the past.
In conclusion, Agatha Christie’s " And then there were none," highlights conflict between ones self and gives a greater understanding of human nature. The conflict between Vera and herself highlights realisation of guilt highlights as humans all choices have consequences that will come back to us. The conflict between Armstrong and himself highlights justification of guilt and how humans try take the blame away from themselves. Finally the conflict between Wargrave and his desire to uphold justice highlights the punishment of guilt and reveals how human’s each have their own thoughts and opinions. Through “And then there were none,” Agatha Christie is able to show how guilt is unquie for each individual, we all have different ways of expressing our thoughts and we as humans were all brought up differently. This means that what we think is right and wrong is depicted by who we surround ourselves with at a young age; it goes to show that knowledge is a important part of who we are as humans. It is knowledge that allows us to depict what is right and wrong in the world; it allows understand the guilt within ourselves.