Boekverslag : Agatha Christie - Ten Little Niggers (and Then There Were None) / Tien Kleine Negertjes
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 1021 woorden.
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 1021 woorden.
Title
Ten little niggers
Author
Agatha Christie
The title
The story plays on Nigger Island, England, where eight people are invited. One woman, Vera, has got a nursery rhyme hanging on the wall of her room which tells something about ten little nigger boys who disappear one by one. The eleven people on Nigger Island are also disappearing one by one as well as a little china figure.
The main characters
Justice Wargrave, Vera Calythorne, Phillip Lombard, Miss Emily Brent, General John Gordon Macarthur, Dr. Edward George Armstrong, Anthony Marston and William Henry Blore. They are the eight people who are visiting but Vera Claythorne is the one who lives longest.
When and where does the story play
It plays in the 1930's on a small island, off the coast of Devon in the South of England.
The themes
The eleven people have all done some kind off sin in their past and Justice Wargrave is the murderer and thinks that these people must deserve capital punishment. The name of Justice resembles him bringing justice to this affair.
The outline
Eight people are being invited to come to Nigger Island and stay there for a while. They haven't got a slightest idea who owns the large villa and the romantic island. When everyone arrives at the train station, a ferry brought them to the island. There were two servants who greeted them friendly. Vera finds a nursery rhyme on the wall about ten little niggers who disappear one by one.
After dinner they heard a loud voice which said one of them is a murderer. Mrs. Rogers, one of the servants, fainted. The voice they heard was a recording Rogers had to put up in order of his employer. After the shock the guests compare their invitations and all of them are signed with U. N.Owen, unknown! Justice Wargrave figures that 'Owen' must know a lot about each one of them. Everyone told their story about the 'murder' they had committed. Justice explains he found Edward Seton guilty when he was the judge of his trial, and he was executed. Vera Claythorn explains about a boy Cyril that drowned but she wasn't blamed for it. General Macarthur explains about an officer who died in a reconnaissance he ordered during the war. But he denies the fact that he was the lover of that officer's wife. Philip Lombard had left 21 natives to die in the jungle without food, on purpose. He didn't feel guilty. Anthony Marston explains he ran over two kids in his car but that was just bad luck. Rogers explains that suddenly an old lady died he and his wife took care off and she left something in her will for them. Blore explains he was doing duty when he gave evidence for the conviction of a bank robber, who died in prison a year after the trial. Armstrong pretends he doesn't remember Louisa Mary Clees but he caused her death because he was drunk during the operation. Only Miss Brent refuses to say what her felony was. Wargrave suggests they all leave the island in the morning. On that moment Anthony chokes in his drink and drops dead.
Dr. Armstrong discovers that the drink of Marston was poisoned. When Rogers was clearing the table he notices that one china figure is missing. Vera was thinking about the accident of the boy Cyril, she really did it on purpose. She notices how the nursery rhyme resembles the situation on the island. The next morning Mrs. Rogers was found dead and there doesn't arrive a boat to bring them back. Rogers notices that another china figure is missing. Miss. Brent tells Vera about her 'murder'. A girl she fired committed suicide because she had no place to go to. Lombard and Armstrong figure that the murderer must be some kind of lunatic, who wants to punish them for their crimes.
After a thorough search on the island they know that one of them must be the murderer. General Macarthur wasn't with lunch; he was hit on the head and found dead. And jet another chin figure is missing. Now everyone is suspecting each other.
The next morning there was no breakfast served and another china figure missing. Rogers was found dead outside, he was killed with an axe. Vera gets hysterical and knows the nursery rhyme is working out. The victim after Rogers was Miss. Brent; she had a deadly injection. The needle and sixth china figure were found outside.
The people who were still alive locked the drugs up but Lombard's revolver was still missing. They're all very frightened of the fact that one of them is a murderer and they could be killed anytime! They all stay together and just one person leaving the room at the time. When Vera went to her room she tough she was being killed and the others came for help. But it was nothing and they notice that Justice Wargrave is missing. He was found downstairs, shot in the head. That night they locked themselves in. Blore hears footsteps and Dr. Armstrong has disappeared. Three china figures are left. Vera, Blore and Lombard go outside in the morning to be safer. But when Blore went to the house to get some food a heavy clock killed him. Vera and Lombard find the body of Armstrong among the rocks in sea. Vera was so hysterical by all the events; she manages to steal Lombard's revolver and shoots him with it. When she found the noose in her room, she hung herself.
Epilogue: When the bodies were found, the police didn't have a clue about what happened. A little later there was a manuscript found in a bottle at sea. It tells the story of the murders. Justice Wargrave was obsessed with death and he wanted to punish these people, who were really guilty but were found innocent. He suffered of an incurable disease. He wasn't really shot but after everyone else was dead, he did shoot himself.
My opinion
It was a lovely book. I enjoyed it very much, especially all the mysterious murders.
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