And Then There Were None Essay

Consider the Proposition that ‘Detective Novels are Constructed Backwards and are made up of Progressive and Digressive Elements for the Purpose of Producing Suspense’.

This essay demonstrates whether detective novels are composed backwards with progressive and digressive elements in order to produce suspense by looking at Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None, and Josephine Tey’s The Franchise Affair. Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd presents a murder at the beginning of the novel, and the story—through its narrator and detective, Poirot—attempts to retrace the steps that led to the murder; thereby, solving the critical question: whodunit? It is a typical detective story in that respect; however,
In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the story constructs itself backwards after a crime has been committed, like The Franchise Affair. Digressive elements are provided through red herrings: the disappearance of Paton. Moreover, the unreliable narrator distracts readers from his guilt by lighting suspicion on other characters. However, progressive elements are provided through subtle clues: the timing and Sheppard’s reticence. Contrastingly, And Then There Were None is a story where there is technically no detective, albeit everyone alive at any particular time wonders who the murderer is, but in which the mysterious facts are not explained until the very end. Though the narrative allows access to characters’ thoughts, it does not give clues towards solving the mystery, but only confirms the victims’ guilt. Armstrong functions as a red herring, which distracts the remaining victims, and readers, from the truth. Therefore, red herrings create suspense, as readers wants to solve the mystery, but, instead, misdirects them. Red herrings are one of the digressive elements of the detective story; however, they contribute to the suspense, since there is suspicion surrounding everyone. In fact, And Then There Were None proposes that there is an unsolved mystery with all ten people dead. Wargrave’s death works as a digressive element, as one does not suspect that a victim, proclaimed dead, could be guilty of the Soldier Island murders. Therefore, Wargrave’s confession allows the story to be constructed backwards in order to solve the mystery. Finally, The Franchise Affair constructs itself backwards by delving into the past to uncover the truth behind Kane’s accusation—this is where the suspense lies. Digressive elements include scene setting, the Sharpes’ house, which is clearly meant to mislead readers. It is only through a series of accidents, however,