Hercule Poirot Research Paper

Hercule Poirot, a world renowned Belgian detective on vacation, is the protagonist of Agatha Christie’s ‘Evil Under the Sun’. Although the guests initially suspected he was there on business, they relaxed afterwards, up until Arlena Stuart’s murder. His reputation as a detective, solving numerous high profile cases all over the world, preceded him and allowed him to conduct his own investigation alongside the local authorities. However complex the crime seems, he solves it the same way. “I told you once that I had a very simple mind. Always, from the beginning, it seemed to me that the most likely person had killed Arlena Marshall.” (page 210). Poirot’s method for solving crimes is simple yet ingenious; furthermore, he treats each crime as
a puzzle and the clues must fit together to form a whole story that makes sense.
The victim of the Edward Corrigan’s murderous plot was killed for her wealth.
Arlena Marshall, better known for her stage name Arlena Stuart, was exceptionally beautiful; so upon her arrival to the island, she attracted a majority of the men, much to the dismay of their wives. However, before she married Captain Marshall, she was the center of a scandal involving one of her rich admirers leaving a huge sum of money to her in his will. After a publicized divorce, Kenneth Marshall swooped in and married her, partly out of pity. A few years before Arlena’s murder, Edward Corrigan escaped conviction for the murder of his wife. With the help of his accomplice, he created another scheme, this time for money. Targeting the wealthy young actress, he charmed her and taking advantage of her naivety, convinced her to give him all her money, furthermore, he murdered her afterwards to prevent suspicion. Despite his homicidal tendencies, he is very handsome and charming, appealing to many women.
Devilishly cunning, Alice Deverill helped carry out her fake husband’s scheme. She demonstrated her wits from the start, depicting herself as a fragile, helpless, woman, with no athletic prowess when in fact, she had the same physique as Arlena Marshall and had previously been games mistress of a school. Furthermore, she is very loyal to Edward Corrigan, helping him with two murders even though they aren’t
married.
Young and naive Linda Marshall hated her stepmother; Arlena’s beauty made Linda feel awkward and clumsy. In addition to that, she despised the effect Arlena had on people. After stumbling upon a book on witchcraft, she made a doll of Arlena, cast a spell, and pierced it. And Patrick and Emily found her stepmother dead hours later, Linda believed it to be her fault. So, unable to bear the guilt, Linda took multiple sleeping tablets at once and left a confession note.
After his first wife died, Kenneth Marshall believed his daughter needed a new mother and since Arlena’s situation reminded him of his late wife, he married her. However, to his dismay, he found her to be shallow and stayed with her out of pity, rather than love. He is prideful and usually very reserved. Although he tends to stay out of conflict, he quickly jumps to his late wife’s defense, after Poirot brought up her trial for murder, fiercely reminding everyone “She was also acquitted.” (page 198).