What Is The Story Doorways

Some narrative techniques used by Christie that follow the rules mentioned by Franks include “appeal factors, often described as doorways, are story, setting, character and language”. The following passage cited in Franks explains: “The story doorway beckons those who enjoy reading to find out what happens next. The setting doorway opens widest for readers who enjoy being immersed in an evocation of place or time. The doorway of character is for readers who enjoy looking at the world through others’ eyes. Finally, Knight (90) maintains Christie had “long-lasting and genre-shaping power” in her ability to understand how a “sense of personal unease and possible danger emerges in…a world secluded from social and international disorder. This
According to Franks, Auden states the “ending should be one of restoration of the spirit” because “ ... the typical reader of detective stories is, like myself, a person who suffers from a sense of sin”. Christie breaks from this tradition, since a detective does not close the case and the judge, much like his victims, does not suffer a trial or punishment by a jury of his peers, but rather by his own hand. Furthermore, Franks asserts that readers’ anticipate that the world is a moralistic and altruistic world in which issues, personal and communal chaos and disruption, are resolved by impartial and intelligent measures. Christie defies this notion by having the victims be absolved of all responsibility by the court system, and instead will face the consequences set down by Wargrave, by causing Vera and Wargrave both to commit suicide. Suicide in itself being a mortal sin and socially unacceptable. It is an antithesis to the traditional conclusions in crime
The guests are a diverse group of strangers who accept an invitation from an unknown person. The reader must question why should these people choose to accept an invitation to spend a weekend on an island? What are the motivations of each of the characters and who is responsible for issuing the invitations and for what reason? This is the mystery that must be solved in And Then There Were None. Agatha Christie answers these questions by the use of various tools, literary devices and symbolism of punishment of the guilty, the psychology of crime, and limitations of the justice system that not only answer these questions but also breaks the rules of classic mystery genre. Literary devices such as foreshadowing and flashbacks, themes of betrayal, psychological manipulation and social constraints as well as contrasts of guilt versus punishment feature predominantly in the book. These devices show the progression of the character’s motivations and, for some, their guilt. This is a breakaway from traditional crime fiction as the focus is on the guilt of the characters rather than on the detective and “whodunit” aspect which, in turn, has influenced writers of today. And Then There Were None is a classic mystery novel, the messages of crime and punishment and fallibility of human beings are as relevant today as they were when the book was first written over 70 years