And then there were none

Name: And then were none Author: Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None is a novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial epithet to the title And Then There Were None. It is Christie's best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the best-selling books of all time. It has been adapted into several plays, films, and a video game. The first thing which I want read to you is a old nursery rhyme Ten little niggers.

Ten little Nigger boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little Nigger boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little Nigger boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there and then there were seven. Seven little Nigger boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six. Six little Nigger boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little Nigger boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Nigger boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little Nigger boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two Little Nigger boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one.[8] One little Nigger boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none. The book I've read was about eight people, Justice Wargrave, Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, General Macarthur, Emily Brent, Anthony "Tony" Marston, Doctor Armstrong, and William Blore, who have been invited to a mansion on the Nigger Island, which is based upon Burgh Island off the coast of Devon. They have all previously been complicit in the deaths of others but have escaped notice or punishment. When they arrived, they were told that their hosts, a Mr. and Mrs. Owen are currently away, but the guests will be attended to by Thomas and Ethel Rogers. Each guest finds in his or her room a framed copy of the nursery rhyme "Ten Little Niggers" hanging on the wall. Before dinner that evening, the guests notice ten soldier boy figurines on the dining room table. During their meal, a gramophone record plays, accusing each of the ten of murder. The guests now realize they have been tricked into coming to the island, but find that they cannot leave. The boat which regularly delivers supplies has stopped arriving. They are murdered one by one, each death paralleling a verse of the nursery rhyme, with one of the figurines being removed after each murder. First to die is the spoiled Anthony Marston, who chokes to death when his drink is poisoned with cyanide ("one choked his little self"). That night, Thomas Rogers notices that a figurine is missing from the dining table. Mrs. Rogers dies in her sleep that night, which Dr. Armstrong attributes to a fatal overdose of sleeping draught ("one overslept himself"). General Macarthur fatalistically predicts that no one will leave the island alive, and at lunch, is found dead from a blow to the back of his skull ("one said he'd stay there"). Two more figurines have disappeared from the dining room. In growing panic, the survivors search the island in chase for the murderer. Justice Wargrave establishes himself as the decisive leader of the group and noticed that one of them must be the murderer playing a sadistic game with the rest. The next morning, Rogers is missing, as is another figurine. He is found dead in the woodshed, struck in the back of the head with an axe ("one chopped himself in halves"). Later that day, Emily Brent is killed in the kitchen by an injection of potassium cyanide that leaves a mark on

her neck ("A bumblebee stung one"), which at first appears to be a sting from a bumble bee. The five survivors Dr. Armstrong, Justice Wargrave, Philip Lombard, Vera Claythorne, and William Blore become increasingly frightened and almost mad.

Wargrave suggests they lock up any potential weapons, including Armstrong's medical equipment and the judge's own sleeping pills. Lombard admits to bringing a revolver to the island, but says it has gone missing. Resolved to keep the killer from catching anyone alone, they bring together in the drawing room and only leave one at a time. Vera goes up to her room and hears the gramophone alleged that she had drowned. Her screams attract the attention of Blore, Lombard, and Armstrong, who rush to help her. When they return to the drawing room, they find Wargrave with a gunshot wound in his forehead ("one got into Chancery"). Armstrong confirms the death, and they lay Wargrave's body in his room. Shortly after that, Lombard discovers his revolver has been returned.

That night, Blore hears someone sneaking out of the house. He and Lombard discovered Armstrong missing, suppouse the doctor is the killer. They wake Vera up and the they spend the night outdoors. In the morning, Blore leaves for food and does not return. Vera and Lombard soon discover his body on the terrace, skull crushed by a bear-shaped clock ("a big bear hugged one")-and on the shore, Armstrong, drowned ("a red herring swallowed one"). Each of them suppouses the other is the murderer. Lombard has help Vera move Armstrong's body out of the water. Uusing the opportunity to pick his revolver from his pocket she kills Lombard with a shot through the heart on the beach ("one got frizzled up") and returns to the house. She is unsurprised to find a noose prepared in her room. In a trance of exhaustion, guilt, and relief, she hangs herself, filling the final verse of the rhyme (he went out and hanged himself).

Characters:
Anthony James Marston ran over and killed two children Mrs. Ethel Rogers helped her husband to kill their employer General John Gordon Macarthur sent his wife's lover to his death by sending him to a suicide mission Thomas Rogers with his wife killed their employer Emily Catherine Brent dismissed her maid, Beatrice Taylor, as punishment for becoming pregnant out of marriage. As a result Beatrice threw herself into a river and drowned Dr. Edward George Armstrong blamed for the death of his patient William Henry Blore sent an innocent man, James Landor to prison, where he died later Philip Lombard accused of causing the deaths of a native African tribe

Vera Elizabeth Claythorne let young Cyril swim out to sea and drown so that his uncle, Hugo Hamilton could succeed his money and marry her Justice Lawrence John Wargrave awarded the death penlty in murder cases (Known as hanging judge)