Literary Criticisms

Societal Values in Characters:

Vigilantism

Throughout Murder on the Orient Express, morality is a significant theme often discussed on the plot of this story. This novel was written after World War I where, “the War devastated public faith in the law and God and made vigilantism an appealing theme” (Signh). Agatha Christie incorporated the theme of vigilantism by questioning the morality of a vengeful murder, especially in a case where justice was not sufficed. Furthermore, by making the characters take initiative to act above the law and escape prosecution, Christie was able to appeal to the societal values by many who were struggling to put faith in religion or government after experiencing traumatic events.

Revolution

Additionally, Christie’s characters ultimately decide to revolt and murder Ratchett not only for vengeance for killing a little girl, but to fight the collective societal value of favoring those with status and wealth. Due to these factors, Ratchett was acquitted and those who knew the little girl were seemingly betrayed by the law’s failures. Therefore, the story behind Christie’s characters vigilantism stems from also wanting to challenge unjust judiciary systems. According to the novel, the murder of Ratchett is essentially justified because, “God should not allow terrible events such as child murderers” (P.84) which alludes to the idea of revolting above law, societal values, or in some cases even faith in order to receive justice in unjust events. (Signh)

Classism:

Unequal Social Relations

In many of Christie’s novels she is known to include servants and maids who serve under those who are wealthy and sometimes even endorses stereotypes put onto the workers. In the settings she creates, such as luxurious trains and exciting archaeological sites, it’s clear that they are set up in a way to stereotype the relationship between servants and their bosses. Often she separates the relationship by intelligence and if a worker acts in an intelligent way or comes up with a clever plan it’s described as a, “mismatch between domestic preoccupations and intellectual work” (Ro). This description demonstrates Christie’s unsavory tendencies to support classism or in the least ignore the wrong in the prejudice of classism.

Stereotyping

Not only were the relationships between servants and bosses being stereotyped, but the servants themselves are even further stereotyped in Christie’s novels. In the time period Christie published most of her books in, there was a rigid class system in place. This system was prevalent especially between the working class and the wealthy who owned the companies that often oppressed the working for status and wealth that they didn’t have. In several novels by Christie such as A Murder is Announced and One, Two, Buckle my Shoe, she describes servants or maids as “bone-headed” or “cheap” and undermines their character through writing how they didn’t have “the general mentality” to commit crime (Ro). The glib descriptions Christie gave of the working class and her influence on literature at the time pushed many to believe in these stereotypes.

Feminism:

Fighting Societal Standards

Although there is proof that Agatha Christie has had some sexist tendencies when writing her novels, in reality most of her books push women to not be afraid of living for men’s expectations. The novels that demonstrate female characters reflecting stereotypes are some of her most successful, which corroborates the idea that in order to be successful, her novels must follow societies values on women. The standards society often gave women during Christie’s career made women seem dependent on men and gossipy, while she was giving female characters intelligence, skills, independence, and achievements. Characteristics such as these illustrate to women that they can transcend above the limiting expectations put onto them. (Knepper)

Empowering Women

Christie also works towards empowering women to be independent and powerful. She writes about female characters that struggle to live in a patriarchal society that expects women to be dependent on men. However, in several novels she makes the women she writes about a central and valuable part of the plot as well as putting women in “men’s fields”. For example, in Murder in Retrospect the female protagonist works as an archaeologist and in Appointment with Death a female main character works in politics. When reading Christie’s book, women are able to imagine themselves happily working their dream jobs and achieving goals that otherwise men wouldn’t allow them to. (Knepper)

Greed vs Generosity:

Hidden Selfishness

In Agatha Christie’s novel Death on the Nile, many of her characters portray selfishness that is hidden beneath an innocent facade. One of the main characters, Simon, uses his two love interests for only his own benefit. He uses Linnet for her money by marrying her and killing her, while using the other to make a plan for him and to protect him. “Self-interest is frequently the cause of crimes, both in stories and in real life,” this idea demonstrates that by only having interest in what is beneficial for him, Simon sets himself up to commit this murder, because if he didn’t have so much interest in getting Linnet’s riches for himself he most likely wouldn’t have murdered her. Under Simon’s innocent or generous facade, he hides a selfish and evil spirit. (Gahr)

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