And Then There Were None

Analyse how characters were used to explore the concept of justice.

Justice. Would you run away from it? Or would you accept it? In the text ‘And Then There Were None’ authored by Agatha Christie justice is a concept presented by the characters in the text. Mrs Emily Brent and Justice Wargrave present how justice can be perceived different due to perspective, General MacArthur presents how emotional justice is sometimes a much more fair punishment than physical justice and Dr Armstrong presents how forgiveness should be considered first before justice.

In the text the contrast of perspective of Mrs Emily Brent and Justice Wargrave show how justice can be perceived different due to perspective. Mrs Emily Brent is a character which demonstrates the concept of justice. Mrs Emily Brent is a relatively old christian woman who is very religious and knows her righteousness. Before travelling to the island she had kicked out a servant name Beatrice Taylor when she had found out she was pregnant before marriage causing the servant to kill herself. “Naturally I did not keep her an hour under my roof. No one shall ever say that I condoned immorality… The abandoned creature, not content with having one sin on her conscience, committed a still graver sin. She took her own life.” This is important to the text as it shows that Mrs Emily Brent percieve’s Beatrice Taylor to no longer be human due to the authors word selection of describing Beatrice Taylor as a ‘abondoned creature’. Even with the knowledge that her actions will evidently kill Beatrice, she does so because she believes there is no other option, for religious justice. Even with the knowledge that murder is not tolerated in the bible she does so as she believes in order to please God she must. (“But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.” – Exodus 21:14 ” If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death.” – Leviticus 24:17) Justice is a concept to describe fair punishment for the result of someones actions. The author has demonstrated the theme of justice within Mrs Emily Brent because as shown Mrs Emily Brent has made the decision that Beatrice Taylor’s actions deserves a fair punishment of death therefore demonstrating the theme of justice. Another character named Justice Wargrave thinks otherwise of Mrs Emily Brent’s actions. Justice Wargrave is a a cold, commanding retired judge who believes that Beatrice Taylor was innocent and didn’t deserve to die. Justice Wargrave therefore believes for the justice of Beatrice Taylor, Mrs Emily Brent is condoned for exile: life for life. The author has shown how Justice Wargrave has portrayed the theme of justice as Justice Wargrave takes action in giving Mrs Emily Brent a fair punishment for her actions. The author has demonstrated the theme of justice in both to show how justice can be perceived differently due to perspective. This is because Mrs Emily Brent envisioned the situation in a religious perspective, following the laws of the bible where as Justice Wargrave envisioned the situation in a legal point of view, following strictly by the legal laws placed in the country due to him being an experienced judge. As humans if we could just not rush into conclusions and take the time to look at situations in a different perspective we may be able to adjust our actions to gain the best possible outcome. If both Mrs Emily Brent and Justice Wargrave looked at the situation in a different perspective this may have prevented both the death of Beatrice Taylor and also Mrs Emily Brent. However due to the author being a member of the Church of England indicating she is christian I the reader have also interpreted she has done this to show how it is unfair how men and women have to follow the conduct of the legal laws and are punished for following their beliefs. It is to no surprise that religion and beliefs are one of the main topics which cause worldwide conflict and wars. In 2016 Brock Turner is an example in how justice can be perceived differently due to perspective. In Stanford University Brock Turner at the age of 19 sexually assaulted a woman and was only sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. An act like Brock’s would typically have a sentence of at least a year. Brock’s lawyer Multhaup believes Brock’s case should be overturned as he looked at the perspective that they were just having fun where as the one of the members at the jury believed he should be sentenced to 5 years as he looked at the situation at a legal point of view. This just shows how justice can be perceived different due to perspective.

General MacArthur is another character who also present the theme of justice. General MacArthur shows how the emotional justice which comes from guilt is worse than the physical justice such as a death. General MacArthur is a old, retired war hero who was invited to the island for justice as he murdered his wife’s lover Arthur Richmond. However soon after her wife Leslie passes away the General is left weeping in sorrow. In the text General MacArthur finds himself hallucinating about his actions after a gramophone recorder plays a record accusing him of his murder. Quickly he then realizes why he was brought to the island: for justice of his actions. After both Anthony Marston and Mrs Rogers death General MacArthur realizes what is to occur with his life and waits sitting beside the seaside. General MacArthur finally feels a sense of tranquility and relief since his act of murder as he no longer has the burden of his act. “We’re all waiting for the end… None of us are going to leave the island. That’s the plan. You know it, of course, perfectly. What, perhaps, you can’t understand is the relief!… The blessed relief when you know that you’ve done with it all-that you haven’t got to carry the burden any longer.” – General MacArthur This shows the reader that the punishment of death, for the justice of Leslie is not perceived as a punishment for General MacArthur due to the language technique of repetition of the word ‘relief’. The General rather views the justice as a token of appreciation that he no longer has to feel the guilt of his actions without having to commit suicide. The author has therefore shown how justice is presented in General MacArthur as it shows him accepting a fair punishment for his actions. This teaches the reader how emotions such as guilt is sometimes a much more fair treatment of justice rather than the typical physical justice such as a death sentence. This is because unlike artificial technology, humans decisions are heavily influenced on our emotions which is why we humans are not perfect. This is why us humans may have ups and downs as we may breakdown or get side tracked which can prevent us from achieving our goals and ambitions, cause us to disregard our beliefs and cause us to select the incorrect response for certain situations. In this case for General MacArthur his actions of murder were influenced by the emotion of anger because of the emotion of love for his wife. The emotional consequence of his actions was then guilt which influenced him to accept his death for justice. Again this shows how human actions are programmed by emotions. If you were in the General’s position what would you do? Live the rest of your life being bombarded by guilt everywhere you go or rest in peace? General MacArthur has therefore shown to the readers how emotional justice may be a much more fair punishment than the physical justice of a death furthermore demonstrating the theme of justice. Again due to the author being christian the concept of justice shown within General MacArthur has been shown to teach the reader why we should confess our sins instead running away from them as God will forgive. In 2018 a model named Stephanie Adams is an example of how emotional justice is sometimes a much more worse punishment than physical justice such as a death. Stephanie Justice committed suicide by jumping out the 25th floor of a building soon after she pushed her 7 year old child of the building. This just shows how she would rather punish herself physically than living with the emotion of guilt acting as justice.

Another character named Dr Armstrong also demonstrates the theme of justice. Dr Armstrong presents how forgiveness should be considered first before justice. Dr Armstrong is a very successful physician who was invited to the island with huge sums of money to assess ‘Mrs Owens’ health. However he was really invited there to be murdered in act of justice as Dr Armstrong got away with killing Louisa Mary Clees as he operated a surgery while being intoxicated with alcohol. Dr Armstrong however is very aware of his actions and regrets it. “Drunk-that’s what it was-drunk. And I operated! Nerves all to pieces-hands shaking. I killed her, all right. Poor devil-elderly woman-simple job if I’d been sober”. He therefore tries to make a change to make up for his vital error. Dr Armstrong has learn’t from his mistake and has never drunk again and becomes a very reliable and a highly recommended doctor who saves hundreds of patients lives. However Justice Wargrave disregards his actions in attempt to amend his heavily regretted murder. He therefore still invites him to the island to die and accusing him on a gramophone recorder of his past actions. “Edward George Armstrong, that you did upon the 14th day of March, 1925, cause the death of Louisa Mary Clees”. This teaches the reader Justice Wargrave knows for a fact that Dr Armstrong is guilty and is deemed for justice due to the language technique of a statement. The author has shown the theme of justice within Dr Armstrong as Dr Armstrong is aware of his actions and believes a fair punishment is to give up his old punishments of drinking and and amend his actions by saving more people. Justice Wargrave does not believe this is a fair punishment and does not forgive him for his action. Forgiveness is a major part in the bible. Due to the author being christian she has demonstrated the theme of justice within Dr Armstrong to show how Justice Wargrave is wrong. Stated in the second paragraph humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Therefore every human should have the opportunity of a second chance as humans are very capable of bouncing back to make difference in this world. In this case Justice Wargrave should have considered forgiving Dr Armstrong as he has bounced back making a positive difference in this world by saving hundreds of lives. With Justice Wargrave killing Dr Armstrong for justice he has not only killed Dr Armstrong but he has also indirectly killed hundreds more as hundreds of patients who see Dr Armstrong may have no where to go to get help. Mark Wahlberg is an example of why we should choose forgiveness instead of justice. Mark Wahlberg is a famous actor, producer, businessman and model. However it all didn’t just start this way. At the age of 15 he and a couple of mates would patrol the streets and purposely physically abuse black people. One black man could have stood up and bet Mark up however he forgived him in hope for him to make a change. And so he did as he has never physically abused anyone again and has made a difference in the world being a famous actor who brings smiles to peoples faces.

In conclusion the author Agatha Christie has utilized the characters in the text of ‘And Then There Were None’ to present the theme of justice. Agatha Christie has utilized the characters Mrs Emily Brent and Justice Wargrave to show how justice can be perceived differently due to perspective, General MacArthur to show how emotional justice may be a much more fair act of punishment rather than physical justice and Dr Armstrong to show how forgiveness should always be considered first before justice.