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Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in And Then There Were None, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Justice
Guilt
Death
Class
Summary
Analysis
Dr. Armstrong dreams that he is performing his failed operation again. But in his dream he is operating on Miss Brent and realizes that he has to kill her. She laughs at him and says, “In the midst of life we are in death.” She then turns into Anthony Marston, and Armstrong wakes up. Rogers is shaking him and says that he can't wake his wife up.
As the characters are forced to face their pasts, vivid memories of guilt come back to them. It happened to Vera last chapter and now to Armstrong in his dreams. Further, the characters begin to think about killing each other, as none of them can trust the others as death is taking them one by one.
Themes
Armstrong goes down to see Mrs. Rogers and sees that she is in fact dead. Armstrong asks Mr. Rogers if he gave anything to his wife last night and Rogers responds that all she took was what Armstrong gave her.
The second death proves that something is truly wrong on the island. Both deaths appear inexplicable, but it is clear that they can't both have been accidental or suicide.
Themes
Everyone is downstairs for breakfast at nine o'clock. Vera and Lombard had walked up to the summit of the island to look down at the house. They tell the others that Mr. Blore is up there now, looking for the boat, but nothing has come.
Everyone's one hope is now escape from the island. But it does not seem as if anyone will come. They are stuck on this remote island—all they have is each other.
Themes
After breakfast Armstrong tells the rest of the guests that Mrs. Rogers died last night. Armstrong says that he cannot tell how she died. Miss Brent thinks that she died from a guilty conscience; she calls it an Act of God. Mr. Blore thinks that Mr. Rogers killed his wife so she wouldn't spill the beans about the murder they had committed together.
There are many theories going around about this new death. Each character creates an idea that is in line with his or her own character. Miss Brent sees everything in terms of religion, Blore in terms of self-serving and cold-blooded actions.
Themes
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Mr. Rogers then comes in and Wargrave asks him what time the motorboat normally comes to the island. Rogers tell shim about 7 or 8am, but that it is now 9:50am. Everyone is silent until Macarthur all of a sudden tells Rogers that he is sorry to hear about his wife.
Because they are all so worried about their own lives, no one at first takes the time to comfort Rogers or acknowledge his loss. They are losing their civility and moving towards a more primal, survivalist state.
Themes
Outside, after breakfast, Lombard asks Blore what he thinks about the motorboat not arriving. Blore thinks that it is not an accident that it hasn't come and then Macarthur jumps in the conversation and says that the boat will never come. He continues by saying that they are not going to leave the island and that this is the end of everything. Macarthur walks away unsteadily. Blore says that Macarthur has gone crazy.
Rogers calls Armstrong into the dining room and says very nervously that something is wrong. Rogers says that he counted the little soldiers on the table after dinner and there were 10, before they went to bed there were 9 and now there are 8.
The soldiers continue to disappear as characters die. There seems to be some larger plan that no one yet understands.
Themes
Literary Devices
