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Chapter 6
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
Vera and Emily Brent go for a walk to the summit of the island to look for the boat. Vera has begun to get very nervous and tries to tell herself to calm down. She asks Miss Brent whether she thinks the Rogerses are really guilty and Miss Brent says that they certainly are.
The characters are still hoping for a way to escape. Miss Brent's religious certainty makes her feel very willing to pronounce guilt on others, though she seems to feel none at her own actions.
Themes
Vera asks if this means that Miss Brent believes the others are guilty. Brent says that besides Lombard who killed the natives and the Rogers, all the other stories seem rather ridiculous.
Brent's dogmatic religious fervor means that although she sees herself as innocent and pure she thinks that everyone else is a sinner and a liar.
Themes
Emily Brent says that given the circumstances last night, with gentlemen around, she of course wasn't going to say anything about her own story. Miss Brent continues that Beatrice Taylor was in her service but she turned out to not be a “nice girl.” When Miss Brent found out that Beatrice had gotten “in trouble” as they say, she kicked her out of her house, as did Beatrice's parents. After this happened Beatrice threw herself into a river to kill herself.
Regardless of the circumstances (in this case everyone in the room had just been accused of murder), Brent maintains her sense of decorum. She didn't share her story because she thought it would have been improper. Her sense of strict religious rules means she has missed out on an important part of Christianity: compassion.
Themes
Vera is horrified by this story but Miss Brent feels no guilt or remorse. She says that if Beatrice had behaved like a “decent modest young woman” none of it ever would have happened. Vera is now even more horrified.
Miss Brent's lack of guilt or sympathy for other people shows the flaws a strict, unwavering view of right and wrong can create. Just as a justice system without exceptions or nuance is flawed.
Themes
Literary Devices
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Dr. Armstrong comes outside to talk to someone about the situation on the island. He sees Wargrave but decides he doesn't want to speak with him and instead chooses Lombard. They go over the Rogers's story and Armstrong points out that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers could have killed the old lady they were taking care of just by not supplying her medicine – through neglect. Lombard then makes the conclusion that everyone on Soldiers Island is here because they have committed a crime for which they cannot be convicted.
Armstrong's choice of Lombard over Wargrave shows that he sees Lombard as someone who is helpful in a time of emergency. Lombard proves his levelheaded cleverness by laying out all the facts. Armstrong shows that he is starting to distrust everyone and Lombard agrees. Lombard is the first to figure out the reason everyone was brought to this island.
Themes
Armstrong comments that two suicides within 12 hours are simply implausible, and that Anthony Marston must have been murdered. And if Anthony Marston was murdered then Mrs. Rogers must have been murdered, too. They then go over the poem that is hung on each of their walls: the first soldier boy chokes and the second overslept– just like Marston and Rogers! They decide that the poem, the missing soldier figurines on the table, and the fact that the motorboat didn't come this morning must mean that there has been foul play. There is a “raving maniac” on the island. They decide to search the island with Blore's help.
Armstrong, Lombard, and Blore decide to take action against the unknown threat by searching the Island. They show that they still believe that there is a hope for escape or to stop the “raving maniac.” They have not resigned themselves to their fate even though they have started to figure out what is going on. They desperately want to live.
Themes
