And Then There Were None

by

Agatha Christie

Death Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Justice Theme Icon
Guilt Theme Icon
Death Theme Icon
Class Theme Icon
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.
Death Theme Icon

Death is obviously a central part of And Then There Were None, but it is treated quite casually. There is no pomp or circumstance surrounding the death of any of the characters. They are laid out on their beds and that is it. This simplicity comes from the fact that the characters revert to a more primitive state when death becomes present in their everyday lives. When so many people are dying there is no time for mourning, and life just has to go on. In addition, their own murderous pasts have brought them to this proximity with death. The characters have all killed other people so they are unusually knowledgeable about death.

The inevitability of death is highlighted on Soldier's Island. Many of the characters, such as Vera, Anthony Marston, Mr. Lombard and Mr. Blore, feel immortal. They believe that they will be the ones to survive because they have avoided danger at other times in their lives. Yet one of Wargrave's lessons is that no one can escape death.

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Death ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Death appears in each chapter of And Then There Were None. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Death Quotes in And Then There Were None

Below you will find the important quotes in And Then There Were None related to the theme of Death.
Chapter 1 Quotes

“Watch and pray,” he said. “Watch and pray. The day of judgment is at hand.”

Related Symbols: The Storm
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Oh, yes. I've no doubt in my own mind that we have been invited here by a madman – probably a dangerous homicidal lunatic.”

Related Characters: Justice Wargrave (speaker)
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

He thought: Best of an island is once you get there – you can't go any farther … you've come to the end of things …
He knew, suddenly, that he didn't want to leave the island.

Related Characters: General John Gordon Macarthur (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Island
Page Number: 86
Explanation and Analysis:

Why had Anthony Marston wanted to die? She didn't want to die.
She couldn't imagine wanting to die …
Death was for – the other people …

Related Characters: Vera Claythorne (speaker), Anthony Marston
Page Number: 89
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

We're not going to leave the island … None of us will ever leave … It's the end, you see – the end of everything …”
He hesitated, then he said in a low strange voice:
“That's peace – real peace. To come to the end – not to have to go on … Yes, peace …”

Related Characters: General John Gordon Macarthur (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Island
Page Number: 103
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

“I mean – it explains Soldier Island. There are crimes that cannot be brought home to their perpetrators. Instance the Rogerses'. Another instance, old Wargrave, who committed his murder strictly within the law.”

Related Characters: Philip Lombard (speaker), Justice Wargrave, Thomas Rogers, Ethel Rogers
Related Symbols: The Island
Page Number: 114
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“Your argument seems logical. I agree that one of us is possessed by a devil.”

Page Number: 151
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“I know very well that I'm not the murderer, and I don't fancy there's anything insane about you, Vera. You strike me as being one of the sanest most levelheaded girls I've come across. I'd stake my reputation on your sanity.

Related Characters: Philip Lombard (speaker), Vera Claythorne
Page Number: 168
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“The damned fool, he believed every word I said to him. It was easy … I must be careful, though, very careful.”

Related Characters: Justice Wargrave (speaker), Dr. Edward Armstrong
Page Number: 195
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“One more of us acquitted – too late!”

Related Characters: Justice Wargrave (speaker)
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

There was little pretense now – no formal veneer of conversation. They were five enemies linked together by a mutual instinct of self-preservation.

And all of them, suddenly, looked less like human beings. They were reverting to more bestial types.

Page Number: 211
Explanation and Analysis:

Philip Lombard's senses seemed heightened, rather than diminished. His ears reacted to the slightest sound. His step was lighter and quicker, his body lithe and graceful. And he smiled often, his lips curling back from his long white teeth.

Related Characters: Philip Lombard
Page Number: 212
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

They'd believe her all right. Cyril often told stories. He was an untruthful child. Cyril would know, of course. But that didn't matter … and anyway nothing would go wrong. She'd pretend to swim out after him. But she'd arrive too late … Nobody would ever suspect …
Had Hugo suspected? Was that why he had looked at her in that queer far-off way? … Had Hugo known?

Related Characters: Vera Claythorne (speaker)
Page Number: 230
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“Why did I never see his face properly before? A wolf – that's what it is – a wolf's face … Those horrible teeth …”

Related Characters: Vera Claythorne (speaker), Philip Lombard
Page Number: 262
Explanation and Analysis:

How very quiet the house was. And yet –it didn't seem like an empty house …
Hugo, upstairs, waiting for her …

Related Characters: Vera Claythorne (speaker)
Page Number: 268
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue 1 Quotes

“And therefore, sir, there must have been someone else on the island. Someone who tidied up when the whole business was over. But where was he all the time – and were did he go to? The Sticklehaven people are absolutely certain that no one could have left the island before the rescue boat got there. But in that case –”

“But in that case,” he said, “who killed them?”

Page Number: 283-284
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue 2 Quotes

I was born with other traits besides my romantic fancy. I have a definite sadistic delight in seeing or causing death.

Related Characters: Justice Wargrave (speaker)
Page Number: 285
Explanation and Analysis:

I have wanted – let me admit frankly – to commit a murder myself. I recognized this as the desire of the artist to express himself! I was, or could me, an artist in crime! My imagination, sternly checked by the exigencies of my profession, waxed secretly to colossal force.

Related Characters: Justice Wargrave (speaker)
Page Number: 287
Explanation and Analysis:

When the sea goes down, there will come from the mainland boats and men.

And they will find ten dead bodies and an unsolved problem on Soldier Island.

Related Characters: Justice Wargrave (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Storm
Page Number: 300
Explanation and Analysis: