Madness
The detective charged with solving the murder at the heart of this story at one point suggests that they are up against a personification of madness. “Not there originally, but cultivated. A seed that took root and grows fast.” The metaphor in this case suggests that this form of madness is a ruthless kind of greed. The series of events leading to murder did not originate organically in this person’s psyche but was rather nurtured into full maturity like a flower blooming from a seed planted long before.
Sins of the Past
The madness which grows into murder has its origin in a time before the detective arrives on the scene. “Old sins have long shadows” he observes when another person suggests that events which happened before are unlikely to have any bearing on the murder. The metaphor is highly suggestive of consequences. The shadows are the symbolic consequences of sinful behavior of the past which have intruded upon the changed circumstances of the present.
Senility
Poirot very quickly is led to believe that the murders being investigated are connected to a forged codicil within a will. “I suppose the family claimed that the balance of her mind had been disturbed, that there had been undue influence?” The intricacies of the investigation center upon the mental state of the person with a history of constantly rewriting elements of her will. The question being asked here uses a metaphor to suggest that this erratic behavior was viewed as signs of a deteriorating mental state. The description of a mind unbalanced by outside influence is just a loftier way of saying the lady in question had become senile enough to be gullible to the interests of a con artist.
Brave New World
Poirot is having a discussion with a young girl named Miranda who questions the possibility of a brave new world being possible. Poirot responds that it is possible, but only for certain types of very lucky people. “The ones who carry the making of that world within themselves.” What he is trying to convey through metaphor is the idea that it takes a certain sort of imagination. The world withing themselves is a metaphor for the ability to imagine a world that is much better than the one we know.
Crying Wolf
he mystery begins with the murder of a young girl shortly after she had insisted that she once witnessed a murder but didn’t realize it actually had been a murder when she saw it happening. One person who knew her well says, “It’s like the old story of the boy who cried ‘Wolf, wolf,’ and he cried it once too often, when it was a real wolf, and nobody believed him, and so the wolf got him.” The simile being engaged here is the woman’s way of saying that Joyce had a long history of being a “proper little liar” that finally had consequences. The use of the simile which compares Joyce’s situation indirectly to the fable instead of using the direct metaphor is significant because she isn’t necessarily insisting that Joyce was telling the truth this time, either. It is only “like” the fable because Joyce may have been lying on this occasion as well, but someone may have believed she was telling the truth. In which case, of course, Joyce’s crying wolf—make up a story—one too many times wound up costing the young girl her life.
