"In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, No One Is Innocent": An Evaluation of Christie's Characters Isabelle Claire Smith 11th Grade

Agatha Christie leaves us, by the end of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, in a state of bewilderment and unknowing – to the extent where right and wrong have become incomprehensible. It seems as though the world in which King’s Abbot is situated has become immune to reality; as if it now abides by its own rules and regulations. Christie’s use of a clue-puzzle structure leads the reader into the belief that no character is trustworthy, and certainly by no means innocent – even those who, upon first reading, appear to have no major relevance in the plot at all. Although, readers may see this situation differently, presenting figures such as Caroline as characters who are purely pawns upon Christie’s chess bored, alluding no real part in the overall story and are purely there as a distraction.

Christie’s use of a clue-puzzle structure allows her to present a plethora of red herrings throughout the novel in order to throw the reader off – to some extent. With the evolution of the crime genre, such useless leads have become common and largely expected. And yet, they are still written as they add to the theatrical nature of many texts, such as The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The idea of this structure is to allow the reader to solve the...