The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The central theme in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is good versus evil. Throughout the book there are repeated acts of good versus evil where evil seem to overcome the good. In her 55 years of writing, Agatha Christie wrote 72 books. Agatha’s books have been translated into a lot of different languages. She wrote 66 mysteries and 6 romantic books. The characters in her stories are what makes her books very different and stand out. Being surrounded by a lot people influenced her writing. They gave her creative inspiration. The type of genre she chose most was mystery.
This was hard for her because she had a difficult time putting what was going on in real life into her books. She would base the characters in her book on how the people around her act. When writing her books, she wrote on the things that were happening around her at that time of taking place. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had its first publication in June 1926, in the United Kingdom by William Collins, Son and then was published in the United State on June 19, 1926. Her work was ranked third as the world’s most sold books after William Shakespeare and the Bible. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has a whodunit genre in the story.
With the book having different clues it takes the reader in different directions. This genre was most commonly used in mysteries in the 1920s-1950s era. The characters in these books were usually in the middle to upper class society. Detective fiction was a way to tell people that there is somebody to keep the public safe from harm and to restore the calmness corrupt by crime. The detective usually is smart and supportive of the law and is also able to bring justice to everyone. Throughout the book, the narrator has a chance to confuse the reader on who the murderer is and have a chance to hide the crime.
This is to make the reader anxious about what he/she is reading. The name of the book actually set the plot of the book. It is almost like proof to the case that’s going on in the book. The irony in this story is that the Doctor, which is someone that is supposed to be trusted and is trusted to save the lives of others, but takes the life of Roger. He also blackmails Mrs. Ferraris. In the ending of the book Dr. Sheppard uses it to write his confession and suicide note. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd revolves around murder and blackmail. These are the main situations that happen in the story.
The mystery of the story is who is the person that killed Roger Ackroyd, which is also showing man vs. man conflict. Another example of man versus man conflict is figuring out who was in the summer house with Ursula Bourne. This situation changes the plot of the story because it can potentially eliminate a suspect in Roger’s death. Blackmail shows up in the story because Roger Ackroyd secret crush. She is being blackmailed because she was accused for killing her husband. This is also another example of man versus man conflict. Mrs. Ferrars, one of the main characters in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, was a nice lady that stayed by herself.
In the small town she lived in news travels fast. James, the narrator of the story, came home and said that his sister Caroline didn’t have to leave home to receive information. Caroline told James that Mrs. Ferrars killed her husband by poisoning him, she also said that the milkman stated that Mrs. Ferrars died in her sleep and that he, the milkman, heard it from Mrs. Ferrars cook. Mrs. Ferrars died in her sleep due to overdosing on veronal but, Caroline argued with James and said that killing her husband, who was the reason why she died, had haunted her.
When something happens even if they did not do it they seem to act suspicious. People don’t look at Poirot as the good detective that he is. He is something like Sherlock Holmes. They are similar in many ways but they are also different. The difference is that Poirot thinks everything through; they are both really good at solving crimes. But by his actions makes the people around think that he isn’t good at doing his job when he is really good at what he do. “I am an imbecile. I see only half of the picture. ” Although Poirot is a great detective he is old fashion. He does all of his detective work the way he wants to.
The truth however ugly in itself is always curious and beautiful to the seek after it. ” When dealing with good vs. evil, the truth will always seem evil but the truth is always good to know as well. In this case the truth is evil but in disguise all because no one knows who murdered Mr. Roger Ackroyd. “It’s Very Mysterious” “There are some letters on the floor. ” This quote is saying that is it is very mysterious for Roger to be found dead in his study but no one not even the maid. When something happens even if they did not do it they seem to act suspicious. People don’t look at Poirot as the good detective that he is.
He is something like Sherlock Holmes. They are similar in many ways but they are also different. The difference is that Poirot thinks everything through; they are both really good at solving crimes. But by his actions makes the people around think that he isn’t good at doing his job when he is really good at what he do. “I am an imbecile. I see only half of the picture. ” Although Poirot is a great detective he is old fashion. He does all of his detective work the way he wants to. “… Does it not strike you that the easiest way of removing someone you want to remove from your path is to take advantage of accident?
Accidents are happening all the time. And sometimes – Hastings – they can be helped to happen! ” Although this quote is not from the book The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, it closely relates with the book. The way this quote relates to the book is because it goes along with the theme of the book. This quote describes the whole book. Someone killing another person is evil in the world. This evil is all around, but the good is what overcomes it all the time. The good is when the person that has done the crime has been charged and is serving time for their actions.
Sometimes this does not always happen, but the good in a situation somehow comes out. Roger Ackroyd was murdered all because he knew too much about what was going on. Roger was seen as a threat. He was seen as a threat due to the information he knew and the only way to keep him quiet was to kill him. Dr. Sheppard, he is a prime example of good versus evil. The blackmailer of Mrs. Ferrars and the murderer of Roger Ackroyd was none other than Dr. Sheppard. Dr. Sheppard blackmailed Mrs. Ferrars for money to keep her secret about the crime she had done which was killing her husband.
Dr. Sheppard was supposed to be the good person in this story. He was supposed to represent good but he was actually the bad guy. Although he is a doctor does not mean that he was a good doctor. He brutally stabbed Roger Ackroyd in the back before Roger could finish reading the evening post. The good in this situation comes about when Sheppard kills himself. Sheppard chose to take the evil out of him by taking his life. In this situation good is not overcoming evil because Sheppard killed himself, but the good is now in existence since the evil is now gone.