This has always sat alongside Richard Connell's Most Dangerous Game, for me, being two incredibly simple ideas, masterfully laid out for a reader, without unnecessary embellishment of character or event. it's extremely potent in it's opening stages, but I fear the (slightly tacked on) ending is a little too on the nose. Regardless, it's status is well deserved.
For it's message, I've always approached the text being an indictment of capital punishment, especially given the choice of killer, showing that there is no difference between those before the bench and behind it. There were a series of miscarriages of justice through the early part of the twentieth century, and it is dubious that Christie would have arrived at her choices through coincidence - she has her faults, but she was also in possession of a keen eye for irony.
This is a beautiful truth. I was once asked to throw darts at a picture of someone I hated, which I did gleefully. When I was done, it was revealed that behind the first picture was another--of someone I loved, face now disfigured by my glee.
This has always sat alongside Richard Connell's Most Dangerous Game, for me, being two incredibly simple ideas, masterfully laid out for a reader, without unnecessary embellishment of character or event. it's extremely potent in it's opening stages, but I fear the (slightly tacked on) ending is a little too on the nose. Regardless, it's status is well deserved.
For it's message, I've always approached the text being an indictment of capital punishment, especially given the choice of killer, showing that there is no difference between those before the bench and behind it. There were a series of miscarriages of justice through the early part of the twentieth century, and it is dubious that Christie would have arrived at her choices through coincidence - she has her faults, but she was also in possession of a keen eye for irony.
Very interesting context! I definitely wasn't aware of all that, but it makes perfect sense.
This is a beautiful truth. I was once asked to throw darts at a picture of someone I hated, which I did gleefully. When I was done, it was revealed that behind the first picture was another--of someone I loved, face now disfigured by my glee.
Sounds like one of those scarring morality lessons. Pun intended, I guess!