The book Murder On The Orient Express is a book about crime, mystery and revenge and is written by Agatha Christie.
This is a book about 12 people seeking revenge who have thoroughly planned out a murder to occur on the Orient Express train, but at the last minute, a private detective climbs aboard. The private detective is called Hercule Poirot and he is expecting a normal train ride to London. However, the train gets stuck because a snowdrift has covered the tracks, and the next thing you know a man has been murdered. Will they get away with the murder or will the mystery be solved and they get caught.
The message I took from this book is how so many people’s lives and emotions can be affected and linked by one event. The emotions of anger, immense sadness and the desire to seek revenge come from the tragedy of the Armstrong case. The 12 passengers were all connected to this one-man Ratchet for kidnapping and killing the Armstrong girl. Mrs Hubbard, the grandmother of the Amstong girl expresses her emotions as “. . . that awful day in New York. I was just crazy with grief – so were the servants”. The passengers thought it was okay to commit a murder and that they had the right to do it, so they would have justice. I feel in this circumstance that is wasn’t okay from them to commit this murder but there did need to be some punishment for Ratchet, he shouldn’t have been allowed to get away with it. I don’t think it is morally right to commit murder but the author makes us believe that it is okay in this story. I found it hard to relate to the characters because I have never known anyone who has been murdered so I have never had such strong emotions of sadness and wanting revenge.
I found Hercule Poirot an interesting character, he is a private detective that is independently wealthy and only takes cases that he has an interest in. I enjoyed that he was extremely clever and did his job with such high skill and efficiency. This is shown in the story when he listens to what everyone has to say and then he plays down the fact that all he needs to do is “think” to work it out. When actually his very clever analysing skills help him work out the lies from the truth. He proclaims to the other two characters helping him with the case “well, I am about to put my theory into practice – here before your eyes. You two must do the same. Let us three close our eyes and think. . . . “ Using this technique to “think” Poirot realises it can’t be just one person who has committed the murder “this is extraordinary-they cannot all be in it” but he has been able to work out, and it is all of them. I also like the character of Hercule Poirot because he doesn’t always obey the law. In this story, he solves the mystery but gives them the choice of two solutions, one of turning them in, and the other option them getting away with it. Even though he is a detective he doesn’t make the decision of what happens next, he lets the company director decide. Poirot is relatable as he is understanding as to what the 12 passengers have gone through with their loss and why they wanted revenge.
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