Agatha Christie Essay

â€Å"Death on the Nile†, a Hercule Poirot murder mystery, takes place in England for the first part of the story and along the Nile River aboard the S.S. KARNAK for the rest of the book. Agatha Christie tells the story in the third person narrative.  The protagonist and main character is Hercule Poirot, the world-renowned, brilliant Belgian detective who has solved numerous difficult and complex cases. Before his escape to England during WWI, Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer, was a celebrated private detective on the continent. He is not more than five feet four inches but carries himself with pride and integrity. He has a moustache that is exceptionally stiff and military-like. He wears only the finest attire and his neatness is astonishing. Hercule Poirot is a kinetic character because he does change by the end of the story in a small way. I can say that because all detectives at the beginning of a crime go in thinking one idea. Next, they explore many possibilities for who could have committed the crime and what their motive was. By the end of the story they reach a conclusion that is totally different than what they first expected. That is exactly what Hercule Poirot did, and that is how he changed. In a story the protagonist is developed by either the author’s description, what other’s say, dialogue, thoughts, or actions and reactions. In my book, I learned the most about Hercule Poirot from dialogue. This book for the most part is dialogue. For example, this story consisted mainly of inquiries, which involved questioning and conversing with many people. When Hercule Poirot asked questions, they were always beyond what the others were thinking and they were always used to answer more than one question. That is how I learned he was very intelligent. Also, whenever he spoke to someone about anything, he brought up past experiences, incidents, or just facts that related to that topic. That told me had knowledge about things that was above average. Agatha Christie’s â€Å"Death on the Nile† started off in England. Linnet Ridgeway a young, beautiful, and rich girl had just bought an estate there, after she had just inherited a great fortune from her father Melhuish Ridgeway. She’s the girl who has everything and the townspeople say she’s got millions. Linnet’s home is named â€Å"Wode Hall†. It is said that she is going to marry Lord Charles Widlesham but Linnet had mixed feelings. One day, Linnet received a call from her oldest friend Jacqueline De Bellefort who wanted to come visit her. Jacqueline De Bellefort arrived to tell Linnet that she is getting married to a man by the name of Simon Doyle. Jacqueline De Bellefort declared she must marry him or she shall die. Jackie also asked Linnet if Simon could take over a job at her residence. Linnet accepted with joy. After Jackie left, Linnet began to think about her man Lord Charles Widlesham. Widlesham was wealthy and owned an enormous Elizabethan mansion named â€Å"Charltonbury†. But Linnet did not want to leave Wode Hall and go to Charltonbury, after all Wode Hall was hers! Linnet broke it off to go marry Simon Doyle. Their honeymoon was set to go to Egypt aboard the S.S. KARNAK along the Nile River. Jacqueline De Bellefort was furious. At the Cataract Hotel in Assuan, everyone who was about to board the ship was present. Linnet Doyle and Simon had arrived. The famous detective Hercule Poirot was present. He was said to be taking a holiday. Next to him was a gentleman by the name of Colonel Race. A man and his mother by the names Tim Allerton and Mrs. Allerton were at hand. Tim was the cousin of Linnet’s friend Joanna Southwood. Linnet was surprised to see her American trustee, Andrew Pennington in attendance. Also, there was a fairly old woman named Mrs. Marie Van Schuyler and her daughter Cornelia Robson who were taking a holiday as well. Together sat another family, Marie, Rosalie, and Salome Otterbourne. There were three men, Dr. Carl Bessner, James Fanthorp, and Mr. Ferguson who were also due to board the ship. Lastly, the person who was least likely expected to come on this expedition was the enraged Jacqueline De Bellefort! The following day everyone was aboard the ship and assigned to their cabins. At around midnight in the saloon Jackie, Simon Doyle and a few others were present. Jackie had been drinking for quite a while and then came to a point of insanity. She started yelling at Simon and he yelled back. During the argument, she pulled out a pearl-handled pistol and shot Simon in the leg! After that, she dropped it and kicked it under a settee and began to cry. Dr. Bessner attended to Simon and brought him to his cabin while a girl by the name of Miss Bowers took Jackie to her cabin. When the others went back to retrieve the pistol from under the settee, it was gone! The next morning, Linnet Doyle was found lying in her bed, dead! She was shot in the head. Also, her expensive pair of pearls was missing from her cabin. The case had just become more complex. Now, Hercule Poirot and Colonel Race came into the picture. They were the ones who were going to solve the case. After inquiries and inquiries with different people on the ship they wrote down all their observations. It looked like this: