‘In spite of the terrible crimes committed
during the course of the story, the novel has a
happy ending.ʼ To what extent do you agree
with this view? Remember to include in your
answer relevant detailed exploration of
Christieʼs authorial methods.
‘In spite of the terrible crimes committed during the course of the story, the novel has a happy
ending.ʼ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer
relevant detailed exploration of Christieʼs authorial methods.
The discovery of the truth being important.
Dr Sheppardʼs suicide.
The uncovering of the rotten core of Kingʼs Abbot Society.
For centuries, critics have discussed whether crime writing has the moral purpose of
establishing a happy ending where the guilty are punished for their terrible crimes and
innocents succeed. In the Golden Age of Crime this was a key priority for the novelists with a
restoration of natural order being vital to the ending of the plot where the sunny and tranquil
setting returns to its former bliss. Therefore with ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroydʼ being an
example of golden age detective fiction, in this essay I will argue to what extent ‘in spite of the
terrible crimes committed, the novel has a happy endingʼ.
As Poirot hints to Dr Sheppard what his method of punishment should be stating that “There
might be, for instance, an overdose of a sleeping draught. You comprehend me?” he reveals
that common to much of Golden Age crime, the criminal has been driven to suicide after the
detective has caught him. This is a common trope first popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle
where the suicide of the criminal was seen as ‘justified karmaʼ, not only removing their staining
presence from the previously blissful village, but also allows them to avoid disrupting class
boundaries and being sent to prison with all of the assumed lower-class criminals. There is also
an element of “poetic justice”, directly stated by Dr Sheppard, in the type of punishment he is
set to receive as much like Mrs Ferrars who committed suicide from the shame of her own
crime due to Sheppardʼs blackmailing, Dr Sheppard is forced to commit suicide in the same
way, with his resigned tone in “Let it be veronal” suggesting that he will comply with the fate
Poirot has laid out for him. The reader can almost imagine Mrs Ferrars as having the last laugh
in this form of punishment, casting a reproachful shadow over Dr Sheppard as he meets the end
to his “premonition of disaster” adding an element of happiness to the novel due to the
criminals removal and the satisfactory way in which it is done preventing Poirot from having to
directly take part in any violence which would make him much more Hard Boiled.
during the course of the story, the novel has a
happy ending.ʼ To what extent do you agree
with this view? Remember to include in your
answer relevant detailed exploration of
Christieʼs authorial methods.
‘In spite of the terrible crimes committed during the course of the story, the novel has a happy
ending.ʼ To what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer
relevant detailed exploration of Christieʼs authorial methods.
The discovery of the truth being important.
Dr Sheppardʼs suicide.
The uncovering of the rotten core of Kingʼs Abbot Society.
For centuries, critics have discussed whether crime writing has the moral purpose of
establishing a happy ending where the guilty are punished for their terrible crimes and
innocents succeed. In the Golden Age of Crime this was a key priority for the novelists with a
restoration of natural order being vital to the ending of the plot where the sunny and tranquil
setting returns to its former bliss. Therefore with ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroydʼ being an
example of golden age detective fiction, in this essay I will argue to what extent ‘in spite of the
terrible crimes committed, the novel has a happy endingʼ.
As Poirot hints to Dr Sheppard what his method of punishment should be stating that “There
might be, for instance, an overdose of a sleeping draught. You comprehend me?” he reveals
that common to much of Golden Age crime, the criminal has been driven to suicide after the
detective has caught him. This is a common trope first popularised by Arthur Conan Doyle
where the suicide of the criminal was seen as ‘justified karmaʼ, not only removing their staining
presence from the previously blissful village, but also allows them to avoid disrupting class
boundaries and being sent to prison with all of the assumed lower-class criminals. There is also
an element of “poetic justice”, directly stated by Dr Sheppard, in the type of punishment he is
set to receive as much like Mrs Ferrars who committed suicide from the shame of her own
crime due to Sheppardʼs blackmailing, Dr Sheppard is forced to commit suicide in the same
way, with his resigned tone in “Let it be veronal” suggesting that he will comply with the fate
Poirot has laid out for him. The reader can almost imagine Mrs Ferrars as having the last laugh
in this form of punishment, casting a reproachful shadow over Dr Sheppard as he meets the end
to his “premonition of disaster” adding an element of happiness to the novel due to the
criminals removal and the satisfactory way in which it is done preventing Poirot from having to
directly take part in any violence which would make him much more Hard Boiled.
