‘Every crime is a betrayal.ʼ Explore the
significance of betrayal in two crime texts you
have studied. [25 marks]
‘Every crime is a betrayal.ʼ
Explore the significance of betrayal in two crime texts you have studied. [25 marks]
Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Atonement
Dr Sheppardʼs role as a doctor causing him to betray his sister and the village. His
attempts in betraying Poirot and also his betrayal of Roger Ackroyd.
Atonement being a crime of misunderstandings not betrayal.
Crimes of metafiction - Betrayal in Murder of Roger Ackroyd through Agatha Christie
betraying the reader in subverting crime fiction laws (Knoxʼs Law).
Atonement in Brionyʼs betrayal of the reader.
Critics have stated that crime writing can be seen as a genre linking strongly to that of tragedy
– specifically revenge tragedies which can be seen as crime fiction themselves. W H Auden
stated that in ‘Elizabethan tragedies the audience knows neither more nor less than the actorsʼ
however in the detective novel ‘ the audience does not know the truth at allʼ instead one of the
characters does – the murderer – the conductor of the betrayal. Through this perspective it is
therefore interesting to determine to what extent ‘every crime is a betrayalʼ in the novels;
Atonement and the Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
In Poirotʼs novel ‘Death on the Nileʼ when discussing his previous crimes to a passenger he
states that one of the common motives he has discovered through his role as a detective is
“betrayal”. This can be seen in the novel as Dr Sheppard not only betrays Mrs Ferrars who he
blackmails until her suicide, but also Mr Ackroyd who trusts him confiding in him, Mrs Ferrars
letter, but who Dr Sheppard murders to stop the truth of his blackmail coming out. Furthermore,
he secondly betrays the rest of the Town of Kingʼs Abbot by fooling them enacting a role of
duplicity playing the caring doctor whose role is to save lives, while Sheppard instead takes
them. Through this he not only betrays his victims but also the society which he is a part of and
the role he plays within his career. He is auspiciously cruel with his betrayal to Mr Ackroyd
viewing it remorselessly even mocking the man referring to him as a “pig-headed chap” whose
“nervousness was interesting psychologically”, viewing his life through a detached scientific
perspective as though he never viewed the two as friends in the same way that Roger Ackroyd
clearly did. Dr Sheppard additionally attempts to betray Poirot stating in his ‘Apologiaʼ in the last
chapter of the novel that his true intentions in recording the progression of the case in his
journal was due to a “hoping to record one of Poirotʼs failures”. Much like with Mr Ackroyd he
attempts to not simply betray his victims but mock them afterwards suggesting a more
despicable element of enjoyment in his crimes.
significance of betrayal in two crime texts you
have studied. [25 marks]
‘Every crime is a betrayal.ʼ
Explore the significance of betrayal in two crime texts you have studied. [25 marks]
Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Atonement
Dr Sheppardʼs role as a doctor causing him to betray his sister and the village. His
attempts in betraying Poirot and also his betrayal of Roger Ackroyd.
Atonement being a crime of misunderstandings not betrayal.
Crimes of metafiction - Betrayal in Murder of Roger Ackroyd through Agatha Christie
betraying the reader in subverting crime fiction laws (Knoxʼs Law).
Atonement in Brionyʼs betrayal of the reader.
Critics have stated that crime writing can be seen as a genre linking strongly to that of tragedy
– specifically revenge tragedies which can be seen as crime fiction themselves. W H Auden
stated that in ‘Elizabethan tragedies the audience knows neither more nor less than the actorsʼ
however in the detective novel ‘ the audience does not know the truth at allʼ instead one of the
characters does – the murderer – the conductor of the betrayal. Through this perspective it is
therefore interesting to determine to what extent ‘every crime is a betrayalʼ in the novels;
Atonement and the Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
In Poirotʼs novel ‘Death on the Nileʼ when discussing his previous crimes to a passenger he
states that one of the common motives he has discovered through his role as a detective is
“betrayal”. This can be seen in the novel as Dr Sheppard not only betrays Mrs Ferrars who he
blackmails until her suicide, but also Mr Ackroyd who trusts him confiding in him, Mrs Ferrars
letter, but who Dr Sheppard murders to stop the truth of his blackmail coming out. Furthermore,
he secondly betrays the rest of the Town of Kingʼs Abbot by fooling them enacting a role of
duplicity playing the caring doctor whose role is to save lives, while Sheppard instead takes
them. Through this he not only betrays his victims but also the society which he is a part of and
the role he plays within his career. He is auspiciously cruel with his betrayal to Mr Ackroyd
viewing it remorselessly even mocking the man referring to him as a “pig-headed chap” whose
“nervousness was interesting psychologically”, viewing his life through a detached scientific
perspective as though he never viewed the two as friends in the same way that Roger Ackroyd
clearly did. Dr Sheppard additionally attempts to betray Poirot stating in his ‘Apologiaʼ in the last
chapter of the novel that his true intentions in recording the progression of the case in his
journal was due to a “hoping to record one of Poirotʼs failures”. Much like with Mr Ackroyd he
attempts to not simply betray his victims but mock them afterwards suggesting a more
despicable element of enjoyment in his crimes.
